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TOP/EMERGING WOMEN INVESTORS

Women investors in early-stage tech are underrepresented in Latin America as they are globally. In the US, women decision makers represent about 12% of VCs, and the majority of firms have no women partners; in many other markets, reliable benchmarks for comparison are harder to come by. The lack of diverse representation among decision-makers has ramifications for entrepreneurs, as well; startups with global women co-founders captured only about 12% of VC funding in 2019, and that appears to have declined during the C19 pandemic. In Latin America, it was about the same, with 13% of disclosed VC funding going to women-led startups in 2019, according to LAVCA Data.

In an effort to raise the visibility of women decision-makers investing in early and growth stage tech in Latin America, LAVCA has published an updated annual list of the ♀️ Top Women Investing in Latin American Tech, as well as our third annual list of ⭐ Emerging Women Investors in Latin American Tech.

The 102 investors represented on the Top Women list and the 97 investors represented on the Emerging Women list in 2020 represents a 15% and 11% increase, respectively, over 2019.

In 2020, a number of notable VC firms in the region added their first woman partner, including Mariana Donangelo (KaszeK Ventures), Carolina Strobel (Redpoint eventures), Claire Diaz-Ortiz (Magma Partners), Valentina Terranova (Draper Cygnus), and Ariadne Caballero (SP Ventures). In addition, Microsoft appointed Marcella Ceva to head WE Ventures, a fund it launched in 2020 to back women entrepreneurs in Brazil.

Finally, two women from the previous year’s Emerging Women Investors list were promoted to senior roles - Adelina Dasso (Accion), and Livia Brando (Wayra), and have advanced to the 2020 Top Women list.

LAVCA’s gender diversity content is made possible with support from IDB Lab, Member of the IDB Group.

👀 VIEW LAVCA’s 2020 list of 102 Top Women Investing in Latin American Tech.
👀 VIEW LAVCA’s 2020 list of 97 Emerging Women Investors in Latin American Tech.

ℹ️ More profiles of leading female founders and investors available at LAVCA.ORG/WOMEN

2020 WEXCHANGE

> WeXchange, the largest forum that connects women entrepreneurs in STEM from Latin America and the Caribbean with mentors, investors, and key ecosystem players, was held virtually on November 10 and 11. Organized by IDB Lab, the eight edition of WeXchange gathered over 700 women entrepreneurs and investors for a morning full of inspirational talks, panels, and networking opportunities.

> WeXchange Program Highlights:

🔥 Keynote fireside chat with women co-founders of two Latin American unicorns, Mariana Paixao of Loft and Loreanne García of Kavak

🌎 Panel with women entrepreneurs from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Mexico discussing war stories and lessons learned from managing startups

🌎 Panel with investors on how female-led startups can attract more VC funding in LatAm, with Susana García-Robles (LAVCA Executive Advisor & Venture Partner at Capria Ventures), Marta Cruz (Managing Partner at NXTP), Carol Strobel (Operating Partner at Redpoint eventures) and Antonia Rojas (Partner at ALLVP).

🌎 A mentoring session featuring over 40 industry experts and startup founders organized by WISE.

> WeXchange forum was also the scenario for Women STEMpreneurs Competition Finale, where twelve finalists (selected out of 880+ applicants) raising seed to Series B rounds pitched their companies to investors, including IDB Lab, 500 Startups LatAm, Angel Ventures, Carao Ventures, Cometa, Dila Capital, Magma Partners, NXTP, Redpoint eventures, and Vulcano.

LAST CALL: DEAL CASES

> LAST CHANCE TO SUBMIT A DEAL LAVCA members have until December 31 to submit a deal for the Latin American Private Capital Awards. New in 2020-21 LAVCA is seeking special deals to highlight all asset classes including private equity, infrastructure, real estate, and venture capital/tech, with special consideration for deals that showcase community support during the global pandemic.

Complete the online submission form. A PDF submission form can be sent to fund managers upon request.

LPs and service providers can also nominate deals using this SHORT FORM.

THE DEADLINE TO SUBMIT A DEAL IS DECEMBER 31, 2020. 

