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LATAM VENTURE BULLETIN
A must read roundup of startup deals and news on emerging technologies in Latin
America, delivered to over 7,000 investors, entrepreneurs and corporates bi-weekly.
July 8, 2022
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Editor’s note: The LatAm Venture Bulletin is produced by Carlos Ramos de la Vega, LAVCA’s Director of Venture Capital. Former Editor Julie Ruvolo now publishes GPCA's global newsletter, the Global Tech Brief. | TLDR 📣 LAVCA 2022 Encontro Anual Brasil | Registration open
📣 LAVCA ESG Deal Case | 2022 Environmental Responsibility Honorable Mention to Dalus Capital for its investment in Chilean Algramo
📣 FUNDS | Endeavor Catalyst reaches USD292m final close
📣 M&A | Zendesk acquired by investor group including Hellman & Friedman and Permira in USD10.2b all-cash deal
📣 DEALS | New rounds for: Conexa Saúde, Mottu, UnDosTres, Keo World, Warren, Examedi, Lemon Energia, The New and Eva
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| | ENCONTRO ANUAL BRASIL 2022 | Brazil-focused VCs and tech players can now register for LAVCA Encontro Anual Brasil scheduled for August 30 in São Paulo. This year’s meeting will convene the ecosystem’s leading VCs and corporate investors for an afternoon program of interactive conversations and facilitated networking. Topics will range from the latest trends in co-investment to best practices for advancing diversity and inclusion.
LAVCA Members are invited to a private members-only dinner after the program.
Encontro Anual Brasil is made possible with the support from Qualcomm Ventures. Special thanks to Google for hosting this meeting, as well as supporting organizations AWS, Meta, Microsoft, Mercado Libre, Movile, Riverwood Capital and Visa.
☞ REGISTER HERE: https://cvent.me/RkWmDv
LAVCA WEEK 2022 | Save the date for LAVCA Week 2022, taking place in person on October 11-14 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 our flagship meeting, which will include networking and discussions on the latest trends in PE, VC and other private capital strategies.
☞ STAY TUNED: Registration for LAVCA Members will open next week. |
| Dalus Capital Investment in Algramo
As part of LAVCA’s Eighth Annual ESG Deal Awards, Dalus Capital received the 2022 Environmental Responsibility Honorable Mention for its investment in Chile-based Algramo.
Algramo is a technology platform that allows consumer goods companies and retailers to dispense products in reusable smart packaging, cutting costs on basic consumer goods for end customers and reducing consumption of single-use plastics.
Since Dalus’ investment in March 2021, the company has launched additional pilot programs with corporate partners in the US, Indonesia and the UK. As of June 2022, Algramo has avoided the emission of 225 tons of CO2 and saved 2.5 million liters of water through the reuse of over 691,000 packaging items. These products are estimated to have replaced roughly 88 tons of plastic that will not pollute the environment.
☞ READ THE LATEST DEAL CASE featuring Dalus Capital's investment in cleantech, smart reusable packaging provider Algramo.
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| | ▸ M&A | PE firm Hellman & Friedman and Permira acquired Zendesk in a USD10.2b take-private all-cash transaction. Zendesk was offered USD17b in February from a separate investor consortium. ▸ HEALTHTECH | Goldman Sachs Asset Management led a ~USD40m round for Conexa Saúde, a Brazilian telemedicine marketplace, with follow-on from General Atlantic, Igah Ventures and Endeavor Scale-Up. Conexa Saúde raised a ~USD8m Series B from General Atlantic and Igah Ventures in July 2020. ▸ LOGISTICS |Base Partners and Crankstart, the family foundation of Michael Moritz of Sequoia, led a USD30m Series B for Mottu, a Brazilian motorbike rental service for last-mile delivery companies, with follow-on from Tiger Global. Mottu also secured USD10m in debt financing from Verde Asset Management. Mottu raised a USD2m round from Allievo Capital, Caravela Capital and Fundação Estudar in August 2020. ▸ IDC Ventures led a USD30m Series B for UnDosTres, a Mexican integrated payments platform for prepaid phone plans and utility bills, with participation from Telegraph Hill Capital, AI8 Ventures and Benber LP, and follow-on from Dalus Capital and IGNIA Partners. Dalus Capital and IGNIA Partners led a USD6.5m round in December 2018. UnDosTres partnered with PayPal and UNICEF in 2020 to extend the coverage of its payment infrastructure to charitable initiatives serving underprivileged communities. ▸ BNPL | US-based VC Montreux Growth Partners led a USD20m round for Keo World, a Miami-based BNPL platform with operations in Mexico, with participation from Mayberry Investments, Avior and HayFin Capital. DEBT | Keo World secured USD500m in a debt facility from Hayfin Capital in February. ▸ CVC | Brazilian digital brokerage Warren raised an undisclosed Series C+ from GIC, KASZEK and Citi Ventures. This is Citi Ventures’ second investment in a Latin American startup after their investment in Brazilian proptech Loft. Warren raised a ~USD60m Series C led by GIC in May 2021 and acquired Vitra Capital, a MFO with USD2.4b in AUM in October 2021. ▸ HEALTHTECH | General Catalyst led a USD17m Series A for Examedi, a Chilean at-home vaccination and lab test provider with participation from angels Thomaz Srougi (Dr. Consulta), Sebastian Mejía (Rappi) and Jaime Karraker (Alto Pharmacy).
