> KaszeK Ventures and SOS Ventures made a US$3m investment in NotCo, a Chilean foodtech startup accelerated at IndieBio. NotCo uses plant-based proteins to replicate mayonnaise, milk, and other animal-based products without any animal-derived ingredients.

> Impact fund Kviv Ventures led a R$2.5m investment in Hand Talk, an automatic translation platform for sign language, with participation from existing investor Bossa Nova Investimentos.

• CEO Ronaldo Tenório says: “Our plan is improve our product in Brazil, including our machine translation, expand our sales team and launch our mobile app in USA, translating to American Sign Language (ASL).”
• HandTalk recently acquired ProDeaf, its main Brazilian competitor, for an undisclosed amount.

> Bzplan and FIR Capital made a R$3m investment in PhoneTrack, a Brazilian startup using voice technology to optimize telephone marketing campaigns. 

> Wayra Chile made an undisclosed investment in Webdox, a legal document and contact management platform.

> #PRIVATEEQUITY Mexican PE fund Sierra Capital acquired 100% of Netshoes’ operations in Mexico.

FUNDS

> Austral Capital is raising a third fund, the Latin America Growth Tech Fund, with a US$80m target. Fund I (2008) was a US$40m tech/biotech-focused fund whose portfolio includes Andes Biotechnologies, Multicaja and Scanntech. Fund II (2012) was a US$20m renewable energy-focused fund.

> Chilean VC Genesis Ventures is raising a US$100m fund to focus on innovation around energy efficiency. The fund plans to invest in startups based in Pacific Alliance countries or the US, and that have plans to expand operations to Europe.

> Mind the Gap is a new London-based fund focused on Series A+ investments in Latin American startups, founded by Adán Bernal and Israel Pons.

> Innovate Peru’s Programa Capital Emprendedor approved three funds to receive grants for pre-operational expenses: Salkantay Capital Partners, Capia Ventures, and Independiente SAFI.

• Salkantay Partners is raising a US$50m fund to invest in Pacific Alliance startups, with a focus on pre-Series A & Series A deals in Peru and Colombia. Martín Aspillaga is Managing Director.
• Capia Ventures is raising a US$8m fund to invest in late seed & Series A deals in Peru. Co-founder Carlos Rojas says the fund will focus on fintech, agtech, edtech, foodtech, and tourism.
• Independiente SAFI is a new fund run by Aldo Franciscolo, a partner at Peruvian family office GAMNIC.

EXITS

> Falabella, the largest department store retailer in South America, acquired 100% of Mexican ecommerce platform Linio for a reported US$138m, providing a full exit to LIV Capital and Northgate Capital. Additionally, Fallabella is issuing US$800m in new shares, out of which US$100m will be acquired by Fallabella’s controlling families.

> Spanish digital bank WiZink acquired Aplazame, a Spanish lending platform for ecommerce merchants, for an undisclosed all-cash amount, providing a full exit for ALLVP. 

M&A

> #DELIVERY On the heels of a US$124m fresh capital injection, iFood acquired Rapiddo for an undisclosed amount. Both companies are backed by Movile.

• iFood also acquired the Brazilian operations of Pedidos Ya.

IMPACT

> The IFC intends to invest US$13m in impact investor Capria to focus on emerging markets.

> TPG's The Rise Fund invested US$130m in US edtech startup DreamBox Learning. The company recently expanded into Mexico with a Spanish-language version of the platform. 🎫 See The Rise Fund interview the Ford Foundation at LAVCA's Annual Meeting in September.

> The trend of VC investment in impact-driven startups continues with QED Investors’ US$10.4m Series A in OpenInvest, a digital investment advisor for socially responsible investing, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz and others.

• In LatAm, QED’s investments include: Coru (formerly ComparaGuru), Creditas, GuiaBolso, Konfio, Nubank, Pitzi, QuintoAndar, & TiendaPago.
• Andreessen Horowitz is an investor in Rappi.

> The Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (GSG) announced the launch of a task force of impact investment leaders in Latin America to explore the feasibility of a US$1b fund of funds model for supporting social and environmental impact investment in the region.

> ANDE has launched funding for impact measurement and gender inclusion in Latin America and will disburse US$150k across 4-6 projects, with the goal of building capacity among intermediaries, small/growing businesses, and researchers to measure impact with a gender lens. Details here.

> Impact-driven entrepreneurs can apply for US$100k from MIT Sloan’s Latin America Office and ITBA in Buenos Aires. Apply by August 20.

> Omidyar Network has launched a Building an Impact Investing Team, a guide for families who are beginning to tackle the many strategic questions involved in assembling the right staff and structure to achieve their impact investing goals.

> Save the date for the GIIN Investor Forum, October 30-31 in Paris France.

NEWS

> TechCrunch: In Argentina, venture capital surges even as the broader economy stutters

> Bloomberg: The World Economy Runs on GPS. It Needs a Backup Plan

STARTUPS

> LAVCA Member Mercado Libre hosted a fintech pitch event in Mexico City, with participation from 123 Seguro, Creze, AirTM, and Prestanómico. Finnovista, NXTP Labs, Polymath Ventures, Variv, Capital, Wayra Mexico, and others also joined. Fortune says Mercado Libre is looking to invest in Mexican fintechs.

> Grupo Zap, which merged with VivaReal last year, is opening a co-working space for startups in São Paulo along with other real estate players.

