LAVCA Deal Awards

LAVCA is pleased to announce the winners of the Eighth Annual ESG Deal Awards, showcasing outstanding private capital investments in Latin America, specifically targeting environmental, social and gender diversity initiatives.

Congratulations to the following winners:
• 2022 Social Responsibility Award | Valor Capital Group for their investment in Dolado.
• 2022 Gender & Diversity Award | Advent International for their investment in CI&T.
• 2022 Environmental Responsibility Award | Aqua Capital for their investment in Biotrop.
• 2022 Environmental Responsibility Honorable Mention | Dalus Capital for their investment in Algramo.
Winners were selected from among deals submitted by LAVCA member firms through a rigorous evaluation process by a distinguished panel of institutional investors comprised of development finance institutions, pension funds and funds of funds.

Learn more about the winners and read the full press release.

LAVCA Trends in Tech

The 2022 LAVCA Trends in Tech breaks down VC investment data, top deals, highlighted transactions, sector/country trends and most active investors in 2021.

WOMEN LED | Venture investment in startups with a woman CEO or co-founder has risen since 2019, reaching 26% of capital raised in disclosed rounds over USD1m in 2021. Fifty-nine women-led startups in Latin America raised ~USD4b across 71 disclosed rounds in 2021.

ROUND SIZE | LAVCA analyzed the trend lines of VC round sizes in the region since 2019. Average and median VC round sizes were up significantly across all investment stages, driven by strong global and local investor interest, increased capital and robust exit activity. ☞ View the full report.

LAVCA Members can log in and download an accompanying LAVCA Data Pack with fundraising and disclosed closings; exits; all disclosed transactions, sortable by stage, sector and HQ; stage analysis for the major markets, round size analysis, and sector breakouts with year-over-year sector growth.

Deals

▸ LAST MILE | Oak HC/FT led a USD82m Series C for 99minutos, a Mexico-based last-mile logistics platform for e-commerce vendors, with follow-on from KASZEK and Prosus Ventures.
• Prosus led a USD40m Series B in June 2021; Engie Factory invested previously.

▸ Acrew Capital and Angeles Investors led a USD32m Series A for Canela Media, a video streaming platform for hispanics in the US, with participation from Samsung NEXT, Link Ventures and TEGNA Ventures, with follow-on from BBG Ventures, Mighty Capital, Reinventure Capital, Rising America Fund, Alumni Ventures, Powerhouse Capital and BMO.
• Canela Media was founded by Mexican Isabel Rafferty.

▸ CROSSBORDER | MNC Media, an Indonesian media conglomerate, led a USD25m Series B for Trebel, a Mexican offline music platform.

▸ CRYPTO | Digital asset platform OK Group led a USD24m Series A for Brazilian crypto exchange platform Foxbit.
• This is Foxbit’s first known institutional financing round, according to LAVCA data.

▸ IMPACT | Vinci Partners Impact acquired a minority stake in DMCard, a Brazilian low-income credit provider and card issuer for retailers, for ~USD20m.

▸ Vine Ventures led a USD17.5m Series A for Cayena, a Brazilian wholesale marketplace of food and cleaning products for restaurants, with participation from Astella Investimentos, Clocktower Ventures, FJ Labs, Gilgamesh, Endeavor Catalyst, Femsa Ventures, GraoVC, Canaan Partners and MSA Capital, with follow-on from Picus Capital.
• Picus Capital led a USD3.5m round in September 2021.

▸ BIOTECH | Stämm, an Argentine developer of bioreactor equipment, raised a USD17m Series A from Varana, Vista, New Abundance, Trillian, Serenity Traders and Decarbonization Consortium, with follow-on from Draper Cygnus, Draper Associates, SOSV, Grid Exponential, VistaEnergy, Teramips and Dragones VC.
• Draper Cygnus invested in 2018 and 2021.
• Stämm was incubated in IndieBio.

▸ CLEANTECH | KawiSafi Ventures led a USD15.5m Series B for Sistema.bio, a Mexico-based developer of biodigester energy for agricultural producers, with participation from AXA IM Impact Investing and follow-on from Engie RDE, Chroma Impact, Blink CV and Co Capital.
• DILA Capital led a USD12m round in June 2019.

▸ Wollef and YC led a USD12m seed round for Riogrande, a Mexican e-commerce brand incubator, with participation from angels Justin Mateen (Tinder) and Arielle Zuckerberg (Long Journey Ventures).
• Wollef invested in 2021.

