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Editor's Note: The LatAm Venture Bulletin is produced by Carlos Ramos de la Vega, LAVCA’s Manager of Venture Capital. Former Editor Julie Ruvolo now publishes our global newsletter, the Global Tech Brief.

TLDR

📢 Q3 2021 VC Data: LAVCA releases preliminary Q3 2021 VC Data

📢 Call for Nominations: LAVCA opens nominations for the 2021 Top Women and Emerging Women Investors in Latin America Tech

📢 New Rounds for: Konfío, Merama, Higo, Ayenda, Ontop, ZAX, Gabriel

📢 Funds: Final close for SP Ventures; fund launches for monashees, Aqua Capital & others

📢 Startup M&A: Digital House merges with Rocketseat; Nubank acquires Akala; Omie acquires G-Click; Ambar acquires Autodoc; Jüsto acquired Freshmart; Delivery Hero acquires Hugo

📢 Mobility/Transportation Rounds: Tembici, CargoX, Trackage

📢 Cashback & Loyalty Rounds: CRM&Bonus, Reworth, iClubs

LAVCA PRELIMINARY Q3 2021 VC DATA 

Latin American VC investment surpassed USD11.5b for 2021 YTD, with three months to go. LAVCA tracked USD5.1b in Q3 2021 alone, according to our preliminary data, in line with the USD4.8b invested in Q2 2021.

Pickup in the press:

🔥 FT: How Latin America became tech’s next big frontier reviews the drivers behind the big numbers with Hernan Kazah, Francisco Alvarez-Demalde, Julio Vasconcellos, Marcelo Claure and Pierpaolo Barbieri.

🔥 LABS: LAVCA: Latin America surpasses USD11.5b in VC investments in 2021.

VIEW LAVCA’s recent research & data outputs.

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: WOMEN INVESTORS IN LATIN AMERICA

LAVCA is calling for nominations for its lists of Top Women Investors and Emerging Women Investors in Latin American Tech.

ACCESS the form to nominate senior, mid, and junior-level female investment professionals on your radar committing capital to a PE, Real Assets or VC fund, or deploying capital from a fund, and women angel investors committing over USD50k to LatAm tech startups.

PARTICIPATE: Investors supporting gender diversity in the region, as well as female founders in STEM are invited to register for WeXchange 2021, taking place December 1-2. Details here.

THE BIG DEAL

Advent International and SoftBank led a USD225m Series B for Merama, a Mexico- and Brazil-based e-commerce brand aggregator, with participation from Globo Ventures, and follow-on from monashees, Valor Capital Group, Balderton Capital and MAYA Capital at a reported ~USD850m valuation.

• Valor Capital Group, monashees and Balderton Capital led a USD60m equity and USD100m debt round in May.
• Merama was founded by Sujay Tyle, current Venture Partner at Balderton Capital and former Co-Founder of car resale marketplace Frontier Car Group, which sold to OLX/Naspers for ~USD700m in 2019.

Merama is one of several e-commerce aggregators that has raised significant capital this year:

🔥 VALOREO raised a USD50m seed round led by Angel Ventures Angel Ventures, FJ Labs, Upper90 and Presight Capital in February. KASZEK invested three months later.

🔥 Wonder Brands raised a USD20m seed round led by ALLVP and Mountain Nazca. Wonder Brands was founded by Groupon alum Federico Malek and Goldman Sachs alum Nicolás González Luna.

E-commerce aggregators are one of a few emerging trends we’re observing as e-commerce investment heats up in Latin America.

Key insights:

🔥 E-commerce investment has grown 4x since 1H 2019 as a share of total VC invested.

🔥 12 of the top 15 e-commerce deals of all time were announced in the past 12 months.

🔥 27% of total VC has been allocated to e-commerce within the same time period.

DEALS

> #LOGISTICS Tencent and SoftBank led a USD200m Series F for CargoX, a Brazilian trucking marketplace, with participation from Valor Capital Group and MFO Oikos, and follow-on from Lightrock.

