$29.6 million in fintech funding (equity and debt)

Hola amig@s fintech,

Happy early Mother’s Day 🦸🏽‍♀️ to those in 🇲🇽🇸🇻🇧🇿🇬🇹 this Wednesday!  And for those of you in Bogotá 🇨🇴, join the TWIF Latam community at Monaco Rooftop on May 17th, 2023 for a spring happy hour sponsored by CIM, AWS & Visa.  Register here 👉  https://lu.ma/BOG517!

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!  - Team TWIF Latam

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📊 Stat of the Week

📖  Read of the Week

Over the past two decades, fintechs have used transformative technologies and applications to identify and solve common problems customers face with traditional financial institutions. However, there are still 1.5 million adults globally who are unbanked and nearly 44% of adults globally still rely heavily on cash for major transactions.  Read more in the Global Fintech 2023 report by QED Investors.

🦉 Tweet of the Week

💸 Venture Financing

💸Equity

🇧🇷 Noodle, the Brazilian creative economy-focused fintech, raised a $3.6 million equity round led by SRM Ventures with participation from Honey Island Capital, the investment arm of Ebanx, amongst others.  Noodle works with companies such as record labels, publishers, distributors, gamers, and other creators’ teams to provide access to free digital accounts, credit, international payments, and royalty split capabilities.  The stage of the company, founded in 2017, is unknown.

💵 Debt

🇧🇷 Trampay, the Brazilian credit platform for informal workers, raised a $1 million debt round plus an undisclosed amount of equity from Cedro Capital, a fund manager focused on Central Brazil who specializes in VC as well as managing a Credit Rights Investment Fund (FIDC).  Trampay has provided credit to more than 10,000 workers in the sharing economy to date.

🇵🇪 Leasy, the Peruvian auto financing platform for gig-economy workers, raised a $25 million debt round from Lendable, the UK-based fund focused on emerging markets.  The funding will be used to fuel its growth in Lima and Mexico City.  To date, Leasy has financed 550 auto loans for ride-sharing drivers.

☯️ Exits

🤝 M&A - Fintech

🇨🇱 Galgo (fka Migrante), the Chilean motorcycle financing platform, announced the acquisition of Colombian counterpart Crediorbe. The startup says it has lent nearly $100 million to date.  Details of the transaction were not disclosed.

🇧🇷 QI Tech, the first Brazilian fintech to be approved as an SCD (Sociedade de Crédito Direto), announced the acquisition of banking app development startup Builders Bank. QI Tech has a banking license and develops BaaS solutions such as debt issuance and credit analysis. In November 2021, the company successfully raised $50 million in a Series A funding round led by Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC. Details of the transaction were not disclosed.

🚀 Product Launches & Partnerships

💻 Fintech

🇲🇽 Nu Mexico announced the launch of its savings account, aiming to combat passive savings that don’t generate interest. With a focus on addressing the lack of formal savings products, Nu aims to provide a secure and profitable alternative to informal savings methods.

🇧🇷 Revolut, the UK-based neobank, launched its app in Brazil, starting with a multicurrency account and crypto investments. While awaiting a license, the company is partnering with Bexs and offering prepaid Visa cards. Future expansion includes more payment options and potentially entering the lending market.

🇲🇽 LedgiFi, the Chile-based platform for tax tracking in Latam, launched in Mexico allowing exchanges and wallets to be easily connected, to perform precise calculations and easily comply with tax obligations

🇨🇴 Truora, the Colombian user authentication startup, announced the launch a WhatsApp bot called “El Genio”. With over 35,000 users in just nine days, El Genio, powered by ChatGPT, uses AI to answer questions, leveraging WhatsApp's popularity to accelerate the adoption of technology in the region.

🌎 Liquido, the US-based online payment platform for merchants, announced "Payment Success Booster", a solution to prevent fraud and block transactions, allowing businesses to accept and process all types of payments securely. The company aims to build payments infrastructure in Latam to modernize payments access.

🏦 Financial Services & Banking

🇨🇱 Visa and MACH, the Chilean neobank, announced a partnership that  enables its users to make international transfers securely and conveniently through a new Visa service called “Visa Direct”. The service allows users to send remittances directly to bank accounts in Argentina, Colombia, the United States, Mexico, and Peru.

🌎 Mastercard announced “Crypto Credential” service to strengthen trust in the blockchain ecosystem by establishing common standards and infrastructure for trusted interactions. The service allows users to verify blockchain-based transactions between the US and Latin America and provides alias functionality to simplify wallet addresses.

🌎 InvestCloud, the global provider of financial services technology, announced a partnership with Bunker to launch a digital investment platform, this solution will allow high-net-worth Latin American savers to access US investment markets.

🌎 CAF, the Development Bank of Latin America, and Millicom, the telecommunications service provider, announced a partnership to advance digital and financial inclusion in Latin America, aiming to bridge connectivity gaps, promote financial inclusion, and develop sustainable infrastructure.

📜 Policy

🇦🇷 Argentina’s Central Bank announced that payment service providers are prohibited from carrying out or facilitating operations with digital assets (including crypto) to mitigate the risks that these transactions could generate to people.

🇨🇴 The Superintendency of Finance, Colombia’s financial regulatory agency, appointed César Ferrari, a former economic adviser to President Gustavo Petro, as the new head. Ferrari will be replacing Jorge Castaño who recently stepped down from the position.

🇸🇻 The President of El Salvador signed a law on tax exemptions (income, property, capital gains, and import duties) to innovation and technology companies, such as the ones engaged in artificial intelligence, software and app programming, and computer hardware manufacturing.

📰 Other News

🌎 Nubank announced it has expanded its customer base to 79.1 million in Latam, achieving a 33% annual growth rate. While most of its clientele is in Brazil, the bank has experienced strong growth driven by its expansion into Mexico and Colombia, backed by Warren Buffett.

🇧🇷 Creditas, the Brazil-based secured loan fintech, announced it is nearing its break-even point with a 60% decrease in losses in Q1 2023 compared to the previous year. With a total funding of $879 million and a valuation of $4.8 billion, Creditas is focused on improving gross profit and becoming a profitable company.

🇲🇽 Belvo, the Mexican open finance API platform, announced it is leveraging labor data from the Mexican Social Welfare Bureau to enhance lending opportunities and reduce the financial inclusion gap. By providing access to updated employment data, Belvo helps banks and fintechs assess risk and expand credit access for the underbanked.

📚 Deeper Reads

3 Shocking Requirements Needed to Start a Bank Account in Latin America

Alternative Payment Methods With Paymentology

AI: How can ChatGPT impact the finance industry? (PO)

Investment accounts in Mexico on the way to five million (ES)

PitchBook’s Q3 2022 Global Fund Performance Report

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

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