▸ HRTECH | Khosla Ventures and San Francisco-based Merus Capital led a USD11m Series A for Emi, an Argentine recruiting automation interface for corporates.
• This is Merus’ first known investment in a Latin America startup and Khosla’s third known investment after backing Higia and Aguamarina in 2019.
“Our goal is to increase professional opportunities for the front-line workers in retail, warehousing and distribution, with a focus on blue collar and service workers at the base of the pyramid. Historically, Latin America has been more resistant to tech adoption, and the relative cost of recruiting has been relatively cheap compared to the US. This relative cost efficiency means that an automation platform must add significant value in order for it to be an attractive value proposition for hiring managers. We believe becoming a leading platform in Mexico will give us a long-term advantage for our global growth, but we have already started expanding to the US. While recruiting teams in the US have adopted a much varied tech stack and even have specific budgets allocated to selecting the leading HRtech platforms to work with, certifications and security standards are increasingly more aligned between the two countries.” – Mateo Cavasotto, CEO

▸ CVC | Inovabra Ventures, the CVC arm of Bradesco, invested USD10m in Smartbrain, a Brazilian portfolio management platform for RIAs and institutional brokerages.

▸ AGTECH | Grão Direto, a Brazilian agricultural commodity marketplace that operates on mobile and WhatsApp, raised ~USD8m from Barn Investimentos, Bayer, Ammagi and ADM.
• Brazil-based PE firm Lanx Capital led a ~USD2.7m round in February 2021; Grão Direto was Monsanto Growth Ventures’ inaugural investment in Brazil in 2018.

▸ LAST MILE | Sodexo led a USD7.5m round for Kiwibot, a Colombian robot manufacturer for last mile deliveries.

▸ EDTECH | Seaya Ventures led a USD5.6m round for Wuolah, a Spanish class notes aggregator for college students which is expanding its operations to Latin America.

▸ RESALE | Canary and DILA Capital led a USD5.5m round for Mezubo, a Colombian car resale financing platform.

▸ BIOTECH | Cells for Cells, a Chilean developer of osteoarthritis treatments, secured USD5.1m from undisclosed investors as part of a USD20m Series A.

▸ 8VC led a USD5m seed round for Sumer, a Colombian e-commerce platform for enabling SMEs to launch digital stores, with participation from Canary, Mantis Venture Capital, Clocktower Technology Ventures and Alter Venture Partners, with follow-on from Marathon Ventures and Susa Ventures.
• Sumer just raised a UD2m pre-seed round in January.

▸ INSURTECH | IDC Ventures led a USD5m round for Compraencasa, an Argentine car insurance platform.

▸ LEGALTECH | NY-based VC HOF Capital led a USD4.3m round for Trace Finance, a Brazilian enterprise software platform for Latin American startups to incorporate as Delaware or Cayman entities, at a reported USD120m valuation, with participation from Circle Ventures, Mantis Ventures, 2TM Ventures and angels Paulo Silveira (Alura) and Lincoln Ando (Idwall).

▸ General Catalyst led a USD4m seed round for Viva Translate, a US-based real-time language translation platform for Spanish-speaking employees working for US companies, with participation from First Check Ventures, Fellows Fund, Hyphen Capital and angels Chris Manning and Richard Socher (AIX Ventures).

▸ PROPTECH | TM3 led a ~USD3.6m round for AG7, a Brazilian real estate development and hospitality platform.

▸ HEALTHTECH | Susa Ventures led a ~USD3.2m seed round for Oya Care, a Brazilian virtual gynecology consultation platform, with participation from Positive Ventures and 1616 Ventures, and follow-on from Canary and IKJ Ventures.
• Canary invested in 2020.

▸ EDTECH | Luca, a Mexican on-demand video courses platform for elementary and high school students, raised a USD3m pre-seed round from Heartcore Capital, Shilling Capital and angels Brian Requarth (Latitud), Gonzalo Manrique (Ironhack) and Juan Romero (Pearson Latam).

▸ CVC | Multilaser, a leading Brazilian electronic device manufacturer, invested ~USD3m in E-moving, a Brazilian bike subscription service for companies.
• E-moving’s clients include Microsoft, Empiricus, Daki and ModalGR.

▸ Magma Partners led a USD2m seed round for Leasy, a Peruvian financing platform for ride-hailing drivers, with participation from IncaVentures, BuenTrip Ventures, GRAM, Otto Holdings and Nucleus EMB.
• DEBT | Leasy also secured USD15m in debt financing.