• Tencent and SoftBank committed USD150m of the total round.
• CargoX raised a USD80m Series E led by Lightrock in 2020 and raised USD60m from Blackstone and Hudson Structured Capital Management in 2018.

> Tarsadia Capital and QED Investors led a USD110m Series E+ for Konfío, a Mexican lending platform for SMEs, with follow-on from SoftBank, KASZEK, VEF, IFC and Lightrock.

• Lightrock led a USD125m Series E in July; Konfio secured a USD60m credit line from Goldman Sachs earlier this year and acquired Mexican mobile payments provider Sr.Pago.
• VIEW LAVCA’s Unicorn Leaderboard for the latest list of LatAm unicorns.

> Crescera Capital led a USD80m Series C for Tembici, a Brazilian micro-mobility platform focused on bikes, with participation from Endeavor Catalyst and Pipo.

• Tembici raised a USD47m Series B led by Valor Capital Group in June 2020.
• Tembici partnered with iFood in October 2020 to launch an electric bike initiative for delivery partners in Brazil; this new round will enable Tembici to add 5k new e-bikes to its 16k total bike fleet in Brazil, Chile and Argentina.
  

> Brazilian cashback platform CRM&Bonus raised ~USD56m from SoftBank, Riverwood Capital, Igah Ventures and Volpe Capital at a reported ~USD200m valuation.

> Tiger Global led a USD26.5m Series A for Favo, a Brazil- and Peru-based grocery fulfillment platform leveraging local sales reps to market products for last-mile distribution, with participation from GFC, Elevar Equity, FJ Labs, H2O and angels Kevin Efrusy (Accel) and David Velez (Nubank).

• Elevar Equity and GFC led a ~USD7m round in January.

 

> Accel led a USD23m Series A for Higo, a Mexican B2B payments platform for SMEs, with participation from Tiger Global and angels Claire Hughes-Johnson and Cristina Cordova (Stripe), and follow-on from Haystack, Homebrew, Audacious, Susa Ventures and J Ventures.

• Homebrew led a USD3.3m round in March.

 

> #EDTECH #CVC Valor Capital Group led a USD22m Series A for Aprende Institute, a Mexican vocational training platform, with participation from ECMC Group, Univision, Angel Ventures, Capria, Endeavor Catalyst, Artisan Venture Capital, Matterscale, Salkantay Ventures, 500 Global, The Yard Ventures and Claure Group, and follow-on from Reach Capital.

• Aprende raised a USD1.6m seed round in April 2020.

>  #HRTECH Tiger Global and Point72 Ventures led a USD20m Series A for Ontop, a Colombian onboarding and payroll management platform for companies with international teams, with participation from SoftBank.

• Point72 Ventures led a USD4.5m seed round in June.

> #BNPL NY-based VC Two Sigma Ventures led a USD20m round for Nelo, a Mexican BNPL platform for e-commerce merchants, with participation from Primer Capital, Moving Capital and Gaingels, and follow-on from Homebrew, Susa Ventures, Crossbeam and podcast host Anthony Pompliano (The Pomp Letter).

• Homebrew led a USD3m seed round in April.
• Nelo was founded by former Uber alums Kyle Miller and Stephen Hebson.

> #HEALTHTECH KASZEK led a USD18m Series B for SouSmile, a Brazilian cosmetic dentistry startup, with participation from Chromo Invest, Atmos Capital, Allievo and Endeavor Scale-Up Ventures, and follow-on from GFC.

• KASZEK, GFC and Canary led a USD10m Series A in March 2020.

 

> Movii, a Colombian digital payment platform, raised a USD15m round led by Square Capital and SF-based VC Hard Yaka.

• Blue Like an Orange invested USD10m in 2020.

> #PROPTECH Ayenda, a Colombian budget hotel chain, raised a USD10m round from 500 Global, Dalus Capital and IDB Lab.

• Dila Capital invested in June; KASZEK led a USD8.7m Series A in 2020; SoftBank led a USD1.2m seed round in 2019.

> Igah Ventures led a ~USD6.5m round for Klubi, a Brazilian consortium lending platform for vehicle financing, with participation from Parallax Ventures and partners from Cyrela Capital.

