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TLDR

📢 NEW: LAVCA’s 2021 Edtech & Healthtech Startup Surveys

📢 Deals: New rounds for Loft, Tiendanube/Nuvemshop, Konfio, Acqio, Fondeadora, Higo, Baubap

📢 SPACS: Valor Capital Group (USD200m), DILA Capital (USD50m)

📢 Funds: Female-first Mexican fund Amplifica Capital reaches first close

2021 LAVCA EDTECH & HEALTHTECH STARTUP SURVEYS

Healthtech and edtech have been under-capitalized but promising areas of technology innovation in Latin America in recent years.

Entrepreneurs are innovating to drive increased access to healthcare and edtech across the diverse markets and constituents they serve.

Sponsored by the IDB Lab, LAVCA's Healthtech and Edtech Startups in Latin America: 2021 Survey Results are a continuation of LAVCA's 2019 Inaugural Survey of Latin American Startups and highlight the progress of healthtech and edtech in the region.

The reports include a high-level overview of key insights and aggregate statistics from 60+ startups, including the number of companies registered as B-Corps or that are women-led, and the impact that these startups have had in promoting access to healthcare or education in their markets of operation. The research also includes a section dedicated to impact of COVID-19, and quotes from founders related to the future of their market and any challenges faced.

ACCESS the full surveys on healthtech here and edtech here.

LAVCA Members can log into their accounts to access the list of participating startups and disclosed transactions. New members can register here for access.

DEALS

> #PROPTECH New York-based D1 Capital led a USD425m Series D for Brazilian proptech Loft, with participation from Advent International, DST, Silver Lake Waterman, Soros, Tarsadia, Tiger Global, and Caffeinated, and follow-on from monashees, QED Investors, Andreessen Horowitz and Vulcan Capital, at a reported USD2.2b valuation.

• Andreessen and Vulcan Capital led a USD175m Series C in 2020 in Vulcan Capital’s first known investment in Latin America at a reported USD1b valuation; Fifth Wall Ventures and Andreessen led a USD70m Series B in 2018.
• Loft launched a BRL360m real estate fund in 2020 on B3, the São Paulo Stock Exchange, and raised BRL216m in its first Fundo de Investimento Imobiliário (FII) in 2019.
• READ LAVCA’s interview with Co-CEO Mate Pencz.
• VIEW LAVCA’s Unicorn Leaderboard for an updated list of known LatAm tech unicorns.

> Accel led a USD90m Series D round for Tiendanube/Nuvemshop, an Argentine ecommerce platform with operations in Brazil and Mexico, with participation from ThornTree Capital, and follow-on from KASZEK and Qualcomm Ventures.

• Tiendanube raised a USD30m Series C in 2020, and a USD7m Series B in 2017.
• IGNIA Partners, NXTP and Elevar Equity are among Tiendanube’s earlier investors.

> #DEBT Goldman Sachs granted a USD60m line of credit to Konfío, a Mexican lending platform for SMEs.

• #DEBT Goldman Sachs first invested in Konfio in 2019 through a USD250m credit facility alongside Victory Park Capital. IDB Invest granted Konfio a USD60m credit line in 2020.
• Konfio raised USD100m from SoftBank, KASZEK, QED Investors, and Vostok Emerging Finance that same year.

> Portag3 and Gradient Ventures invested USD14m in a Series A extension for Fondeadora, a Mexican open banking platform, with participation from Gokul Rajaram (DoorDash) and Anatol von Hahn (Group Ventures).

• In 2020 Fondeadora raised an initial USD14m from Gradient Ventures, Fintech Collective, Sound Ventures, Y Combinator and IGNIA Partners, and acquired Mexican credit platform Mibo.

> #DEBT XP Asset Management invested BRL50m in convertible debt in Acqio, a Brazilian credit and payments platform for SMEs.

> NXTP led an undisclosed investment for Spline, a Chilean no-code collaborative 3D design platform, with participation from Chapter One VC and Y Combinator.