▸ GAMES | Bertha Capital invested ~USD2m in DX Gameworks, a Brazilian sales distribution platform for independent game development studios.

▸ eDarkstore, a Chilean e-commerce fulfillment platform, raised USD2m from Chilean consultancy Summa Partners and unnamed FOs.

▸ CVC | Brazilian software company Cadmus invested ~USD2m in beefor, a Brazilian employee management platform.

▸ INSURTECH | PayHop, a Brazilian account receivables insurance platform, raised ~USD2.3m from DOMO Invest, Experian Ventures and Citrino Gestão.

▸ SECURITY | US-based VC Act One Ventures led a USD1.5m seed round for Sora, a Mexican identity verification platform, with participation from Stella Investments.

▸ AGTECH | KPTL invested ~USD1.2m in Agtech Culttivo, a Brazilian financing platform for coffee growers.

▸ WOMEN LED | 500 Global, Plug&Play and Graphene Ventures led a USD1m round for WorknMates, a Miami-based on-demand corporate office space management platform, with participation from Newtopia, Oak Century Capital and Enlaces.
• WorknMates was founded by Argentines Gonzalo Agüero and Angelina Vigliocco.
• 500 Global invested USD60k in November 2021 as part of Somos Lucha Batch 14.

▸ HEALTHTECH | Respira Labs, a US-based manufacturer of portable respiratory monitors with operations in Colombia, raised USD1m led by Zentynel Frontier Investments, with participation from VentureWell and ImpactAssets.
• DEBT | Respira Labs also raised USD1.8m in debt financing from Small Business Innovation Research, National Science Foundation and National Institutes for Health.

▸ Vita Wallet, a Chilean international remittance transfer platform, raised USD750k from FEN Ventures and Chilean electronics retailer ABCDIN.

▸ CVC | Data Rudder, a Brazilian CRM and fraud prevention platform, raised ~USD620k from Torq Ventures, the CVC arm of Brazilian financial software platform Sinqia.

▸ Brazilian early stage investor ScaleXOpen invested ~USD600k in NetFoods, a Brazilian B2B marketplace connecting suppliers with independent restaurants.

▸ Bertha Capital and ScaleXOpen invested ~USD600k in Tiffin Foods, a Brazilian B2B marketplace connecting food suppliers with retailers.

▸ PRIVACY | UK-based VC Fuel Ventures led a ~USD600k round for Palqee, a London-based data privacy platform for SMEs with a majority of its operations in Brazil, with participation from GVAngels and FGV alumni.

▸ CVC | Brazilian credit research company Credits Brasil invested ~USD600k in AcertPix, a Brazilian fraud prevention platform.

▸ AGTECH | AgroVen led a ~USD400k round for Doroth, a Brazilian developer of testing technology for crop pathogens.

▸ EDTECH | Criabiz Ventures invested ~USD60k in Ways Education, a Brazilian education platform for families of corporate employees.

▸ WOMEN LED | WE Impact, a Brazilian venture studio funded by WE Ventures, invested in Venuxx, a Brazilian women-focused last-mile delivery platform.

▸ IMPACT | Kamay Ventures invested in AltScore, an Ecuadorian alternative credit score generator focused on the underbanked population.
• Overboost.vc invested USD50k in January 2021.

▸ FOODTECH | Blue Horizon invested in Tomorrow Foods, an Argentine plant-based protein manufacturer.
• Tomorrow Foods raised a USD3m round from Argentine company builder Grid Exponential in October 2021.
▸ Carao Ventures invested in escala, a Colombia-based sales lead generation platform for Hispanic SMEs.

▸ Indigo Capital and Newtopia VC invested in Oliver, an Argentine performance monitoring platform for soccer players.

▸ CVC / INSURTECH | Switzerland-based insurance group Swiss RE led an undisclosed pre-Series A for Klimber, an Argentine life insurance platform.

▸ IoT | WIND Ventures, the CVC fund of Chilean energy company Copec, invested in Dhemax, a Chilean operations management platform for IoT-focused companies.

▸ CVC | Comexport, a Brazilian international trade company, invested in Talura, a Brazilian freight forwarding marketplace.

▸ ANGEL | BR Angels Smart Network led a ~USD1.24m round for Woof, a Brazilian pet accessories marketplace, with participation from GVAngels, Urca Angels and Anjos do Brasil.

▸ ANGEL | GVAngels and Poli Angels invested ~USD240k in Moveu, a Brazilian made-to-order furniture platform.