> ltantico led a USD6m Series A for ZAX, a Brazilian B2B wholesale marketplace for clothing, toys and electronics, with participation from FJ Labs, Caravela Capital, GFC and Canary.

• Caravela and Canary invested USD1.5m in August 2020.

> #AGTECH Seedz, a Brazilian loyalty platform for rural producers, raised an undisclosed seed round led by Volpe Capital and 10b, the agribusiness practice of Brazilian investment manager SK Tarpon, with participation from The Yield Lab and Tridon Participações.

> #ANGEL Turismocity, a Brazilian airline ticketing startup focused on tourists, raised USD6m from angels Martin Migoya (Globant), Francisco Alvarez-Demalde (Riverwood Capital), Pablo Saubited (Iplan) and Eduardo Elsztain (IRSA/Cresud).

> #LASTMILE PideDirecto, a Mexico-based e-commerce and 30-minute last-mile delivery platform, raised a USD5.3m seed round led by JAM FUND, the VC fund of Tinder founder Justin Mateen, with participation from Soma Capital, Acacia Ventures, Kube VC, Flexport and Y Combinator.

> KASZEK led a USD4.9m seed round for Neta, a Mexico social e-commerce platform, with participation from Founders Fund, Picus Capital, Next Play Ventures, Graph Ventures and Alter Global.

> GreenV, a Brazilian developer of charging stations for electric cars, raised ~USD4.4m from an undisclosed US-based investor.

> #INSURTECH KASZEK led a USD4m Series A for Crabi, a Mexican car insurance platform, with participation from Tuesday Capital, and follow-on from Redwood Ventures.

• Crabi raised a USD1.3m seed round in May 2019 from Redwood Ventures and others.

> #HEALTHTECH MDHealth, a Brazilian education platform for healthcare professionals, raised ~USD4m from an undisclosed investor.

> Eatsy Market, a Colombian food delivery platform, raised USD3.5m from undisclosed investors.

> ALLVP led a USD2.8m seed round for Reworth, a Mexican cashback and customer engagement platform for financial institutions, with participation from FJ Labs, Soma Capital, Gilgamesh, Rally Cap, Verve Capital and Evergreen Fund.

• Angels investing in the round included Oskar Hjertonsson & Daniel Undurraga (Cornershop), Patrick Sigrist (iFoods) Martin Schrimp (Kocomo) and Gerry Giacomán Colyer (Clara) among others.

> Kayyak Ventures led a USD2m Series A for Agenda Pro, a Chilean booking management platform for beauty, healthcare and wellness centers, with participation from Fen Ventures and TMT Investments.

> #CYPTO #NFT Tropix, a Brazilian NFT marketplace, raised a USD2m seed round led by 2TM, Mercado Bitcoin’s parent company, with participation from Mago Capital.

• This is the first NFT deal we have seen in Latin America.

> #CRYPTO Green Rock and Fuse Capital invested USD2m in Arthur Mining, a US-based digital asset mining platform that was founded by Brazilian Ray Nasser.

> DOMO Invest led a ~USD1.5m seed round for Zapay, a Brazilian payments platform for traffic fines.

> #LOGISTICS DOMO invests ~USD1.2m in Trackage, a Brazilian route optimization platform for company fleets.

• Trackage’s clients include 3M, DHL and Whirlpool.

> #CVC Indicator Capital and MarcoZero, the CVC arm of Marcopolo, invested ~USD1.1m in CTA Smart, a Brazilian fuel fulfillment and management platform for company fleets.

> BTG Pactual invested ~USD1m in iClubs, a Brazilian B2B loyalty program management platform.

> #CARS Kovi, a Brazilian rental car platform for on-demand drivers, invested ~USD1m in Zanzar, a Brazilian in-car advertisement platform.

• Kovi raised USD104m Series B led by Valor Capital Group and Prosus Ventures in August.

> Angel Ventures Mexico invested in Creizer, a Mexican cash advances platform for small and medium e-commerce merchants.

• Creizer was selected for Village Capital’s 2021 Finance Forward Latin America earlier this year.