> #EDTECH WE Impact, a Brazilian venture studio funded by WE Ventures and focused on women founders, made an undisclosed investment in Pontue, a Brazilian online class and assignment management platform, in its first known investment.

• WE Ventures is Microsoft’s BRL50m fund focused on backing women-led startups in Brazil, and is led by Chief Investment Officer Marcella Ceva.

> #FOODTECH Lever VC made an undisclosed investment in Brazilian plant-based meat startup The New, with participation from Paulo Veras (99).

• The New’s flagship products include a plant-based chicken fillet, a pea protein-based burger and a pea- and paprika-based salmon.

> Adobe Capital made an undisclosed investment in Rephone, a Chilean pre-owned cellphone marketplace.

> Homebrew led a USD3.3m round for Higo, a Mexican B2B payments platform for SMEs, with participation from Susa Ventures, Haystack and J Ventures.

> #CVC Grupo Alfin led a USD3m round for Baubap, a Mexican consumer lending platform.

• G2 Momentum Capital, ArkAngeles, Seedstars and 500 Startups are among Baubap’s earlier investors.
• CEO Roberto Salcedo: "For us, lack of knowledge and abusive lending practices are the main challenges when tending to the underserved market. Customers have trouble understanding financial costs and terms, so they fall victim of these abusive practices that produce over-indebtedness. We’re fighting this through the expansion of our educational platform. We want more people to understand how to best manage their credit and their resources son they can choose what’s best for them."

> Picus Capital, Kayak Ventures, Chile Ventures and Amarena Invest invested USD2.5m in Xepelin, a Chilean account receivable-based lending platform for SMEs.

• Impact Ideas VC led a USD2.5m in 2020.

> #PROPTECH FJ Labs led a USD1.9m round for Aptuno, a Colombian proptech focused on eliminating the need for a co-signer in the residential rental market, with participation from Inca Ventures, net-ventures and Simon Baker (REA Group).

• Aptuno raised USD680k in a round led by Magma Partners in 2020.
  

> #HEALTHTECH Astella Investimentos invested BRL8m in Assina Saúde, a Brazilian telemedicine and in-person consultation subscription platform for underserved Brazilians.

> #CVC Globant Ventures, YPF Ventures, YAVU Ventures and Grupo Murchinson invested USD1.5m in Drixit Technologies, an Argentine safety compliance monitoring service for manufacturing plants.

• Globant Ventures made an undisclosed investment in 2020.
• Drixit Technologies was selected as part of Endeavor’s 2020 Scale Up Program.

> #PROPTECH Redpoint eventures led a BRL6.6m round for CondoConta, a Brazilian banking platform for condominium management, with participation from Darwin Startups.

> DGF Investimentos, Honey Island Capital and Caravela Capital invested BRL5.5m in Kyte, a Brazilian mobile-first e-commerce platform for SMEs.

• Kyte enables payments through a partnership with Mercado Libre’s Mercado Pago.

> #HEALTHTECH DOMO Invest invested BRL5m in 88i.io, a Brazilian transportation and healthcare insurance platform.

> Ipanema Ventures, CAVIG, InfoCasas and NetVentures invested BRL5m in Brazilian proptech AoCubo.

• AoCubo raised BRL1.2m from Brian Requarth (Latitud) and Simon Baker in 2020.

> #HRTECH Canary led a BRL3.6m round for Cloud Humans, a Brazilian on-demand platform connecting companies with independent sales professionals, with participation from Paulo Silveira (Alura Group), Fabien Mendez (Loggi), Marcelo Sampaio (Hashhdex) and Sergio Souza (Teleperformance).

• Cloud Humans was founded by Ian Kraskoff, Bruno Cecatto and Felipe Serra, Uber Eats’ first employees in Brazil.