ACCESS past case studies here. Questions can be directed to Catalina Santos.

DEALS

> Brazilian neobank C6 Bank raised R$1.3b at a reported R$11.3b valuation from 40 undisclosed investors. C6 Bank was founded by former BTG Pactual executives Marcelo Kalim, Carlos Fonseca, and Leandro Torres.

• Marcelo Kalim shared with Reuters: “Um horizonte de 12 meses para um IPO, com a janela do jeito que está, parece ser um prazo bastante interessante.”

> Mountain Nazca, Flourish Ventures, Valar Ventures, and Greyhound Capital among others invested US$45m in albo, a Mexican challenger bank.

• Mountain Nazca led a US$7.4m Series A in January 2019. Magma Partners invested in the seed round in 2018.
• albo says they command 40% share of the digital banking market in Mexico.
  

> Riverwood Capital invested US$32m in Intelipost, a Brazilian freight management platform for omnichannel ecommerce deliveries.

• #M&A Intelipost also announced they acquired Brazilian routing optimization platform AgileProcess.
• Founder and COO Gabriel Drummond shares: “Our experience during C19 has evolved over the months. Earlier in the year, our main challenge was to cope with a very strong surge in demand from existing customers, and most of our attention went to tech and operations. Later on, we experienced increased demand from new customers, and our investment priorities had to shift towards implementation of services and our product.”
  

> #HEALTHTECH Peninsula Participações and Endeavor Catalyst led a US$10m Series B in Hilab (formerly Hi Technologies), a Brazilian manufacturer of portable blood test devices. monashees and Qualcomm Ventures invested R$14.7m in 2018.

• The round implies a R$300m post-money valuation, according to Brazil Journal.
• Hilab launched a #C19 diagnostic test and a portal for medical information for Brazilian doctors and patients to better navigate the current pandemic.

> Trocafone, a Brazilian resale marketplace for electronics, raised R$30m from Bulb Capital and existing investors Barn Investments and Wayra.

• Flavio Zaclis of Barn Investments recently interviewed Trocafone CEO Guillermo Freire.
• Previous investors include Aihuishou, a China-based electronics recycle startup, Pedralbes Partners, Salfort, South Ventures, 500 Startups, Lumia Capital, Quasar Ventures, and NXTP.

> monashees led a R$28m Series A in The Coffee, a Brazilian self-serve coffee shop, with participation from Norte Ventures and Shift Capital. monashees led a R$500k seed round in 2019.

• Proceeds from the round will be used for the launch of an ecommerce platform, the opening of a distribution center, and the company’s expansion to Spain, Portugal, and France.

> #DEBT Brazilian mining group PH invested R$15m in debt and equity in Gyra+, a Brazilian fintech offering microcredit to SMEs and entrepreneurs.

> New Brazilian VC Quartz led a R$13m round in Conta Simples, a Brazilian corporate card issuer and financial management platform for startups, with participation from DOMO Invest, FJ Labs, Big Bets, ABseed, and angels Marcelo Maisonnave, Eduardo Glitz, and Pedro Englert, all partners at XP.

• YC invested US$150k in August 2020.

> #AGTECH ONEVC led a US$2.7m round in TerraMagna, a Brazilian agtech platform providing working capital for farmers, with participation from MAYA Capital and Accion Venture Lab, and angels Patrick Sigrist (iFood), Fernando Gadotti (DogHero), Lincoln Ando (idwall), and Allan Kahimoto (Delivery Direct).

• The Yield Lab invested R$2m in 2019 in its first investment in a Brazilian startup. Canary invested US$256k in 2017.

> #HRTECH Clout Capital led a US$2.55m Series A in Quantum Talent, a Peruvian SaaS platform focused on increasing employee productivity.

• Angel Ventures led a US$660k round in 2019.

> #CYBERSECURITY KaszeK Ventures, Global Founders Capital, and Iporanga Ventures invested US$2.5m in Legiti, a Brazilian cybersecurity startup developing predictive models for preventing ecommerce fraud. Legiti was founded by former Palantir employee Pedro Sanzovo.

