$15.5 million in fintech funding

Hola amig@s fintech,

As April begins, we're back with the latest updates in the world of Latin American fintech. From new regulations to innovative startups, stay tuned for all the highlights!

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

According to a Mastercard report, remittances in LatAm have grown 10% annually since 2014 compared to 4% globally.  The United States-Mexico corridor is the largest remittance channel in the world, with a $65 billion volume in 2023. (Source)

📖  Read of the Week

According to TTR Data's "Monthly M&A Report," as of February 2024, the LatAm transactional market has recorded a total of 387 mergers and acquisitions, both announced and closed, for an aggregate amount of US$5,996 million.

🦉 Post of the Week

🎙️ Podcast of the Week

💸 Venture Financing

💸 Equity

🇧🇷 Koin, the Brazilian buy now pay later (BNPL) platform, raised $7.3 millions through a FIDC fund structured by Itaú, to focus on the tourism sector. 

🇲🇽 Pulpos, the Mexican startup focused on transitioning SMEs to the cloud, raised a $4 million Seed funding round, with the participation of Andreessen Horowitz, H20 Capital Innovation, Latitud, and Newtopia.

🇨🇱 Radar, the Chilean treasury management solutions startup, raised a $1.5 million Seed round led by The Fintech Fund, Everywhere Ventures, Startup Istanbul, Rhombuz VC, and Cristobal Forno, co-founder of Global66.

🇲🇽 Taxo, the Mexican startup that automates the tax declaration process, raised $1.2 million, with the participation of Seedstars, 500, BuenTrip, Newlin Ventures, among others.

🇧🇷 IZI, the Brazilian credit provider for supermarket suppliers, raised a $800,000 round led by Domo VC.

🇺🇾 Foccuz, the Uruguayan/Chilean SaaS for sales performance management startup, raised $700,000 in a Pre-Seed round, with the participation of Carabela VC, MGV Capital, Kuiper VC and Invariantes.

🇲🇽 Palenca, the Mexican income validation startup in Latam, received an investment from Experian Ventures, the venture capital arm of Serasa Experian. The amount of the transaction was not disclosed.

☯️ Exits

🤝 M&A - Fintech

🇧🇷 Kanastra, the Brazilian company offering technological backoffice for structured funds and securitizations, acquired Limine DTVM, the Brazilian FIDC management and custody.

🚀 Product Launches & Partnerships

💻 Fintech 

🇧🇷 Conta Simples, the Brazilian expense management software, announced a hybrid credit model tailored for startups, combining credit limits with collateral to support growing businesses.

🇧🇷 Liqi, the Brazilian tech infrastructure and compliance solutions platform, and Crypto.com, the Singapore-based payment and crypto platform, announced a partnership to provide crypto offerings for financial institutions in Brazil. 

🇧🇷 Sinqia, the Brazilian financial software development company, announced a new business unit, following its acquisition by Evertec. The company aims to provide comprehensive payment solutions processing, fraud prevention, card issuance, and BaaS.

🌎Lulubit, the Panama-based crypto exchange, announced the launch of a crypto card for in-store and online purchases in Panama and Central America. 

🏦 Financial Services & Banking

🇩🇴 Banco Popular, the Dominican financial institution, announced the launch of four specialized mobile apps for financial inclusion, catering to microbusinesses, remittance recipients, youth, and entrepreneurs, expanding its digital services for banking accessibility and personalized financial solutions.

📜 Policy

🇲🇽 Revolut, the British neobank and money management platform, was approved by the Mexican financial regulator (CNBV) to operate as a subsidiary in Mexico. 

🇦🇷 The Argentine financial regulatory agency (CNV) launched the Providers of Virtual Currencies Services Registry to supervise crypto and digital currency exchanges.  

🇲🇽 The Mexican House of Representatives voted to prohibit the commission charges to payments done through credit or debit cards. The legislative process will now continue in the Senate. 

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📰 Other News 

🇦🇷 Mayra Sciarrillo was named Chief Product Officer at Ualá.

🌎 Carolina Vélez, Corporate and Communications Manager at Finsocial and co-founder of the Women in Fintech Community, received the "Fintech Woman of the Year" award from Finnovating.

🇧🇷 Rummenik Castro was named Head of Software Engineering at Agibank.

🇧🇷 Andrea Mattei was named Product Director at Nomad.

🇧🇷 Marcelo Voros was named Chief Revenue Officer at Alpop.

🇲🇽 Rappi announced an investment of more than $110 million during 2024 in Mexico  to optimize the company’s operational structure and the expansion of Turbo, the 10-minute delivery service.

🇨🇴 Mercado Libre announced an investment of $380 million in Colombia, aimed at developing technological solutions for its e-commerce and financial services platforms.

📚 Deeper Reads

Latin America’s Banking as a Service Market to Reach $2B in 2024

Global venture funding in Q1 2024 shows startup investors remain cautious

From start to finish: The role of financial inclusion in credit (ES) 

Pix is killing cash payments, will credit cards be the next victim? (PO)

📣 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!

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

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