> THANK YOU to everyone who traveled to New York for the LAVCA Venture Investors NY Summit last week! In case you missed it, we’ll be sharing video highlights over the next couple of months.

> NEW CONTENT: Access the LAVCA Accelerator Directory, including verified accelerators based in Latin America or those with programs dedicated to the region, as of September 2016. Created with support from Telefonica Open Future_ and the Omidyar Network, profile details include name, website, headquarters, equity stake, capital investment, coworking space, program duration, contact, and more. 

> Monex Group, Variv Capital, Xochi Ventures, Digital Currency Group (DCG), FundersClub, Bitcoin Capital, and Blockchain Tech Limited invested
US$2.5m in Bitso, a Mexican bitcoin exchange focused on the underbanked. DCG invested previously in the seed round.

> LIV Capital and Northgate Capital led a US$55m round in ecommerce platform Linio, with participation from Kinnevik.

> ALLVP and LIV Capital led a US$2m Series A in cloud services provider Nubity, with participation from Capital Invent and Stella Maris. 

> NXTP Labs led a US$1m investment in agrobusiness platform Agrofy, with participation from agribusiness company Cresud, the Founder of La Espertina Marcelo Carrique, and Founder of Bonterra and owner of Industrias Rurales Pablo Hary.

> e.Bricks Ventures and Endeavor Catalyst made an undisclosed investment in Contabilizei, a Brazilian accounting services platform for small businesses and freelancers, with participation from KaszeK Ventures, which led the Series A in 2015.

> FIP INSEED FIMA, an environmental fund launched by BNDES, invested R$3m in OXI Ambiental, an environmental decontamination startup focused on heavy metals and organochlorine pesticides.

> CVentures Primus, CRP Companhia de Participações, and M3 Investimentos invested R$3m in Hiper, an SME management platform based in Santa Catarina, Brazil.

> CVentures Primus and CRP Emprendedor invested R$3m in SumOne, the startup behind Bonuz, a Brazilian food service loyalty app.

> Movile invested R$3m in Leiturinha, a Brazilian infant book club.

> Brazilian automotive services app Easy Carros took second place at international startup competition G-Startup WorldWide, and will receive an investment of US$120k from GWC and Sequoia Capital.

> Trident Cybersecurity, Adara Ventures, and Telefónica Open Future_, through its Telefónica Corporate Ventures Fund, invested US$14m in cyber intelligence company 4iQ. Funding will accelerate product development and global expansion into South America.

> The IFC is considering a US$3m Series B investment in Moni, an Argentine mobile wallet and financial services provider.

> PetHub, a marketplace for pet services backed by Brazilian angel investment group Altivia Ventures, was acquired by PetAnjo. 

M&A

> Invest Tech has sold a 30% stake to Tesalia, an investment firm founded by Santiago Valbuena, ex-president of Telefônica Latin America.

> Reclame Aqui, a business/consumer accountability website, bought a 10% stake in medical appointment platform Doutor Já.

> Avalara, a cloud-based sales tax compliance platform, is eyeing acquisitions to expand in Brazil.

NEW FUNDS

> Chinese search giant Baidu launched Easterly Ventures, a US$60m strategic early-stage fund focused on Brazilian startups.

> Alaya Capital Partners (Córdoba, Spain) and Sausalito Ventures (Sausalito, California) obtained approval from Corfo to launch a US$16m early-stage fund in Chile.

STATS

> According to the LAVCA/Cambridge LP Opinion Survey, venture capital funds are gaining momentum among Latin American limited partners (LPs), with 48% of respondents planning to invest in VC funds, versus 24% of international LPs planning to do the same.

> Top three markets for MercadoLibre, in terms of revenue for 1H2016: Brazil, 51%; Argentina, 32%; Mexico, 6.3%.

> Nubank has already received 3.5 million credit card applications, with strong adoption among millennials. Brazil has over 86 million active credit cards, according to Valor. Itaú and Bradesco are preparing competing products.            

> Cambridge Associates’ analyzes 100 of the top global venture investments. While Silicon Valley generates the biggest returns, emerging markets are on the up.

PEOPLE & PROGRAMS

> Capria is accepting applications for first or second time impact fund managers in emerging markets for its acceleration program until November 11.

> Village Capital, with support from Autodesk Foundation, is seeking innovative, early-stage startups for its first health program in Mexico. Entrepreneurs can apply by November 4.

> Resultados Digitais invites entrepreneurs and digital media executives to their RD Summit November 3-4 in Florianopolis, Brazil.

> Virgin Mobile Mexico’s Pitch to Rich is open for applications from mobile-focused Mexican entrepreneurs to pitch Richard Branson for MX$200k.

NEWS

> Yesterday, Argentina's bill "Ley de Emprendedores" was positively evaluated by a congress committee. It will now be voted on by the House of Representatives.

> Bloomberg on MercadoLibre CEO Marcos Galperin: Argentina Sees First Tech Billionaire in Macri Renaissance.

> Mexican Fintech on the Rise: El Economista: Crece interés por fintechs mexicanas; Expansión: México tiene el mayor número de start-ups en el sector fintech en Latinoamérica 

> Valor reports Nubank cresce e incomoda grandes bancos; Reuters reports that Bradesco and Banco do Brasil, through a joint venture called CBSS, are launching a Nubank rival called Digio.

> Exame reports on 99Taxis’ rebrand, como a 99 quer enfrentar a concorrência de apps como o Uber, and their explorations in the drone delivery space.

> Igor Lopez for CanalTech interviews Qualcomm’s VP of Sales for LatAm about carros, drones, casas e todos os objetos conectados.

> Jon Shieber for TechCrunch: Trocafone is currently selling US$3m worth of phones per month. Brazil's Barn Investments has a minority stake in Trocafone.

> Connie Loizos for TechCrunch: Quero Education, an online college marketplace in Brazil, looks to educate U.S. investors.

> Elmira Bayrasli for TechCrunch: “Congress needs to pass a permanent visa for immigrant entrepreneurs.”

> Amazon, Facebook, Google, IBM, and Microsoft launched a non-profit to advance best practices in AI.

> Facebook apologized to advertisers for counting three or more seconds on a video as a “view,” confirming our shrinking attention spans… Bloomberg has the details. 

> And yours truly on behalf of LAVCA for TechCrunch: Why have some of Silicon Valley’s top investors started investing in Latin America?

INVESTOR POV

> Romero Rodrigues for TechCrunch: Brazil’s tech-sector bright spots beckon as it begins to emerge from long economic crisis.

> AngelList co-founder Naval Ravikant on options: “Startups options should last for 10 years or allow net exercise. Otherwise employees often have to forfeit on departure. Borderline scam.”

> Fred Wilson at Union Square Ventures on teams and strategy: “CEOs should do only three things; recruit and retain the team, build and evolve the long term strategy and communicate it effectively and broadly in the organization and externally, and make sure the company doesn’t run out of money.”

> Elizabeth Boggs Davidsen, chief of FOMIN’s Knowledge Economy Unit, for Huffington Post:  The Timing is Right for Impact Investing in Latin America:

In Latin America, capital committed by impact-investment funds increased to roughly US$2b by the end of 2013, from US$160m in 2008, representing a 12-fold growth in just five years.... Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia are leading the movement, but Argentina and other countries throughout the hemisphere are following fast. The forces behind this regional momentum are in some ways similar to those that propelled the rise of impact investing in Europe and the United States eight years ago.

Access the full Impact Investing report from ANDE, LAVCA, and LGT Impact Ventures here.

The LatAm Venture Bulletin is a news platform of the Latin American Private Equity and Venture Capital Association.

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