> Liquid2 Ventures, Foundation Capital, and angel fund Superhuman invested US$2.1m in Parrot Software, a Mexican restaurant management platform.

• Parrot Software was selected to participate in YC’s S20 batch.

> #CLEANTECH #BLOCKCHAIN The Craftory led a US$1.8m round in Moss, a Brazilian blockchain-based marketplace for companies to trade carbon credits.

> Mountain Nazca led a US$1.7m round in Heru, a Mexican personal finance and fiscal management platform for independent workers, with participation from Flourish Ventures, Magma Partners, YC, and Xtraordinary Venture Partners.

• Flourish Ventures published The Digital Hustle: Gig Worker Financial Lives Under Pressure, a report that examines the lives of gig workers in Brazil and how they are weathering the current C19 crisis.

> #EDTECH Accion Venture Lab, Emles Venture Partners, and Noveus VC invested US$1.5m in Henry, an Argentine on-demand coding program enabling students to cover their tuition costs through an Income Share Agreement (ISA).

• Henry was selected to participate in YC’s S20 batch.

> #FOODTECH #CVC Mexican sugar producer Grupo Azucarero Mexicano (GAM) and 500 Startups invested US$1.2m in Come Bien, a Mexican foodtech leveraging the dark kitchen model to launch restaurant brands.

> #AGTECH #BLOCKCHAIN DOMO Invest led a R$2.2m round in Gavea Marketplace, a Brazilian blockchain-based commodities exchange focused on the agricultural market.

> Finep Startup, a startup accelerator program backed by the Brazilian Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações e Telecomunicações (MCTIC), invested R$1.2m in YAK, a Brazilian manufacturer of electric tractors for construction and industrial use.

> #EDTECH Wayra Hispam made an undisclosed investment in Alicerce Educaçāo, a Brazilian network of education centers in city peripheries to supplement public school curriculum.

• Canary and Valor Capital led a R$20m round in 2019.

> #FOODTECH Alaya Capital led a US$600k round in Simpleat, an Argentine foodtech manufacturing ready-to-eat frozen meals, with participation from NOA Capital and Glocal.

> #ANGEL Poli Angels led a R$450k investment in e-comprei, a Brazilian B2B marketplace for wholesalers and small merchants of beauty and hygiene products.

> Mimo, a Brazilian ecommerce platform with livestream services for merchants, raised R$2m from angels Mark Yuan (Alibaba), Ricardo Dias (Ambev), Ricardo Natali (Experience Club), Daniela Graicar (Pros), Camila Salek (Vimer), and Pyr Marcondes (Pipeline Capital).

• Ecommerce livestreaming is huge in China; this is the first we’ve seen of this business model in LatAm.

> #ANGEL TamoVip, a Brazilian fan monetization platform for celebrities, raised R$1.5m from angels Daniel Rummery, Adrián Merino Vítores, and Germán Lopez.

FUND LAUNCHES

> #PERU The Peruvian government launched its first fund of fund’s vehicle, Fondo de Capital para Emprendimientos Innovadores (FCEI), with ~US$19.5m to back local fund managers.

• This follows a similar initiative in Argentina in 2018 that backed LAVCA members NXTP, Globant Ventures, Wayra Argentina, and a number of accelerators, including CITES.

> #CVC Orbia, a Mexican holding with interests in agriculture, infrastructure, and healthcare, launched a US$130m CVC fund to invest in Series A and Series B rounds in startups based in Europe and the US.

> Invisto (formerly FIR Capital and Bzplan) and Acate (Associação Catarinense de Tecnologia) launched a R$100m pre-seed fund with a focus on Brazilian founders raising up to R$1m.

2020 Diversity-Focused Fund Launches:

> Microsoft launched Women Entrepreneurship Ventures (WE Ventures), a R$50m fund backing women-led startups in Brazil that is led by Chief Investment Officer Marcella Ceva.

• WE Ventures made their inaugural investment in PackID, a Brazilian food logistics services platform focused on temperature and humidity monitoring.