▸ ENERGY | KASZEK led a ~USD10m Series A for Lemon Energia, a Brazilian solar and biofuel energy wholesale marketplace, with participation from Lowercarbon Capital, and angels Kevin Efrusy (Accel) and Sergio Furio (Creditas).
▸ FOODTECH | Lever VC invested ~USD7.6m in The New, a Brazilian startup that produces alternative meat from peas and coconut fat.
▸ HEALTHTECH | Browder Capital, TeleSoft Partners and MBX led a USD7m round for Eva, a Mexican breast cancer monitoring service.
▸ Tiger Global led a USD6m seed round for Mono, a Colombian digital debit card issuer, with participation from Soma Capital and YC.
▸ HEALTHTECH | Brazilian medical group Grupo Sabin acquired a 6% stake in Pickcells, a Brazilian computational vision software for clinical exam analysis.
▸ CONSTRUCTION | CRV led a USD4.1m round in Vergo, a construction management platform with operations in Mexico and the US, with participation from US-based VCs Nine Four Ventures and Forum Ventures.
▸ LEAP Global Partners led a USD3.8m seed round for Around, a Mexican on-demand workspace subscription platform, with participation from Latitud, Ganas Ventures, Gaingels, Unpopular Ventures, August Hill and Andreessen Horowitz.
▸ BNPL | Wibond, an Argentine BNPL platform for e-commerce stores, raised a USD3.75m seed round extension from Trousdale, YC, Fintech Capital, Soma Capital, Eureka Capital, Cathexis Ventures, Bluewatch Ventures, Dragon Capital, MyAsiaVC, Iron Shore Investments, South Quad, PageOne Lab, Grant Park Ventures and Cein Capital. Fen Ventures led a USD2.3m seed round in January. ▸ Mucker Capital led a USD1.5m round for Retrypay, a Mexican e-commerce payment processing platform. Retrypay raised a USD611k pre-seed round in 2021 from Wayra, Angel Ventures, Blue Zone Ventures, Global Founders Capital and Kamay Ventures. ▸ MAYA Capital led a ~USD1.5m round for Unbox, a Brazilian e-commerce platform for SMEs, with participation from Century Oak Capital, Latitud and GV Angels, and follow-on from WE Impact. MAYA Capital led a ~USD700k round in January 2021. ▸ EDTECH | GFC led a USD1.5m pre-seed round for Anyone AI, an Argentine data science and machine learning education platform, with participation from Canvas Ventures, Latitud, Magma Partners, Lotus VC and H20 Capital, and angels Ryan Bubinsky (Codecademy) and Miguel Burger Calderón (Ethyca).
▸ Brazil-based Order VC invested ~USD1.4m in Care Natural Beauty, a Brazilian cosmetic skincare developer.
▸ PROPTECH | Smart Money Ventures led a ~USD1.4m round for Alpop, a Brazilian risk and rent collection management platform for residential real estate, with participation from angels Lello and Lucas Vargas (Grupo ZAP).
▸ The Crunch, an inventory marketplace with operations in Mexico, Guatemala and the US, raised a USD1.1m seed round from undisclosed investors.
▸ SECURITY | DOMO Invest led a ~USD700k round for SetYou, a Brazilian vitamin and health supplement platform, with participation from IKJ Capital, The Next Company and Plataforma Capital.
▸ SECURITY | DOMO Invest invested ~USD300k in Eco IT, a Brazilian cybersecurity platform.
UK-based VC Veg Capital led a ~USD300k round for Conví Foods, a Brazilian plant-based hamburger manufacturer.
▸ HEALTHTECH | Vivanta, a Mexican API-based health data platform for wearable devices, raised a USD300k pre-seed round from 99startups, Redwood Ventures, Angel Hub MTY and Lotux.
ONEVC invested in Caju, a Brazilian provider of flexible benefit cards for employees.