> Delivery Max, a Brazilian last-mile delivery app aggregator, raised ~USD420k from angels.

> Feluma Ventures, the venture builder of FCJ Ventures, invested ~USD250k in Wide Hands, UK- and Brazil-based platform developing technology for left-handed consumers.

> #CVC Porto Ventures, the CVC arm of Brazilian insurance giant Porto Seguro, invested in Atar, a Brazilian software platform providing white label fintech solutions.

> #RESALE Ja Vendeu, a Brazilian marketplace of second-hand consumer products, raised ~USD500k from Verve Capital, Urca Angels, Poli Angels, Insper Angels, Hangar 8 and FEA Angels.

FUNDS

> #AGTECH SP Ventures held a ~USD44m final close for AgVentures II, its second vehicle targeting investments in agtech startups in Brazil and Argentina.

• Banco do Brasil Seguridade made an undisclosed commitment, joining previous investors IFC, BASF, Adisseo, Mosaic, Syngenta and FoF Capira. Yara Growth Ventures also made an undisclosed commitment.
• Companies in the AgVentures II portfolio include: Agrolend, Frizata, GoFlux, Leaf Agriculture, Traive and ZoomAgri.
  

 

> monashees launched its tenth flagship fund with a USD350m target, and a first vehicle with a USD350m target to invest in late stage startups.

> Aqua Capital launched Aqua Capital Fund III, its third flagship fund to invest in agribusiness companies and foodtech startups with a ~USD400m target.

> #MINING KTPL launched Fundo KTPL Mineração, an early stage fund to invest in startups developing solutions for the mining industry with a ~USD100m target.

> Multilaser, a leading Brazilian electronic device manufacturer, made a ~USD4m commitment to Fundo Govtech, a fund jointly managed by KPTL and Cedro Capital investing in early stage startups addressing problems in the public sector.

> Argentine accelerator Glocal expects to invest USD30m in Latin American agtech and foodtech startups.

• Glocal is the first known Latin America-based agtech fund to receive a B-Corp certification.

STARTUP M&A

> Nubank Mexico acquired Akala, a Mexican Sociedad Financiera Popular (SOFIPO) authorized by Mexican regulators to manage debit accounts on behalf of retail customers.

• Nubank also announced it reached profitability for the first time in history. Berkshire Hathaway led a USD750m Series G+ at a USD30b valuation in June.

> Omie, a Brazilian ERP for SMEs, acquired G-Click, a Brazilian operations management platform for accounting firms.

• Omie raised a ~USD116m Series C led by SoftBank in August.

> Ambar, a Brazilian real estate developer providing digitization services for construction projects, acquired Autodoc, a Brazilian construction operations management platform, for ~USD15.2m.

• Ambar raised ~USD1.2m from SP Ventures in October 2020.

> #EDTECH Digital House, an Argentine provider of technical training for developers, merged with Rocketseat, a software education platform for career professionals, in a ~USD30m cash-and-stock deal.

• Digital House raised USD50m from Mercado Libre, Globant and Riverwood Capital in April.

> Jüsto, a Mexican grocery delivery platform, acquired Freshmart, a Peruvian online supermarket.

• Jüsto raised a US65m Series A led by General Atlantic in February.

> Delivery Hero acquired Hugo, a San Salvador-based last-mile delivery platform serving Central America.

• Delivery Hero also acquired Spanish food delivery platform Glovo’s Latin American operations for USD272m in September 2020.

> Brazilian digital brokerage Warren acquired Vitra Capital, a MFO with USD2.4b in AUM, to strengthen its position in the wealth management space.

• Warren raised a ~USD60m Series C led by GIC in May.

NEWS

> #POLICY Mexico’s National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV) has accelerated the pace of approvals for platforms intending to operate under Ley Fintech.