> Google for Startups launched the Brazilian Black Founders Fund in September 2020, a R$5m vehicle to finance early-stage startups founded and run by afro-descendente entrepreneurs in Brazil. This follows a similar US$5m allocation for Black American founders.

• READ LAVCA’s interview with Nohoa Arcanjo, CMO of CREATORS, one of the first startups to receive funding from the Black Founders Fund.

> Magma Partners launched Brava, a new commitment to invest in at least 20 female-founded Latin American companies over the next three years.

• Magma also appointed Twitter alum Claire Diaz-Ortiz as Partner to lead the fund’s investments in the Southern Cone.

STARTUP SPOTLIGHT

In Latin America, about 13% of disclosed VC funding in 2019 went to women-led startups, according to LAVCA Data. LAVCA interviewed a number of notable women leading VC-backed startups in the region this year, including:

> CREATORS Co-Founder & CMO Nohoa Arcanjo on creative diversity in Brazil:

• CREATORS, a Brazilian on-demand marketplace for creative services, was one of the first companies funded by Google’s new Black Founders Fund.
• “CREATORS connects talent from the creative industry to companies through a platform with highly-qualified human curatorship…. and today has about 2,000 validated talents and more than 60 active clients, including brands such as Pernod Ricard, Vice, and Easynvest.”
  

> Arukay Co-Founder and CEO Vicky Ricaurte on coding is the future:

• Arukay, a Colombian edtech teaching K-12 students how to program, won the 2019 WeXchange Pitch Competition, an initiative founded in 2013 by IDB Lab with the aim of unleashing the growth potential of women entrepreneurs in STEM in Latin America and the Caribbean.
• Arukay is bootstrapped to date.
  

> Foodology Co-Founder Daniela Izquierdo on building a brand laboratory:

• Foodology, a Colombian foodtech leveraging the dark kitchen model to launch restaurant brands in Bogota, founded in 2019 by former Harvard Business School classmates Daniela Izquierdo and Juan Guillermo Azuero, has already delivered over 90,000 orders.
• Investors include Jaguar Ventures, XFactor, Ideas VC & Impact Investing, NOA Capital, and Innogen Capital Ventures.
  

> Worky Co-Founder and CEO Maya Dadoo on less paperwork, more employee retention:

• Worky, a Mexican HR automatization platform for companies including Kavak and La Haus, raised US$3m from QED Investors and LEAP Global Partners in 2020.

> READ more interviews with women founders of venture-backed startups in Latin America at https://lavca.org/women.

STARTUPS

> Nubank entered the insurance market in Brazil with a fully digital life insurance product.

• CEO David Velez: “We abandoned predefined packages and the unreadable technical language of conventional policies, which only makes the process more expensive and difficult than it needs to be. With Nubank Vida, through our app, the customer will have the autonomy to choose and only pay for what they really value and use.”

> Nubank is not just leading LatAm startups by valuation — they are also making waves for their actions around diversity and inclusion. Nubank Co-Founder and CMO Cristina Junqueira shares:

• “Nubank uses blind recruitment to minimize biases in the hiring process. It has a mentoring scheme specifically for female leaders, which involves discussion groups aimed at tackling unconscious bias. And Nubank has a program that allows new mothers to stay connected with their professional purpose while they take their six months of family leave (new fathers are granted 20 days of leave).... All this translates to a more inclusive culture. Women now make up 43% of the digital bank’s workforce of over 2,000 people, including 30% of all senior roles.”

> #M&A Fondeadora, a Mexican open banking platform, acquired Mibo, a Mexican fintech licensed by regulators to issue credit products.

• Fondeadora raised a US$14m Series A led by Gradient Ventures in September 2020.

> #M&A Siigo, Colombian developer of ERP software backed by Accel-KKR, acquired Uruguayan and Ecuadorian ERP developer platforms Memory and Contifico.

> #M&A RankMyApp, a Brazilian marketing automation platform for enterprise clients backed by KPTL, acquired Digital Influencers, a Brazilian influencer marketing platform.