Caju raised a USD8m round in August 2021. ▸ AGTECH | Gênica, a Brazilian vaccine developer for crop pesticides, raised an undisclosed round from Mosaic and existing investors SP Ventures and Nitro Química. SP Ventures invested ~USD1.2m in January 2018. ▸ LOGISTICS | Kamay Ventures invested in Zippin, an Argentine logistics management platform for SMEs. ▸ El Salvador-based VC Innogen Capital invested in Amiloz, a Mexican wholesale marketplace for SMEs.
▸ EDTECH | Faber-Castell invested in Essia, a Brazilian developer of customized educational content for K-12 schools.
▸ GAMING | Gabu, a Mexican safe online gaming platform for children, raised an undisclosed round from Angel Ventures’ Carabela, Latitud and KF Ventures. |
| | | Exit ▸ EXIT | monashees sold a ~6% equity stake in GetNinjas, a Brazilian local service marketplace for home renovations for ~USD1.7m. monashees is still a ~2.15% shareholder of GetNinjas. GetNinjas went public on the B3 with a ~USD100m IPO in May 2021. |
| | ▸ LAVCA Member | Endeavor Catalyst reached a USD292m final close for Endeavor Catalyst Fund IV, its fourth flagship fund to double-down on startups in the Endeavor Network.
The fund had an original USD200-250m target. Endeavor entrepreneurs account for 30%+ of the fund’s LPs, according to the firm. Endeavor Catalyst Fund IV public investments to date include: Nowports, Albo, Klar (Mexico), Habi, Elenas, R5 (Colombia), Latitud, isaac (Brazil) and Xepelin (Chile). Managing Director Allen Taylor: "We've been super active with the new fund already in markets like Mexico (Nowports, Xepelin, Albo, Klar), Brazil (Latitud, Isaac) and Colombia (Habi, R5, Elenas)!" - Allen Taylor, Managing Director ▸ NY-based VC Vine Ventures reached a USD140m final close for its second fund to invest in early stage fintech and logistics startups in Latin America, the US and Israel. Vine Ventures’ portfolio in Latin America includes Habi, Tul, Cayena and Kocomo. ▸ CVC | Spanish insurance company Mutua Madrileña launched a ~USD36m CVC fund to invest in early stage startups in Spain, Chile and Colombia.
▸ DEBT | Brazilian bank Voiter launched a ~USD30m venture debt fund to invest in early stage startups with a particular focus in agtech platforms.
▸ IMPACT | Positive Ventures reached a ~USD15m first close for Decisive Investments Fund II, its second impact investing fund with a ~USD30m target. Positive Ventures’ portfolio includes Letrus, Slang, Neomed, Provi, Worc, Oya Care. ▸ GAMING | Brazilian VC OutField Capital launched OutField Capital 2, its second fund with a ~USD10m target to invest in gaming startups. OutField’s portfolio includes Final Level and Semexe. ▸ IMPACT | Insignia Alternative Assets, Socialab and Caja Los Andes partnered to launch Socialab Lite, a USD10m Chilean CVC fund to invest in early stage startups solving food security and environmental protection challenges. |
| | ▸ Mexican car resale marketplace Kavak announced a USD120m investment in Colombia, Chile and Peru, and a USD60m investment in Turkey to expand its operations. Mario Gabriele of The Generalist reviewed Kavak’s roadmap to expand to Saudi Arabia and the UAE after launching operations in Turkey in 2021 in Kavak: The Drive to Conquer. Kavak raised a USD700m Series E at a USD8.7b valuation led by General Catalyst in September 2021. ▸ FOODTECH | Chilean foodtech NotCo partnered with Burger King Chile to develop a new suite of plant-based products including plant-based sandwiches and nuggets. NotCo partnered with Kraft Heinz to launch Kraft Heinz Not Company, a joint venture to expand Kraft’s plant-based product portfolio, in February 2021. ▸ a55, a Brazilian revenue-based lender and payment integration platform focused on SMEs in Brazil, opened an office in Mexico City. Movile led a ~USD16.3m Series B in January; Accial Capital led a USD35m round in May 2021. ▸ HRTECH | Caju, a Brazilian provider of flexible benefit cards for employees, launched an affiliate marketing program with defined compensation plans for customers enrolling new businesses into the platform. CEO Eduardo Del Gilgio: “Nossa maior fonte de aquisição de clientes é pelo boca a boca. Então, resolvemos institucionalizar isso e remunerar as pessoas que nos ajudarem." Caju raised a USD8m round in August 2021 and a USD2.5m round in 2020. Valor Capital Group, Canary, Volpe Capital and Clocktower Technology Ventures are among the company’s investors. ▸ Olivia, a personal finance management app acquired by Nubank in November 2021, announced it will wind down operations next week. Nubank: “The discontinuation will allow us to focus our efforts on integrating its core features into the Nubank app, into a new experience. This will enable us to help nearly 60 million customers in Latin America have more control over their financial lives.” ▸ Tul, a Colombian supply chain management platform connecting construction material manufacturers with SMEs, announced it will no longer operate in Ecuador. Tul invested USD12m from its balance sheet to jumpstart its Ecuador–based operations. CEO Enrique Villamarin: “Nos duele tomar esta decisión, pero hoy nos enfrentamos a una nueva realidad de tener que buscar mayores eficiencias y enfocarnos en otros mercados para poder continuar.” Tul raised a USD181m Series B led by 8VC in January. ▸ INSURTECH | Asistensi, a Spain-based insurance and telemedicine service provider to families of Latin American and Southeast Asian migrant workers, launched operations in the Philippines. Asistensi was granted a license to operate in the US in March 2022 and raised a ~USD10.5m Series A led by 468 Capital in July 2021. |
| News
▸ WOMEN-LED | Google will invest ~USD10m to support women-led initiatives in the Southeastern region of Mexico with digital training.