> General Catalyst led a BRL3.5m round for Clara, a Mexican startup offering corporate expense management and credit cards for Mexico-based startups, with participation from Canary, Adapt Ventures and Picus Capital. Clara was founded by former Grin employees Gerry Giacoman Colyer and Diego García Escobedo.

• This is General Catalyst’s first lead investment in a Latin American-based startup, after participating in Chilean foodtech NotCo's USD85m Series C in 2020.

> Iporanga Ventures led a BRL2.8m round for Voe Tranquilo, a Brazilian complaint resolution platform for airline passengers affected by delayed flights, lost luggage or delayed connections.

> #EDTECH DOMO Invest led a BRL432k investment for Jovens Gênios, a Brazilian education management platform for K-12 schools.

• Jovens Gênios raised BRL200k from angels in 2019.

> Y Combinator invested USD125k in Gonddo, a Brazilian B2B marketplace for SMEs.

• Iporanga Investimentos led an undisclosed investment earlier this year.

> #HEALTHTECH DOMO Invest invested BRL500k in Fin-X, a Brazilian medical expense and patient payment platform for healthcare professionals.

> #EDTECH Hotmart, a Brazilian monetization platform for online courses with operations in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Spain and Holland, made an undisclosed investment in SkillHub, a Brazilian corporate training platform.

• Hotmart, which is backed by General Atlantic and GIC, has also been an active acquiror of companies including Klickpages, Teachable and Wollo since 2020.

> Colombian construction companies Conconcreto and Pintuco made an undisclosed investment in Glasst Innovation, a Colombian developer of environment-friendly construction materials, with participation from Ruta N.

> #CROWDFUNDING 4.events, a Brazilian event management platform, raised BRL1m through equity crowdfunding platform CapTable.

> #ANGEL Cognitivo.ai, a Brazilian on-demand platform connecting companies with data science professionals, raised BRL2.4m from angels Rodolfo Amstalden, Leonardo Machado, Guilherme Queiroz, Matheus Baldi and Agapito Troina (Empiricus Research).

EXITS / M&A

> #EXIT #EDTECH Redpoint eventures, Valor Capital Group, Peninsula Participações, Crescera Investimentos, Endeavor Catalyst and Grupo Xangô Tecnologia exited Passei Direto, a Brazilian educational content platform for students, through a sale to UOL Edtech, a Brazilian B2B edtech developing MBA and post-graduate courses for higher education institutions and corporate training programs.

• SoftBank Latin America and Volpe Capital made an undisclosed investment in UOL Edtech earlier this year.

> #EXIT EDTECH Igah Ventures (formerly e.Bricks Ventures) exited MeSalva!, a Brazilian education platform for middle school and ENEM preparation courses, through a sale to Arco Educação, a Brazilian learning systems provider.

• Igah Ventures first invested in MeSalva! in 2015.
• Arco Educação listed on the NASDAQ in 2018.

> #M&A INSURTECH Porto Ventures, the CVC arm of Brazilian insurance giant Porto Seguro, acquired a 74.6% stake in Segfy Tecnologia, a Brazilian backend automation platform for independent insurance brokers.

> #M&A Brazilian credit bureau Boa Vista Serviços acquired Konduto, a Brazilian payment fraud prevention platform for e-commerce stores and fintechs, for BRL172m in cash and stock.

• Konduto raised BRL2.5m in 2017 from Crescera Investimentos (formerly Bozano Investimentos) and Triaxis Capital.

SPACS

> Valor Latitude Acquisition, a SPAC formed by Valor Capital Group targeting tech-enabled sectors in Latin America, filed to raise up to USD200m in an IPO on the NASDAQ.

• Valor Latitude Acquisition is led by Valor Capital Group Co-Founder and Managing Partner Clifford Sobel and Operating Partner Mario Mello.

> DILA Capital Acquisition, a SPAC formed by DILA Capital, filed to raise up to USD50m in an IPO on the NASDAQ.

• DILA Capital recently reached a USD35m first close for its fourth fund with a USD75-100m target.