> StartSe is launching StartSe Deals, an investment advisor platform for Brazilian startups.

> Angel Ventures Peru and Endeavor collaborated with startups and lawyers in Peru’s tech ecosystem, including RunaHR, Crehana, and Mesa247, on a document on International Holding Company Considerations for early-stage Peruvian entrepreneurs.

> HotelUrbano rebranded to Hurb. ComparaGuru rebranded to Coru.

> REGISTER for the LAVCA Venture Investors Annual Meeting in New York on September 27, followed by an after-party hosted by Riverwood Capital at Tribeca 360.

Session Highlights:

🎤 Nico Szekasy of KaszeK Ventures interviews Hurst Lin, General Partner of DCM. Lin co-founded DCM China in 2006 and is considered one of the best VCs in Asia. He has been listed on the Forbes Midas List for the past five years in a row due to exits like Tuniu (IPO 2014), 58.com (IPO 2013) and Vipshop (IPO 2012), and is one of CBInsight’s Top Venture Capitalists for 2018. 


🎤 Maya Chorengel of TPG’s The Rise Fund interviews Roy Swan, Director of the Ford Foundation’s Mission Investments about his commitment to invest US$1b in impact over the next decade.

🤝 [LAVCA Members:] David Pakman, a Partner at Venrock, co-creator of Apple Music Group and one of CBInsight’s Top 100 Venture Capitalists, will host a private Q&A for LAVCA Members on September 26.

 After unicorn exits in Nest and Dollar Shave Club, Pakman now leads Venrock’s partnership with CoinFund, a Brooklyn-based crypto investor group, to help entrepreneurs build businesses on the blockchain. 

> TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield is coming to São Paulo in November, through a partnership with Facebook. Apply here.

> Startups working with IoT, AI/big data, and advanced manufacturing are invited to apply for ChileGlobal Ventures’ Generación Impacto initiative for up to US$500k in funding. Apply by August 12.

> Y Combinator’s Growth Program is accepting applications from startups with 50-150 employees that are scaling rapidly. Apply by August 20.

> BoostLab, BTG Pactual’s accelerator in partnership with ACE, is accepting applications for it second cohort. Six startups made the cut for the inaugural cohort: Neurotech, Agronow, Clicksign, F(X), Liber Capital, and Zigpay. Apply by August 24.

> Nokia Open Innovation Challenge is offering mentorship and financial support for Brazilian IoT startups. Apply by Sept 6.

> Save the date for Finnosummit Mexico City (Sept 12-13) and Miami (Oct 4-5). LAVCA members and network have access to a 20% discount using code LAVCA20.

> Dell and Springboard Enterprises are hosting Women Funding Women in Mexico City on Sept 13 and São Paulo on Sept 18. #CHANGETHERATIO

> Over 20 companies in the monashees+ portfolio are hiring. See current job openings in Brazil, San Francisco, and New York here.

ENTREPRENEUR POV

> LAVCA went to Mexico City to get an update on emerging local players who are taking 🚗transport tech in Mexico to the next level, with on-demand 🛵electric scooters (eConduce), van shares (Urbvan), and truck delivery (LiftIt). 

> READ about the next gen of last-mile startup players in Mexico.

• Co-founder of eConduce Alejandro Morales says e-scooters represent US$16b market opportunity in Mexico. 
• Urbvan's founders estimate a US$40b market opportunity for Urbvan in LatAm, based on commuter travel demographics and usage in Mexico City, São Paulo, Santiago, Bogotá, and Lima.
• Brian York, CEO of LiftIt, says truck delivery, as measured by daily deliveries and average costs, is a a US$4.2b market in Bogotá and US$59.7b market in Mexico annually.

INVESTOR POV

> Valor interviews Manoel Lemos of Redpoint eventures on healthtech investments Memed and Gympass:

Quando vemos o que já aconteceu em mercados como o de O2O (on-line-to-off-line) e de fintechs, o setor da saúde torna-se um candidato natural para entregas de soluções de alto valor para os usuários.

> #Healthtech deals accounted for about 1% of the venture capital invested in Latin American startups in 2017, according to LAVCA’s 2017 Breakout Year in Tech Report. Notably, KaszeK Ventures, Madrone Capital Partners, and Endeavor Catalyst invested in Dr. Consulta, a network of physical clinics in Brazil offering top quality healthcare at an affordable price.

> Francisco Jardim of SP Ventures talks about the agtech opportunity in Brazil:

When it comes to exports, Brazil leads the pack in soybeans, beef, poultry, coffee, sugar, ethanol, orange juice and comes second in corn. Brazil is also one of the top five producers and exporters of cotton, pork, and cacao. It is safe to say that the locomotive of Brazil is agribusiness. It is the most dynamic engine of the economy and accounts for roughly 50% of the country’s exports and 23% of GDP. The sector has become so globally integrated and important to the domestic economy that it turned itself immune to the region´s economic and political volatilities; while Brazil faced one of its worst recessions, seeing GDP shrink by more than 3.3% in 2016, agribusiness GDP expanded by more than 3%.

LatAm Fund Managers: Please share insights you think would be useful for the broader tech investor community by replying to this email (jruvolo@lavca.org).

The LatAm Venture Bulletin is the VC/tech newsletter and content platform of the Latin American Private Capital Association.

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