▸ ANGEL | Harvard Angels do Brasil invested ~USD200k in iUPay, a Brazilian monthly expense management platform.

Editor’s Note: In the last issue we reported on SoFi, a US-based consumer finance management platform, acquiring Technisys, a digital banking platform with operations in Latin America, the US and Canada, in a USD1.1b all-stock transaction. KASZEK and Dalus Capital invested in 2014, in addition to Riverwood investing in 2019 and 2020.

M&A

▸ EVERTEC, a Puerto Rico-based merchant payments processor, acquired BBR, a Chilean payments platform with operations in Peru for USD60m.

▸ PROPTECH | Brazilian proptech QuintoAndar acquired Noknox, a Brazilian proptech for condo service management.
• Noknox raised ~USD200k on Brazilian equity crowdfunding platform Kria in August 2020.

▸ Cubbo, a Mexico-based e-commerce fulfillment startup, acquired Dedalog, a Brazilian fulfillment platform under the same model.
• Cubbo raised a USD4m seed round in December 2021 led by SV Latam.

▸ LOGISTICS | Grupo Boticário, a Brazilian beauty brand holding, acquired Equilibrium, a Brazilian freight quotation and logistic tracking platform.
• Invisto invested ~USD200k in Equilibrium in August 2020.

▸ Take Blip, a Brazilian chatbot developer, acquired Stilingue, a Brazilian social media monitoring startup.
• DGF Investimentos led a ~USD3.6m round for Stilingue in 2019.

▸ Dotz, a Brazilian marketing company, announced the acquisition of Noverde, a Brazilian personal credit platform.
• DOMO Invest led a ~USD800k round for Noverde in 2017.

▸ GAMES | Fortis, a US-based video game developer, acquired Oktagon, a Brazilian mobile games developer.
• Confrapar invested USD1m in Oktagon in 2012.

Fund Closings

▸ Founders Fund announced USD5b+ in final closes, with USD1.9b and USD3.4b growth funds raised for its venture and growth fund, respectively.
• Founders Fund recent investments in Latin America include Kavak (USD700m), Origin (USD57m), Inventa (USD20m), Vest (USD6m) and Neta (USD4.9m).

▸ Partners at Tiger Global committed USD1b of their own funds to launch an early-stage fund.
• Tiger’s latest investments in Latin America include Tul (USD181m), Nowports (USD60m), Bold (USD55m), Chiper (USD53m), Nuvocargo (USD20.5m) and Inventa (USD20m).

▸ DEEPTECH | Spanish VC K Fund secured a ~USD76m commitment from Spanish credit institute ICO for Leadwind, a growth fund with a ~USD217-270m target aiming to invest in deeptech startups in Southern Europe and Latin America.

Fund Launches

▸ DEBT | Chilean AGF FYNSA launched a venture debt fund with a USD50m target to invest in early stage fintech startups in Chile and Latin America.

▸ KPTL and Bossa Nova Investimentos announced the B3 listing of Capital Semente, a Fundo de Investimento em Participações (FIP), with a ~USD30m target.
• Capital Semente’s investors include Genial Investimentos, Mirae Asset, ModalMais, Necton, Nova Futura, Planner, Vitreo and Órama.

▸ CVC | Multilaser, a Brazilian electronic device manufacturer, launched a ~USD40m fund to invest in fintech, retail and logistics startups.
• The fund will be managed by Bertha Capital.

▸ CRYPTO | Uniera, a Brazilian crypto asset management platform, launched a ~USD2m fund to invest in gaming, NFT and metaverse startups.

▸ WOMEN LED | Positive Ventures launched its second fund with a ~USD40m target to invest in seed and Series A startups. Positive Ventures was founded by Andrea Oliveira and Bruna Constantino.

▸ BOLIVIA | The co-founders of Yaigo, a Bolivian delivery platform, launched Big Valley Ventures, a Bolivia-based early-stage VC fund, after selling the company to Venezuela-based superapp Yummy.

Startups

▸ Tribal, a San Francisco-based B2B payment platform for emerging markets, partnered with Visa to issue corporate cards in nine countries in Latin America.
• DEBT | Tribal raised USD40m in debt financing from Partners for Growth and Stellar Development in January.

▸ CRYPTO | Agrotoken, a Brazilian crypto platform for grain trading, partnered with Banco Santander Brasil to offer loans backed by tokenized commodities as collateral.
• Agrotoken raised a USD5m seed round in January.