FUNDS

> Mexican VC fund Amplifica Capital, led by Anna Raptis, reached a first close for its first fund backing startups focused on making a positive impact in the lives of women.

• Amplifica’s LP base is primarily comprised of women investors, according to the fund.
• Amplifica recently joined ACTIVA, an initiative established by Angel Ventures Mexico in 2017 to amplify the role of gender inclusion in the development of the local ecosystem.

> #CVC Colombian utility Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM) launched a ~USD42m fund focused on energy, waste management and industrial solutions investments in Latin America and the US.

• EPM’s first fund has invested ~USD37m in startups in Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Guatemala and the US.

STARTUPS

> #FOODTECH Chilean foodtech NotCo is seeking to raise new funding at a reported USD1b valuation, according to Bloomberg.

• NotCo raised a USD85m Series C led by L Catterton and Future Positive in 2020.
• NotCo launched NotMilk, a plant-based milk alternative, in Whole Foods stores in the US, and has been granted a patent on its AI formula generator technology for alternative-meat food manufacturing.
  

> Carlos García Ottati of Kavak shares his views on team building and startup scaling in Como Crear La Startup Mas Valiosa de Mexico.

> Miguel McAllister of Merqueo discusses the grocery delivery platform’s business model and monetization strategy.

• “Al no tener intermediarios, nosotros no tenemos que cobrarle un fee al cliente final, como ocurre con otros servicios de última milla.”

> Mexican digital banking platform Oyster Financial launched an instant credit and revolving credit line products for SMEs.

• Chief Credit Officer David Lin: “Think of it as having to stand in line at the DMV multiple times for each step in every process: to open a business account, to apply for a credit line or a loan, or to request a credit card. And, if you’re one of the lucky few to get credit for your small business in Mexico, you’re likely to pay two-to-three times more for that compared to the U.S.”

> Mateo Jaramillo of Mexico-based gig economy platform Heru shares his entrepreneurial journey with Arjuna Costa of Flourish Ventures, from launching Uber in Colombia to founding Heru.

• READ LAVCA’s interview with Co-Founders Mateo Jaramillo and Stiven Rodríguez.

> Renata Zanuto of Cubo Itáu shares her view on six promising Brazilian female founders in 2021: Sara Raimundo (UnicaInstancia), Nohoa Arcanjo (CREATORS), Sabrina Espirio Santo (Galena), Sauanne Bispo (IDentity Experiences), Priscila Gama (Malalai) and Debora Luz (Clube da Preta).

> Congratulations to Luis Cervantes of General Atlantic and Ricardo Weder of Jüsto for their inclusion in the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders Class of 2021.

> Congratulations to Brazilian healthtech Manipulaê for being selected to participate in Google for Startups Brazil 8th cohort.

> Check out LAVCA’s 2020 directory of 126 Latin American startups with at least USD1m 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 EMPEA’s bi-weekly newsletter. Edited by LAVCA Director of Venture Capital Julie Ruvolo, this newsletter covers cross-border tech transactions and innovations with cross-border applications in a rapidly changing world. Geographies include Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Central & Eastern Europe.

VIEW the archive of previous editions and sign up here.

NEWS

> #IMPACT Mercado Libre partnered with Pachama, a marketplace for carbon offset projects, to lead Mercado Libre’s Regenera America, a USD8m initiative to support two forest restoration projects implemented by the Nature Conservancy and the Institute for Ecological Research in Brazil.

• Pachama raised USD4.1m in 2020 from Global Founders Capital, Social Capital, Lowercase Capital and Saltwater Capital.

> #CRYPTO The Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission approved a Bitcoin ETF to be listed in the São Paulo Stock Exchange B3.

• The ETF will be managed by blockchain investment firm BR Capital and is the first instrument of its kind to receive regulatory approval in Latin America.

> #BLOCKCHAIN Colombian digital artist Camila Fierro (“Fira”) sold all of her artwork as NFTs (non-fungible tokens) in less than 24 hours.

