Welcome to the 18th edition of the Dealflow LatAm newsletter: a weekly summary of everything that happened in the LatAm startup and investment ecosystem.
This week’s newsletter is brought to you by zenital:
zenital partners with startups and larger companies to streamline their data processes, offering tailored solutions like data warehouse implementation, process automation, and comprehensive data assessments.
Not only are they good at what they do, but they’re also very nice people. If you need help to navigate the data landscape, reach out to them!
🇧🇷 Sol Agora, Brookfield’s Brazilian fintech, raises $135M to fund 40,000 residential solar projects. The funds were secured through its third Fundo de Investimento em Direito Creditório (FIDC), backed by an international bank.
🇧🇷 Paytrack raises $41M in a Series B round led by Riverwood Capital. The funds will accelerate commercial expansion, develop new products, and integrate B2B payment solutions. Paytrack serves over 7,000 clients and plans to expand into Mexico and Colombia.
🇧🇷 Music.AI, creator of the Moises app, raises $40M in a Series A led by Connect Ventures with participation from Kickstart, Samsung Next, and others. The platform, with 50M users globally, will use the funds to advance AI-powered music and audio technologies.
🇧🇷 Jota raises $9M in a Seed round led by MAYA Capital. The fintech offers a financial assistant on WhatsApp for SMEs and will use the funds to expand and enhance its platform.
🇲🇽 PuntoPost raises $1.5M in a funding round led by 4Founders, JME Ventures, Latin Leap, Lanai, and Inclimo. The startup will use the funds to develop technology, expand operations, and grow its delivery point network in Mexico.
🇨🇱 Rocketbot raises $900K from CORFO to develop self-repairing automation bots, reducing downtime and human intervention.
🇧🇷 Voxtom raises $760K to expand its free event creation platform. The round was led by João Francisco and Daniel Quirino, supporting app development and growth in 74 countries.
🇪🇨 PayMon raises $600K led by Magma Partners to expand in Mexico and Ecuador and enhance its school-focused payment app.
🇨🇱 Codebreaker secures $400K from Südlich Capital to expand its microbiome platform in LatAm, enhancing aquaculture health and disease prevention.
🇧🇷 Caccao raises $372K led by DOMO.VC to enhance its SaaS platform connecting social media to financial products.
🇧🇷 Lumo Robotics raises $169k to develop solar panel cleaning robots and expand in Brazil. The round was led by Link Ventures and Gera Climate Ventures.
🇧🇷 Sem Parar acquires Gringo for $15M, enabling VEF to fully exit its stake. Gringo serves 20M+ Brazilian drivers with vehicle-related services.
🇧🇷 Company Hero acquires Duca Saúde and Segure.Me to expand services for PJ professionals, including health plans and insurance. The acquisitions boost its offerings for 32K active clients and strengthen its position in Brazil’s PJ market.
🇧🇷 Streamline Brasil partners with IBM and TD Synnex to launch Sphere, a program connecting scale-ups to technology, market expansion, and investors.
🇧🇷 Bossa Invest plans to focus on AI, sustainability, and emerging hubs in 2025, targeting early-stage startups in fintech, healthtech, and cleantech.
🇧🇷 Field, a spin-off of Buriti, manages $68M in AUM and focuses on agribusiness funds under the leadership of Silvio Tertuliano.
🇨🇱 IncubaUdeC launches a new $592M fund to support sustainable startups in 2025. The "Level Up" fund targets climate change solutions, promoting clean energy and reducing emissions, alongside a continuation of its previous funding program.
🇨🇱 AFIDE, Chile's new financing agency, aims to boost startups and economic growth through the "Fondo de Fondos," attracting both local and foreign investments with lower-risk financing.
🇨🇴 Colombia's agrifoodtech ecosystem attracted $40M in 2024, leading LatAm in the sector. With 163 startups, investments focus on biotech, robotics, and plant-based solutions, solidifying Colombia as a top player, second only to Brazil (excluding Rappi).
🇧🇷 Latitud relaunches its Latitud Fellowship to support early-stage LatAm startups. The program offers $25K per participant, mentorship, and global investor access. Applications are open until February 17, 2025.
🇧🇷 EY opens applications for Winning Women Brazil, a free 12-month program supporting female entrepreneurs with at least 51% business ownership and annual revenue of $600K+. Applications close on January 31, 2025.
🇨🇱 Climatech Innovation Summit 2025 will take place in Santiago on April 10-11, spotlighting climate technologies and positioning Chile as a regional leader. Supported by Corfo Metropolitano and Climatech Chile, the free event aims to boost local startups and foster collaboration.
🇦🇷 Expoagro 2025 unveils Eureka!, showcasing AI and robotics in agriculture. Experts will discuss innovations in food security and climate challenges. The event will take place on March 12.
🇧🇷🤝🇨🇦 Teuto and MediPharm Labs partner to expand medical cannabis in Brazil, focusing on cannabidiol for palliative care and CNS treatments.
🇦🇷 Calice, an agtech with operations in Argentina and the U.S., enters Brazil with NODES, an AI-based platform for predictive agricultural modeling.