▸ Xepelin, a Chilean accounts receivable-based lending platform for SMEs, launched operations in Colombia and Brazil.
• DEBT | Xepelin secured USD80m in debt from Community Investment Management in January and USD200m in credit facilities in 2021.

▸ Nowports, a Mexican automated freight platform, launched operations in Chile.
• Nowports raised a USD60m Series B led by Tiger Global in January.

▸ LAST MILE | Jüsto, a Mexican last-mile grocery delivery platform, launched its first physical store in Peru after acquiring Peruvian online supermarket Freshmart in October 2021.

▸ LAST MILE | JOKR, a NY- and Berlin-based last-mile retail delivery platform founded by former SoftBank Managing Partner Ralf Wenzel, sees WalMart as its main competitor in Chile.
• JOKR raised a USD260m Series B led by GGV Capital in September 2021 at a USD1.2b valuation.
“Reemplazamos la ida al refrigerador. Tienes el producto en 15 minutos en tus manos.” – Ralph Wenzel, CEO

▸ BNPL | Kueski, a Mexican consumer lending platform, reached six million loans issued and grew its corporate client base from 56 to 2k+ in a year.
• Kueski raised a USD102m Series C round in December 2021.

News

▸ CRYPTO | The Brazilian Central Bank seeks to develop its own digital currency.
• Mercado Bitcoin, Visa, Microsoft, Consensys, and Banco Santander Brasil are among the partners selected to support the effort.

▸ IoT | Wayra launched the first 5G and IoT-focused corporate lab in Colombia to partner with corporates to develop hardware-based tech for metaverse and NFT projects.

▸ Indonesia-based logistics firm J&T Express launched operations in Mexico.

▸ Rest of World reviews the emergence of digital reputation management firms in Latin America.

▸ CVC | TechCrunch says corporations are scrambling to get into the venture game.
• Corporates participated in 26% of rounds above USD1m for Latin American Startups in 1H 2021, according to LAVCA’s 2021 Latin American Startup Directory.

▸ The impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine is reaching Latin America:
• Hundreds of Latin Americans deemed at risk have evacuated Ukraine in emergency operations as regional conflict intensifies.
• The Russian trade ministry called for a suspension of fertilizer exports; Brazil, the largest producer of coffee, soybeans and sugar, imports 20% of its fertilizers from Russia.

People & Programs

LAVCA WEEK | Save the date for LAVCA Week 2022, taking place in person on October 12-14 at the Conrad New York Downtown in New York City.
The 2022 conference will convene LAVCA’s unparalleled network of private capital investors from across Latin America, the US, Asia and other global markets for a highly interactive experience, including networking and discussions on the latest trends in private equity, venture capital and other private capital strategies.
GPC CONFERENCE | The GPC Conference in partnership with IFC will take place in person on April 4-6 at the Conrad New York Downtown in New York City. View the agenda and register here.

▸ Globant Ventures, Globant’s CVC arm, launched a USD10m fund to invest in startups working to mitigate the negative effects of tech, including issues around data privacy, AI bias, online abuse and polarization. The BeKind Fund is looking at early-stage startups regardless of geography. Founders are welcome to apply.
“We believe that tech is inherently good. But when misapplied, it can divide communities around the world. As tech leaders, we are taking a stand.”

▸ Wayra and Telefonica Ventures launched Open2Metaverse, a global accelerator program for startups focused on VR/AR and metaverse initiatives. Founders are welcome to apply.

▸ Meta partnered with Rappi to launch Ellas Impulsan a Mexico, a Mexico-based accelerator program for women-led SMEs. Interested founders are welcome to apply.

▸ Congrats to LAVCA Chair Nico Szekasy of KASZEK for being selected as one of 10 investors in The Business of Business’ 50 Over 50: Venture Capital & Investing.
• Others featured include Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures, Cathie Wood of Ark Invest, Carmen Chang of NEA.

▸ Congrats to the companies selected for Newtopia’s second batch: Pulppo, REVAI, Oliver, Qurable, Ada Impacto and Kitchenita.

▸ Brazil Venture Capital will host the second edition of Startup Boost Lab, an accelerator program for Brazilian women-led startups. Interested founders are welcome to apply before March 17.

▸ LAVCA is looking for a full-time Latin America Research Analyst. Interested candidates are welcome to apply.

▸ Dalus Capital is looking for an Investor Relations Analyst to join its team. Interested candidates are welcome to apply.

▸ Altantico is looking for an Investment Associate to join its São Paulo office. Interested candidates are welcome to apply.