The investment will be managed through Google’s philanthropic arm Google.org. This initiative is part of the USD1.2b commitment that Google announced last month to support region-wide economic development and digital transformation. ▸ IDB announced a USD300m lending facility to support the Colombian government’s climate change agenda, including best practices for carbon marketplaces, agriculture monitoring and circular economy.
▸ SPACE | Innospace, a South Korean aerospace and defense company, will be the first private entity to launch a rocket from Alcantara, a launch center run by the Brazilian Air Force.
▸ Rest of World: 55-1502-5360: Why Mexico’s presidential frontrunner is giving out his WhatsApp number
"The Mexican presidential election is still two years away, and election law precludes candidates from campaigning this far out. Using WhatsApp, observers say, is a way to circumvent this rule. One-to-one conversations on a messaging app, even if conducted on a massive scale, are not considered political propaganda by Mexico’s electoral authorities, unless voters are actively asked to vote for a certain candidate." ▸ Bloomberg Línea: Tiger Global, SoftBank y Sequoia: ¿Cómo pinta el panorama VC frente a la crisis? |
| People & Programs ▸ WOMEN-LED | Carolina Strobel formerly of Redpoint eventures will join Singaporean investor Antler as Brazil Country Manager alongside Marcelo Ciampolini.
▸ WOMEN-LED | Uber appointed Angela Mendoza as the new Country Manager for Colombia. Angela is a former Associate Partner at the McKinsey Colombia office.
▸ Congratulations to the startups selected to participate in Platanus Ventures’ 2022 batch: Bemmbo, Brolly, Fiscoclic, Carvuk, LarnU, Mercately, Pipoll, TiendaDa, Tiki, Trendi, Urvana, Verso, Wallstate, Watermelon Tools and Wonder XR Studios.
▸ Sequoia Capital opened applications for the first batch of Arc, a seed-stage accelerator program for the Americas. Interested candidates are welcome to apply before July 13.
▸ 500 Global opened applications for its 17th batch. Interested founders are welcome to apply before July 31.
▸ IDB partnered with Wayra to launch a climatetech open innovation challenge as part of the initiative Corporate Impact Venturing Latin America & Caribbean (CIV LAC). Interested founders are welcome to apply before August 12.
Participating organizations include CEMEX Ventures, Emasa Ventures, Enel, EPM, Isa Group, Sumitomo Corporation Andes and Sancor Seguros Ventures. ▸ Bayer Mexico launched its second Digital Health Bootcamp for early stage healthtech startups. Interested founders are welcome to apply.
▸ DEEPTECH | Petrobras launched Petrobras Programa Petrobras Conexões para Inovação, the fourth edition of its program to invest ~USD4m in deeptech startups in Brazil. Applications are now open.
▸ Emerging VC Fellows, a Brazilian initiative focused on pre-partner level VC investors, launched a region-wide survey for PE and VC GPs focused on ESG criteria for investment analysis and portfolio management. All investors active in Latin America are welcome to participate. |
| LAVCA Job Board ▸ Capria Ventures is looking for a Global Investment Fellow focused in Latin America to join its team. Interested candidates are welcome to apply.
▸ SVB is looking for a Director and VP to lead its SVB Startup Banking LATAM platform focused on client and partner engagement. Applications are open to candidates with at least 10 years of experience for the Director position and at least three years of experience for the VP position.
▸ Elevar Equity is looking for a Financial Analyst to join their team in Mexico City. Interested candidates are welcome to apply.
▸ Zendesk is looking for a Startup Partnerships Manager to join their team out of their São Paulo office. Candidates with at least five years of experience are welcome to apply.
LAVCA Members: We welcome your job recs for future editions. Email [email protected] with information on relevant opportunities.
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