🇧🇷 Community Creators Academy invests $7M in a São Paulo hub with studios and courses to boost content creators' careers.
🇲🇽 Nelo leverages AI to double its business in 2024, with a 250% revenue growth. The company focuses on personalized services and an efficient model, generating nearly $1M per employee.
🇲🇽 Zebrands secures a $54M syndicated loan from HSBC México and Banco Sabadell México to expand its stores and operations.
🇺🇸🤝🇲🇽 Uber Eats partners with R2 to launch “Financiamiento Uber Eats,” offering quick, sales-based credit to restaurants in Mexico, along with advertising credits on Uber Ads.
🇧🇷 Syonet enters Mexico to grow its CRM for auto dealerships, aiming for 100+ clients and 33% revenue growth in 2025.
🇦🇷 Credicuotas, a digital lending fintech, issued its first USD-denominated bond for $18.2M to diversify funding and expand its investor base.
🇦🇷 ProntoPaga starts operations in Argentina as a payment services provider. The company was advised by Cerolini & Ferrari Abogados in the transaction.
🇦🇷 /q99 joins the NVIDIA Inception Program, gaining global recognition and access to exclusive resources to enhance its AI and Quantum Computing innovations.
🇦🇷🤝🇨🇱 Tapi partners with Naranja X, a leading virtual wallet, to enhance digital payment solutions in Argentina.
🇦🇷🤝🇺🇸 Despegar partners with Topsort to integrate AI-powered sponsored products, enhancing user experience and advertiser performance with personalized travel recommendations.
🇪🇸 Bnka, a fintech for migrants, launched a Visa card in Argentina allowing users to pay in pesos locally or abroad, withdraw cash, and convert currencies instantly via its app.
🇨🇴 Valentina Ríos, founder of Docokids, and Johana Cordovez, creator of Tirando x Colombia, won the Bayer Foundation Women Entrepreneurs Award 2024 for their health innovations in LatAm.
🇧🇷 Nubank was the top liquid foreign company on Colombia’s Global Market in 2024, trading over $1B daily, fueling innovation and growth.
🇨🇴🤝🇪🇸 Keybe.ai partners with LLYC Venturing to enhance AI-driven sales and marketing solutions. This collaboration aims to improve customer engagement, conversion rates, and sales for LLYC clients.
🇨🇱 Baaskit secures CMF approval to operate as a payment card operator, offering advanced solutions for sectors like retail and transportation. Founded in 2023, it aims to modernize transactions and plans to expand into accounts, loans, and insurance.
🇨🇱 Zesty launches Zesty+, a dollar-based wallet offering 4.25% annual returns with daily interest, aiming to simplify investing across LatAm.
🇨🇱 Fraccional.cl expands to Chilean Patagonia with a fractional ownership model offering 1-hectare plots near Coyhaique, projecting 21.5% annual returns.
🇨🇱 Lemontech unveils LemonFlow, a platform to automate legal processes and cut corporate legal costs by up to 40%.
🇨🇱 Mastercard and EFE enable contactless payments across Valparaíso’s public transport, including buses, trains, trolleys, and elevators.
🇨🇱 ProntoPaga was authorized by the CMF as a PSP for cross-border acquiring, enabling it to process international payments for foreign merchants in Chile.
🇨🇱 RedCapital grows 50% in 2024, focusing on AI-driven risk evaluation for SMEs in Chile, Peru, and Colombia, with plans for 200% growth in tech.
🇨🇱 Buydepa plans to be the first proptech listed on ScaleX, with a pre-money valuation of $22M. It seeks to raise $3M to address Chile's housing crisis, supported by LarrainVial and BancoEstado.
🇨🇱 MACH rebrands to MACHBANK and launches a virtual credit card with benefits like discounts, 2% cashback, and interest-free installments.
🇪🇸 Camaleonic Analytics expands to Chile and prepares a €1M investment round to scale its AI-driven advertising for sports. The company aims for €1M in revenue for 2023.
🇦🇷 Salesforce announced a $500M investment in Argentina over five years, focusing on AI innovation, workforce development, and public sector digitalization. The plan was presented by Marc Benioff to President Javier Milei during the World Economic Forum in Davos.
🇨🇱 Uber, Cabify, and DiDi challenge Chile's "Uber Law," appealing to the Comptroller over provisions like driver caps, stricter vehicle inspections, and ministerial permits. The government defends the law, aiming to align ride-hailing apps with taxi regulations.
🇨🇱 Puerto Montt advances in creating a tech park to lead innovation in Patagonia. The initiative aims to position the city as a hub for biotechnologies and AI, with support from local authorities and Corfo.
🇨🇴 Exagon Impact Capital invests in Solar Assets Latin America (SALA) to expand solar solutions across Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Mexico, advancing LatAm's renewable energy efforts.
🌎 Cristian Olea Simunovic, Managing Partner of Manutara Ventures, shares insights on “What VCs Look for When Investing in Latin American Startups”. He highlights the importance of founder passion, authenticity, and adaptability, along with a clear, impactful solution to real problems.