• CNBV authorized the operation of nine crowdfunding companies: Fundary, Likideo MX, BXL Fintech, Doopla, Prestadero, M2Crowd, Cien Ladrillos, Play Business and Crowd Up Mex.
• CNBV approved ten electronic payment platforms: NVIO Pagos, Trafalgar Digital, BRX Payments, Inguz Digital, BKBN, Tu Dinero Digital, Sistema de Transferencias y Pagos STP, ColtoMoney, Cuenca and Mexpago.
• Only three applicants have been rejected so far: Flink, Mibo and Cacao PayCard.

> Mercado Libre partnered with Brazilian supermarket chain Mambo to expand its perishable foods and fresh produce delivery platform.

> Half of the Brazilian population now uses PIX, the open banking and payments platform launched by the Central Bank a year ago, according to Bloomberg.

> Bloomberg Linea discusses the drivers behind the lack of local IPOs in Mexico in Por qué las startups en México y Latam no debutan en bolsa.

> TechCrunch: VCs say there are more startup opportunities to chase in Latin America.

> CrunchBase: Why Latin America is the Next Hot Spot For Fast-Growing Mediatech Companies

• "Latin America’s 660 million-plus residents have proven themselves early adopters of new technology—particularly within the digital media and advertising space—as internet and mobile phone usage reach new highs. Brazil, Mexico and Argentina are among the highest-ranked markets worldwide for total hours per week spent on the internet, much of it on mobile devices."

> #CRYPTO Jose Luis Adriano of TecReview discusses the role of cryptocurrencies in facilitating the flow of remittances to Latin American countries.

INVESTORS

> Susana Garcia Robles of Capria Ventures reflects on her investing experience and the potential of the Global South in 2021.

• "For the first time ever, I see that many founders have the privilege of choice. As they choose potential investors, they go deep into analyzing who provides smart capital and not just capital with no value add. The tide is turning and rightly so… Due to regulatory issues and poor macroeconomics, some soonicorns and unicorns founded by Latins and Africans are being captured as US or other countries’ unicorns, because the company was established outside the country of origin. This poses a problem for those who want to understand the potential of the Global South. We need to tell the stories of these entrepreneurs so the regions they come from don’t go unnoticed."

> Patrick Alex of Endeavor interviews Paulo Passoni of SoftBank on best practices around board construction for Latin American startups.

> Greg Mitchell of Angel Ventures Peru interviews Meghan Stevenson-Krausz of INCA Ventures on her experience fostering the Peruvian startup ecosystem:

• “Hace un par de años cuando fui al Museo Larco por primera vez una de las cosas que más me sorprendió era aprender que había civilizaciones más antiguas en lo que hoy es Perú. Visitando a Machu Picchu es impresionante las herramientas que construyeron los Incas. Perú tiene una historia muy rica y espero que los emprendedores actuales en Perú se sientan orgullosos de esta historia y puedan construir sobre ella.”

> Lolita Taub of Lightspeed maps Mexico’s current tech landscape, including founders to watch and Mexico-based investors, in Everything you need to know about Mexico’s startup scene.

GLOBAL TECH

SIGN UP for GPCA’s Global Tech Brief. Edited by LAVCA’s Julie Ruvolo, this bi-weekly newsletter covers tech activity in Asia, Latin America, Africa, CEE and the Middle East.

PEOPLE & PROGRAMS

> SVB is looking for a Vice President to join their Latin America-focused practice based out of San Francisco. Interested candidates are welcome to apply.

> KASZEK is looking for a Principal to join their investment team based out of São Paulo. Interested candidates are welcome to apply.

> Capria Ventures is looking for a Global Investment Fellow to join its Latin America investing team and work alongside Susana Garcia Robles in deals in the Global South. Interested candidates are welcome to apply.

> Andreessen Horowitz is looking for a Fintech EIR. The selected operator will receive compensation in the form of funding for their venture. Interested candidates are welcome to apply.

> SVB will host a conversation in October 28 on the role of debt as a financing mechanism to fuel startups’ growth in Latin America, with participation from Armineh Baghoomian (Partners for Growth), Amr Shady (Tribal), and Sara Rona and Julia Figueiredo (SVB). Register here.

> Congratulations to Matias Muchnik of NotCo for his inclusion in Bloomberg Linea’s 2021 list of the 500 Most Influential People in Latin America.

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.