> #M&A Uber acquired a majority stake in on-demand delivery platform Cornershop, in its first disclosed startup investment in Latin America.
- Earlier this year, Mexican regulator Cofece nixed Walmart’s US$225m acquisition of Cornershop, in what would have been the largest VC-backed exit in Chile or Mexico. Asem said at the time the decision discourages innovation.
- Cornershop investors include ALLVP, Accel Partners, Creandum, Grupo Bimbo Family Office, Endeavor Catalyst, Jackson Square Ventures, and others.
- TechCrunch on why Jackson Square Ventures co-led Cornershop’s Series A.
- Cornershop co-founder Chaq Cuevas will be participating in the LAVCA Family Office/VC Workshop in Santiago on Nov 14 📅. Qualified investors can REGISTER TO PARTICIPATE HERE.
> Ribbit Capital led a R$35m investment in Gorila Invest, a Brazilian personal investment management platform, with participation from monashees, Canary, and Iporanga Investimentos.
- Valor says Gorila has 40,000 users and R$5b+ in investments under management on the platform.
> #IMPACT e.bricks Ventures led a R$20m Series A in Labi, a Brazilian network of clinics offering lab exams at accessible prices. This is the company’s first institutional funding, having previously received investment from angels including Marcelo Lacerda.
- Founder and CEO Marcelo Barboza was former CEO and then Chairman of DASA, the region’s largest medical diagnostic company.
- Labi is targeting the 170 million Brazilians who don’t have healthcare.
> KaszeK Ventures led a R$20m Series A in SouSmile, a Brazilian direct-to-consumer dental startup, with participation from Canary and Global Founders Capital. The startup has three physical locations in São Paulo.
- SouSmile raised a US$1.1m seed round from Canary, Global Founders Capital, and R$1.5m from partners and angels.
- Founders include Michael Ruah, Andrea Nazare, Natalia Lombardo, and Alexandre Gama.
> Confrapar invested R$20m in Ubook, a Brazilian audiobook company. Trivella M3 Investments invested previously.
> KaszeK Ventures led a R$7m investment in Theia, a Brazilian family support platform founded by Flávia Deutsch and Paula Crespi.
- 📰 READ our interview with Deutsch and Crespi below.
> NXTP Ventures made a US$1.5m seed investment in Worcket, an Argentine HR SaaS platform that automates screening and applicant tracking for enterprises and SMBs.
> #AGTECH The Yield Lab invested R$2m in TerraMagna, a Brazilian agtech risk management platform. Canary invested previously. This is The Yield Lab’s first investment in Brazil.
> #AGTECH Arpac, a Brazilian drone startup for crop spraying, raised R$1.3m from MOR Capital, Japan’s Drone Fund, and angel Francisco Forbes.
> #AGTECH Brazilian agtech IDGeo raised R$700k from angel group Poli Angels. The company raised $R1.5m previously from FAPESP.
> #IMPACT Vox Capital and Kviv Ventures invested R$6m in VirtusPay, a Brazilian consumer lending platform for making e-commerce purchases with installment payments.
> #IMPACT FIS Ameris 2.0 made an undisclosed investment in Ciudad Luz, a Chilean solar energy distribution platform.
> #IMPACT Yunus Social Business made an undisclosed investment in Arbusta, an Argentine sourcing and talent development company focused on providing opportunities for low income youth and women. Arbusta currently has over 300 employees, 95% without formal education.
> DOMO Invest, Bossa Nova Investimentos, and GV Angels invested R$2.2m in Resolvvi, a Brazilian customer service platform for compensating flight passengers. In 2018, Resolvii raised R$150k from WOW Aceleradora.
> Clean Cloud, a Brazilian cloud management tool for AWS, raised a R$ 1.2m seed round led by Anjos do Brasil, with participation from Bossa Nova Investimentos, GV Angels and other angels.
- CEO Henrique Vaz: "One of the main usages for this seed round is a new product called CleanCloud Score, a compliance product for AWS cloud focused Brazilian regulations such as LGPD (Brazil's version of GDPR) and Bacen 4.658 (Brazilian Central Bank resolution regarding cloud computing usage)."
> Bossa Nova Investimentos made a new investment in Brazilian legaltech Fofuuu.
> Correction: #IMPACT Agritask, an Israeli precision agtech startup, raised a US$8.4m (and not R$5m) Series A from InsuResilience Investment Fund, managed by impact firm BlueOrchard, with participation from Barn InvestImentos.
CVC IN FOCUS 👇
> Brazilian bus ticketing platform Buser raised an undisclosed round from SoftBank Latin America Fund and Grupo Globo, with follow-on from Valor Capital, monashees, and Canary.
> #CRYPTO Bitso, a currency exchange platform for trading cryptocurrencies with the Mexican Peso, raised an undisclosed investment led by Ripple, with participation from Pantera Capital, Jump Capital, Coinbase, and previous investor Digital Currency Group (DCG).
- In 2016, Bitso raised US$2.5m from Monex Group, Variv Capital, DCG, Xochi Ventures, FundersClub, Bitcoin Capital, and Blockchain Tech Limited.
> Independencia, a Peruvian consumer lending platform, raised ~US$5m from Credicorp, Expertia Travel, and others.
> Retailer Carrefour Brasil acquired a 49% stake in Ewally, a Brazilian fintech building inclusive banking services on the blockchain.
> Banco Santander México, CONTPAQi, and others invested MX$250m in Innohub, a company builder for B2B fintechs. The partnership is focused on reaching one million Mexican Pymes and their seven million employees.
> #M&A Grupo Axo acquired Privalia, a Spain-based e-commerce platform for fashion and household products, as part of a push to drive digital sales for brands it distributes, including Guess, Kate Spade, Tommy Hilfiger, and Nike in Mexico.
- General Atlantic invested in Grupo Axo in 2017.