DEALS
> Dux Capital made its inaugural investment in Cronology, a Mexican cleantech startup developing paper replacement products.
- Cronology’s technology uses recycled plastics and natural minerals, reducing plastics waste and water and chemicals used in cellulosic paper production.
- Founder Adrian Nava says the market opportunity in Mexico is “estimated to be more than US$12.b, equivalent to consumption of more than 6.85 million tons of paper annually.”
> TheVentureCity, the IFC, and Ventech made a US$22m investment in RecargaPay, a Brazilian mobile payments platform, with participation from FJ Labs, DN Capital, and various angel investors (through AngelList and FundersClub).
> Qualcomm Ventures, MercadoLibre, Confrapar, and FJ Labs made a R$20m investment in Brazilian ticketing platform Ingresse. Previous investors include e.Bricks Ventures and DGF Investimentos.
> e.Bricks Ventures is investing up to R$10m in Brazil's F(x), a “Tinder” for enterprises seeking credit and capital investment.
> DOMO Invest made a R$3m investment in Agenda Edu, a Brazilian edtech management platform. Agenda Edu is supported by Fundação Lemann.
> Fundo Aeroespacial, a R$131m fund launched by BNDES in 2014 to invest in aeronautics and defense, made an undisclosed investment (R$3m+) in Virtual Avionics, a Campinas, Brazil-based startup creating and commercializing training cockpits for pilots. Virtual Avionics previously received R$1.2m in seed funding in 2014 and was accelerated at Startup Brazil.
> Jaguar Ventures made a US$500k investment in Bandtrack, a SaaS company providing music streaming services for retail businesses. Bandtrack is headquartered in Argentina with offices in Mexico and Spain.
> #AGTECH 🌿 Argentine agtech accelerator Glocal, impact investor NESsT, and others made a US$350k investment in Auravant, a precision agtech startup accelerated at NXTP Labs & Wayra Argentina.
> Ayala Capital Partners and MercadoLibre’s MELI Fund invested US$300k in Zoco, a Chilean e-commerce platform for small businesses selling on MercadoLibre.
> Dila Capital and Jaguar Ventures made an undisclosed investment in Ben & Frank, a direct-to-consumer eyewear brand in Mexico, with the participation of previous angel investors. LAVCA asked co founder & co-CEO Mariana Castillo how Ben & Frank is bridging the payment gap:
"It is definitely one of the larger challenges for e-commerce companies in Mexico, however we offer alternatives with offline payments such as bank deposits and cash payments at convenience stores. Currently, 20% of our online sales are paid through these methods, which is partially due to our manageable ticket size (avg 1800MXN). Moreover, in our stores we do take cash payments which allows us to bridge the gap."
> Agfunder made an undisclosed investment in Brazilian agtech startup Solinftec through its new co-investment vehicle. TPG also made an undisclosed investment in Solinftec 2017 through TPG ART, the firm’s Alternative and Renewable Technologies growth equity platform. #AGTECH 🌿
> Dalus Capital made a MX$121m investment in Xertica, a cloud computing startup in Silicon Valley with operations in Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Argentina, and Ecuador.
> Mexico's Cemex Ventures made an undisclosed investment in SAALG Geomechanics, a Spanish civil engineering software platform.
> Japanese pharma Oncolys BioPharma made a US$3.33m investment in Unleash, a biotech startup based in the US that was accelerated at Axia Ventures in Argentina.