> Mexican car resale marketplace Kavak announced a ~US$18.5m investment to open its third vehicle reconditioning center in Mexico.

> Brazilian edtech Descomplica launched Faculdade Descomplica, a distance education platform offering certificates in Pedagogy, Administration, Accounting, and People Management. Descomplica received university accreditation in March 2020.

• Descomplica is planning to invest R$385m in expanding its course offering in the next two years, according to the company.
• Invus Opportunities led a R$54m investment in 2018.
  

> Tül, a Colombian supply chain management platform connecting construction material manufacturers with SMEs, says they have generated more than US$6m in revenue during the C19 pandemic.

• Vine Capital led a US$4m round in November 2020.

> Sofia Gancedo of Bricksave, a UK-based real estate crowdfunding platform with operations in Argentina and Brazil, examines the drivers of the company’s triple-digit growth during C19 and the opportunity for real estate investment platforms.

> Check out LAVCA’s 2020 directory of 126 Latin American startups with at least US$1m in VC funding, verified by LAVCA (as of end-2019), our Unicorn Leaderboard, and our Inaugural Survey of Latin American Startups.

🆕 GLOBAL TECH NEWSLETTER

> SIGN UP for a bi-weekly newsletter covering cross-border tech transactions and innovations with cross-border applications in a rapidly changing world. Geographies will include Latin America, Africa, India, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and other emerging VC markets. 

VIEW the archive of previous editions and sign up here.

NEWS

> Nasdaq is pushing to require board-level diversity for listed companies.

• Morning Brew: “Nasdaq would be the first major exchange to impose such requirements, but it's not alone in pushing for board diversity. California requires at least one diverse director for companies headquartered in the state, and Goldman Sachs does as well to underwrite an IPO.”

> IDB Lab partnered with Santander to publish WX Insights 2020: The Rise of Women STEMpreneurs, a report summarizing the profiles, needs, and challenges of women entrepreneurs in STEM in Latin America and the Caribbean.

> Global impact investor SEAF launched a Gender Equality Scorecard Manual to assess women’s economic empowerment and gender equality within growth-oriented SMEs.

• The manual provides an overall rating score for a company based on six gender equality performance vectors: pay equity, women’s workforce participation, gender diverse leadership and governance, benefits and professional development, safe and healthy workplace environment, and women-powered value chains.

> #POLICY Argentine companies will now have access to public market financing regardless of their size, according to a proposal set forth by the Argentine National Securities Commission.

> Didi launched Didi Pay in Mexico, a debit account that will enable drivers to access their earnings as much as three times per day, as opposed to once a week with traditional banks.

> Uber launched “Ciudades en Movimiento” in Mexico, its first forum to promote open dialogue between the company and government officials to find solutions to urban mobility problems.

> Carulla, a Colombian grocery store conglomerate, launched a grocery store entirely managed by robots and powered by facial recognition and contactless payment systems.

> The Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation, and the Ministry of Economy launched Startup Point, a platform that seeks to consolidate all federal government support programs available to entrepreneurs.

> The Economist: How ecommerce works in the Amazon rainforest: The region’s largest department store, Bemol, is utilizing triple-decker passenger boats.

> Former Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs Jorge Castañeda examines the impact that a Biden Presidency can have in Latin America.

> Rest of World: How a Latin American meme was weaponized by Russian propaganda against the Estonian president.

INVESTORS

> Susana Garcia-Robles of LAVCA and Capria Ventures and Marta Cruz of NXTP share the origin story of WeInvest, the initiative they co-founded to support gender inclusion in investment teams in Latin America, during the 2020 Southern Cone Investment Forum organized by ARCAP.

> Also read Susana Garcia-Robles’ interview in Americas Quarterly: Top 5 Champions of Gender Equality.

> Julia Figueiredo of SVB reviews the consolidation of the LatAm VC ecosystem in the past four years:

• “We at Silicon Valley Bank expect more capital to flow into LatAm in search of investment opportunities that offer favorable valuations for investors compared with Silicon Valley startups. Furthermore, in an era when remote due diligence is the norm, there is less reason for international investors not to take action: Everyone looks the same on a 15-inch screen whether you’re a mile away or 5,000 miles away.”

