Hola amig@s fintech,

This Saturday, people in Mexico City witnessed the 45th pride parade! With a massive turnout of over 250,000 attendees, this march proudly advocates for the rights of the LGBT+ community. Let’s everyday celebrate unity, visibility, diversity, progress, and financial inclusion for all.

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

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📊 Stat of the Week

💬  Quote of the Week

“When a woman takes power, she has the ability to transform her entire community”

Mara Echave, Co-Founder & CMO - LIDH, in Pulso Capital

📖  Read of the Week

Limited access to financial services in Mexico has a detrimental effect on both individuals and businesses. The article "How Mexico is addressing financial inclusion" suggests targeted strategies to address three key gaps: gender disparity, geographic disadvantages, and the urban-rural divide.

🦉 Tweet of the Week

💸 Venture Financing

💸Equity

🇦🇷 Fivvy, the Buenos Aires/Miami-based SaaS fintech startup, raised $4 million in a seed round led by Globant through its venture capital arm. The company plans to use the investment to fuel its expansion efforts and further develop its financial technology solutions.

🌐 Bit2Me, the Spanish cryptocurrency company now focused in Latam, secured a $15 million investment in a funding round led by Investcorp and with participation from Telefonica Ventures, Cardano (Adaverse), Stratminds VC, and YGG Fund. With this investment, Bit2Me aims to accelerate its expansion across Latam.

🇧🇷 ASAAS, the Brazilian startup focused on financial management solutions for SMEs, raised $21 million in its 10th funding round led by current investors, such as Bradesco Private Equity & VC, Parallax Ventures, Light Capital Group and Escala, and TM3 capital. ASAAS will use the investment to meet Central Bank’s regulations and increase its revenue.

🇧🇷 Parfin, the Brazilian provider of digital asset trading and tokenization infrastructure, received a contribution from Accenture Ventures, the VC arm of the audit firm, marking the first "Project Spotlight'' investment in Latam. This undisclosed investment comes as part of Parfin's most recent round, led by Framework Ventures and L4 Venture, which raised US$15 million.

☯️ Exits

🤝 M&A - Fintech

🇧🇷 Open Co, the Brazilian platform specialized in unsecured lending for individuals, and BizCapital, the Brazilian platform providing credit solutions for SMEs, announced a merger creating a group with $1 billion in originated operations to navigate the credit market. The deal was done through share exchanges. No further details were disclosed.

🚀 Product Launches & Partnerships

💻 Fintech

🇲🇽 TAXO, the Mexican automating tax management platform part of BBVA’s Spark program, launched in Mexico. The platform saves up to 90% of the accountant's operational work in a potential market of over 12 million Mexicans.

🇲🇽 Vita Wallet, the Chilean payment platform focused on transnational companies, importers, and exporters, announced its entry into the Mexican market. With presence in Peru, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, and now Mexico, the company aims to enhance cross-border commerce and facilitate international payments.

🇲🇽 Flink, the Mexican investment app, and Rappi launched a campaign to increase savings and investing by offering incentives such as the reimbursement of Rappi Prime Basic or Rappi Prime Plus monthly fees.

🌎LaChain, the first-layer blockchain internet-like network, announced a tailored solution for Latam, addressing regional needs such as retail payments, international transactions, remittances, and decentralized identity systems. LaChain is maintained by a consortium of leading Latin American blockchain companies including Ripio, SenseiNode, Num Finance, Cedalio, and Buenbit.

🇧🇷 Pay2B, the centralized payment services platform, and Bossanova Investimentos, the Brazilian VC firm, announced a partnership to attract investments and consolidate its growth in the insurance and financial services segment.

🇲🇽 Koin, the Mexican fintech platform developed by Despegar, the online travel company, announced their BNPL service for travel bookings, eliminating the need for a credit card. The company plans to prioritize this new product in Mexico focused on non-banked consumers, following its success in Brazil where it increased travel reservations by 10% and raised the average ticket value by 35%.

🇲🇽 STP Codig, the Mexican platform that enables users to make bank transfers using just a mobile phone number, announced that users can authorize the linkage of their bank account details to their phone number, through the integration of Dimo®, the Central Bank’s platform.

🏦 Financial Services & Banking

🇲🇽 Banco Azteca, the Mexican financial institution, announced the introduction of fully digital accounts that can be opened online in minutes, without visiting a physical location. These accounts allow deposits over $1,300 and use facial recognition to reduce identity theft and fraud.

📜 Policy

🇲🇽 Accesa México Pagos Digitales,  now a provider of digital payment services, received authorization from the Mexican financial regulatory agency (CNBV) to operate as an Electronic Payment Funds Institution (IFPE) under the Fintech Law.

🇵🇪 The Consumer Defense Committee of Peru’s Congress approved a bill eliminating fees on interbank transfers and credit card payments. The bill has faced opposition from the Ministry of Economy and banking institutions, who argue it could increase costs for customers. Now the bill will be discussed and voted on in the plenary of Congress.

🇦🇷 The Central Bank of Argentina mandated that merchants with QR codes for credit card payments must accept payments from any digital wallet, regardless of the QR brand used. The regulation aims to improve the user experience and will take place starting in September.

📰 Other News

🇧🇷 Nubank became the institution that received the most data through Open Finance in Brazil, representing 46% of APIS, followed by Itau (23%) and Banco do Brasil (14%).

🇨🇱 Manutara Ventures, the Chile-based early stage VC fund, announced a call supported by CORFO and CIC, to help startups carry out softlanding in Mexico or Miami.

🇵🇪 StartUp Peru 9G, the initiative by Peru’s Ministry of Production, provided non-refundable seed capital of up to $38,000 to fintech startups in the country. Startups from various regions, including Lima, Amazonas, and Arequipa, were selected to receive funding, covering sectors as fintech, logistics, transportation, and edtech.

🌎 Mastercard applied to the United States Patent and Trademark Office to create an API with blockchain services, as well as cryptocurrency transaction software, and facilitate cryptocurrency transactions.

🌎 Santander and Oxentia Foundation announced a call for technology-based startups and scaleups in 11 countries, with the aim of supporting and promoting the growth of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the field of cybersecurity.

📚 Deeper Reads

Pix:The second most used payment system in the world

How Latin American Startups Are Expanding Into Spain to Scale Up

What Roles Could Generative AI Play on Your Team?

Financial inclusion about helping people thrive

The ABC of NFTs

Collections grow in subscription models (ES)

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

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