> Rest of World: The pandemic is giving startups a shot at replacing teachers with technology.

• “Latin American edtech founders seem to have a savior complex, and perhaps for good reason: When it comes to education, the region is in need of saving.”

> #C19 Aruka Juma, the last surviving member of the Juma tribe in the Amazon, has died of C19.

INVESTORS

> Marcelo Claure of SoftBank shares the story behind SoftBank’s decision to begin investing in Latin America, and Shu Nyatta shares how the fund embraces complexity and thinks about the skills gap in the region.

> Manoel Lemos of Redpoint eventures shares his path from founder to investor and how Redpoint thinks about going for “large markets”.

• “Apesar de gostar de tecnologia pura, o que me diferenciou foi poder fazer a conversa com o fator humano. Gosto de gente, adoro conversar. E no investimento em estágio inicial, que é o que a Redpoint faz, o processo de tomada de decisão é muito centrado nas pessoas.”

> Diego Serebrisky of Dalus Capital shares his view on the importance of investing in inclusion and climate innovation in Latin America.

• “There are ~400m people in Latin America without full access to finance, education, and healthcare. We see the opportunity to generate great financial returns but also generate an impact in the region.”

PEOPLE & PROGRAMS

> Join EMPEA and Wharton for Using Early-Stage Financing to Fuel Diversity in Global Startup on March 31 at 11:00am ET. The virtual program will discuss how early-stage investors are leveraging their investments to drive diversity in startups across Asia, Africa and Latin America.

• This webcast will feature André Barrence, Head of Google’s Black Founders Fund in Brazil, India-based investor Anjali Bansal of Avaana Capital, and impact-focused global fintech investors Monica Brand of Quona Capital and Arjuna Costa of Flourish Ventures. Cate Ambrose, CEO of EMPEA, will moderate the discussion. Register here.

> #GPEC Registration is now open for the 22nd annual Global Private Equity Conference (GPEC) on 17-20 May 2021. Join IFC and EMPEA for the world’s largest convening of private investors in a highly interactive virtual gathering to learn the latest industry trends and connect with its prominent voices. Featured sessions include:

• Julian Cheng (Warburg Pincus) and JP Gan (INCE Capital) on backing Chinese tech
• Chang Wen Lai (Ninja Van) on the future of delivery in Southeast Asia
• Cem Sertoglu (Earlybird) on the sale of Peak Games to Zynga
• Eric Acher (monashees) on Brazilian VC’s breakout moment
• Judith Li (Lilly Asia Ventures) on biomedical VC
• Actis and other leading GPs on the Global Tech Infrastructure Opportunity
• General Atlantic’s Bill Ford interviews global entrepreneurs Byju Raveendran of India’s Byju’s and Ricardo Weder of Mexico’s Jüsto

• REGISTER here.

> #CHANGETHERATIO PECAP, InclusivX and INCA Ventures are hosting The Diversity Dividend, a discussion about the benefits of an inclusion-based approach to VC in LatAm, on March 25. Log in to your LAVCA account for a discount code.

> ColCapital will host the IV Pacific Alliance Private Equity and Venture Capital Summit on April 13, 14 and 15. More information here.

> LAVCA, in collaboration with EMPEA, is pleased to announce the new Inside Private Capital series, a groundbreaking education training platform for GP and LP members.

• LAVCA members are being given special consideration to participate in module one, Meeting LP Expectations on ESG, taking place on April 21, at the discounted rate.
• To receive further information on the registration process, please contact education@lavca.org.

> #SAVETHEDATE AMEXCAP will host Cumbre de Capital Privado 2021 on April 27 and 28. Details here.

> IDB Lab launched a call for proposals for VC fund managers with a focus on Latin America and the Caribbean seeking equity financing. Investment management firms with proven experience and presence in the region are welcome to submit a proposal.

> ProChile launched a program to connect Chilean startups looking for international expansion with companies in Mexico, Colombia and Peru.

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.