> Mosaico Ventures interviews Antonia Rojas of ALLVP:

• “Estamos en un momento crítico como sociedad, donde por un lado vemos una falta de acceso a servicios básicos de calidad como por ejemplo en salud y educación. Por otro lado, la región está viviendo una transformación digital como nunca antes. Es ahora en donde esperamos ver soluciones innovadoras, que busquen resolver los mayores problemas de la región, y que para hacerlo, utilicen la tecnología como herramienta catalizadora.”

> Jose Ortiz Masllorens of Mercado Libre shares his view on the importance of promoting diversity in the workplace:

• “Cada persona es un mundo; todos fuimos marcados por lo vivido a lo largo de nuestras vidas, y esas vivencias influyen hoy en nuestra manera de pensar y de actuar. Un equipo diverso trae distintos puntos de vista a la mesa y enriquece el producto final. La gran mayoría de la empresas (salvo algunas protegidas por regulaciones) necesitan evolucionar rápidamente para subsistir en el tiempo. Si tenemos un equipo uniforme, probablemente nos perdamos gran parte de lo que pasa alrededor nuestro y seamos historia rápidamente.”

> Microsoft for Startups partnered with Pitchbook to examine the current state of VC investment in female founders.

LAVCA VC/TECH MEMBER DIRECTORY

LAVCA’s VC+tech members represent the leading early stage and tech investors active in Latin America and around the globe. Members play a pivotal role in the growth of the venture ecosystem and industry throughout the region.

NEW: Access LAVCA's updated VC directory of 66 member firms investing in VC/tech in Latin America, including details on sector, stage, geo preferences, and more.

This digital directory profiles the core group of LAVCA member venture investors, corporates, and tech organizations dedicated to supporting startups and the tech ecosystem in Latin America.

LAVCA members are qualified investors and professionals in the Latin America private capital industry and are approved by the LAVCA Board on the basis of industry relevance, peer references, and investment activity. Latin American Tech Growth Coalition members are leading global and Latin American tech companies and investors with a common goal of advancing high growth startups in Latin America.

Access further information about The Latin American Tech Growth Coalition and other relevant tech-related lists and directories.

To APPLY for LAVCA Membership, please submit an application here.

PEOPLE & PROGRAMS

> Join Julie Ruvolo from LAVCA, alongside Scott Sobel (Valor), Patrick Picciotto (Canary), and Paulo Passani (SoftBank), for a discussion at Milken Asia Summit in Singapore on why it’s a good time to invest in Brazilian tech. Watch on demand starting Dec 10.

> Capria Ventures is looking for an Investment Fellow to expand its team. Candidates with 3+ years of professional experience, a rigorous analytical background, and strong interest in emerging markets are welcome to apply.

> Congratulations to Ewa Capital for winning ColCapital’s 2020 Award for its investment in Colombian edtech Platzi.

> Congratulations to Veronica Silva (Apprendo) and Freddy Vega (Platzi) for being nominated to MIT Tech Review Under 35.

> WE Impact, a Brazilian venture studio and company builder focused on women founders, partnered with Microsoft’s WE Ventures and opened applications for its B2B and B2C accelerator program in Brazil. Applications close December 12.

> Angel Ventures Mexico partnered with AMEXCAP and Enterprise Singapore to host an open discussion on December 14 between Singaporean LPs and fund managers in Mexico. Registration is now open.

> BayBrazil is looking for mentors to support the selection and growth of three startups focused on promoting education, health, and diversity as part of its Social Impact Initiative. Applications are now open.

> 500 Startups partnered with CEmprende, a Colombian government-led campus for startup innovation backed by INNPulsa, to launch CEmprende’s new campus in Barranquilla and strengthen the startup accelerator programs in the country.  

The LatAm Venture Bulletin is the VC/tech newsletter and content platform of
The Association for Private Capital Investment in Latin America.

Have news we should include? Please email news@lavca.org.