$1.3 million in fintech funding

Hola amig@s fintech,

Hey everyone! Yesterday was Father's Day! Time to give a big shout out and show some love to all the awesome dads in Latin America, the US, and many other countries around the world. Happy Father's Day!

Please find below this week’s front page of Latam fintech news. If you’re reading this on the web, we’d appreciate your support by sharing and subscribing.  

💛 Until next weekend. Até a próxima! - Lorena

Sponsored Content

Want to sponsor a newsletter? See our sponsorship information here.  Want to sponsor an event with the TWIF Latam community?  Check out the FAQ here and send us your info via this form.

📣 Latam startup alum who have been impacted by layoffs and recruiters looking for top talent, check out the Startups Alumni and Layoffs Brasil databases.  If you’re looking to hire from a group of 10,000+ smart, motivated fintech professionals, come pick up a Collective Pass and post a job here.  If you’re looking for your next adventure at one of the best fintech companies, check out the open roles here!

📊 Stat of the Week

📖  Read of the Week

In Bolivia there is no specific fintech regulation, but there is a legal framework for technology-based services. For example, the "Simple" system that enables QR payments, which reached more than 6 million transactions of more than US$ 440 million from 2020 to 2021. This and more information can be found in the report Open Banking as the next steps for financial innovation in Bolivia by the InternetBolivia.org Foundation.

🦉 Tweet of the Week

💸 Venture Financing

💸  Equity

🇨🇱 Hackmetrix, a Chilean cybersecurity certification software startup for fintech SMEs and other tech firms, raised $1.3 million in a bridge round before its projected series A. It was led by local fund Daedalus and regional funds MatterScale Ventures and Bridge Latam. The investment will be used to consolidate their presence in Chile and expand to Mexico and Colombia.

💰 Venture funds

🌐 Bicycle Capital, a growth equity firm, launched its first fund with an initial investment of $440 million, focused on Latin American startups including fintech companies. Bicycle provides capital, operational expertise, and access to a global network of mentors and partners. Investors include Claure Group, Mubadala Investment Company, and Brazilian investors through BTG Pactual's platform.

☯️ Exits

🤝 M&A - Fintech

🇧🇷 Visa announced it is in advanced talks to acquire Pismo, the Brazilian platform that enables product launches for banks and fintech firms. The deal could be announced this month, providing Visa an strategic position in the Brazilian market. Pismo raised $108 million in funding in 2021 from investors including SoftBank, Amazon, and Accel.

🚀 Product Launches & Partnerships

💻 Fintech

🇨🇱 Prex, the Uruguayan digital banking platform that offers local and international transactions, cards, personal loans and financial management, announced its expansion into Chile. With operations in Argentina, Peru, and Uruguay, Prex is awaiting regulatory approvals to begin operations in Chile.

🇲🇽 Galileo Financial Technologies, the US platform specialized in card issuing and payments, and Plata Card, the credit card, announced a partnership to provide an innovative financial experience, aiming to redefine the way Mexicans interact with money.

🇦🇷 Naranja X, the Argentinean debit and credit card platform, launched inclusive loans, providing access to credit for individuals without credit history or verifiable income. Naranja X aims to promote financial inclusion and empower users to build a credit history.

🇧🇷 Klubi, the Brazilian digital credit facilities’ company, and Vivo announced a partnership to test a mobile consortium in Brazil, expanding its offerings beyond auto consortiums. The partnership aims to provide an autonomous credit process for purchasing mobile phones.

📜 Policy

🇧🇷 The Brazilian President, Lula da Silva, signed Decree Nº 11,563 which details the Legal Framework for Cryptocurrencies, a Law approved last year. The Central Bank will be the leading regulator of the crypto market, together with the Securities Commission (CVM). This decision provides legal certainty for the crypto asset ecosystem. Experts believe the decree will accelerate the integration of innovations like Real Digital, Pix, and Open Finance.

🇧🇷 The Brazilian Central Bank will introduce new features for Pix. The upcoming developments include Pix Automático, BolePix, and Pix Garantido, aimed at expanding the range of possibilities for using the service.

🇦🇷 The Argentinian National Securities Commission (CNV), the financial regulatory agency, filed charges after a cyberattack by the group Medusa. The attack was contained quickly, and the financial market has been operating normally, but investigations are underway.

🇸🇻 El Salvador prepares to have one of the world's largest bitcoin mining facilities, known as Volcano Energy, powered by renewable energy sources. The project is a joint venture between the private sector, the government, and key crypto players like Tether. This initiative aims to promote bitcoin adoption in the country.

📰 Other News

🇨🇴 Nubank hired Marcela Torres as General Manager in Colombia, her main challenge will be  a savings account launch and increasing the growth rate in Colombia. Before joining Nubank, Marcela worked at Uber, McKinsey & Company, and co-founded a microcredit company to provide access to financial services to unbanked entrepreneurs

🇵🇪 Banco Pichincha, the Peruvian financial institution, announced its restructure as a new strategy to expand its offer to Open Banking products

🇨🇱 Banco of Chile announced its metaverse 'Dimension B', an open building that is on the Decentraland platform, users will be able to find everything from information about its products and services to entertainment.

🇦🇷 Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires (ITBA), the Argentinean education institution,  announced the launch of the Master’s degree program in fintech, in order to train talents for the rapidly-growing market.

🇲🇽 Tecnológico de Monterrey, the Mexican education institution, announced the FAIR Fintech Lab acceleration program, in conjunction with the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, to promote an inclusive financial ecosystem.

🌐 Meta foresees that, in the next 10 years, the metaverse will contribute $320 billion to the Latam economy (5% of the region's GDP), considering the various economic operations, such as  transactions with digital assets.

📚 Deeper Reads

5 payments trends to watch in 2023

Monthly Dose of Crypto

10 Fintech Trends from Brazil

Fintech as a Service (FaaS): a new paradigm for financial services (PO)

Cybersecurity, priority and challenge for fintech (ES)

Forbes Women + Powerful 2023 from Mexico (ES)

Made in Latam with 💛 by Elena, Daniela, and Lorena

👍👎 Did you like this edition of TWIF Latam?  Take a 1-minute anonymous survey here.

Come meet us in person at www.thisweekinfintech.com/events. You can also join our global community on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.