$26.53 million in fintech funding 

Hola amig@s fintech,

We are happy to announce our TWIF LatAm Fintech Happy Hour in Mexico City on April 30. Do not miss the chance to RSVP and participate! 

Also, the Mexico Business Forum 2024 will take place in Mexico City on April 24-25, featuring interesting Finance and Fintech panels. TWIF Latam paid subscribers will enjoy a 10% discount, just email us at latam@thisweekinfintech.com.

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

Digital wallets reign supreme in both e-commerce and point-of-sale transactions, commanding 49% and 32% of the market share, respectively. With an estimated annual growth of 12% until 2026, Nu and Mercado Pago lead the pack with 94 million and 53 million users in 2023. (Source)

📖  Read of the Week

CB Insights' "State of Venture Q1'24 Report" unveils a 7% dip in VC transactions year-over-year, offset by an 11% rebound quarter-over-quarter. Noteworthy investments in generative AI underscore a rising enthusiasm for cutting-edge technologies.

🦉 Post of the Week

🎙️ Podcast of the Week

💸 Venture Financing

💸 Equity

🇨🇱 Toku, the Chilean recurring payments startup, raised a $9.3 million Series A round led by Gradient Ventures, and with the participation of F-Prime Capital, Clocktower, Y Combinator, Wollef, and Fundersclub. The company  will begin operations in Brazil.

🇧🇷 goFlux, the Brazilian digitalization and financing agro company, raised $6 millions in a Series A investment round led by Capria Ventures and with the participation of SP ventures.   

🇪🇨 Kamina, the Ecuadorian AI-based financial prevention platform, raised $3.2 millions in a Pre-Seed round. The company is looking to begin operations in Mexico, Peru, Colombia, and Chile.

🇧🇷 EmpreX, the Brazilian open finance platform for the middle class, received a $7.65 million investment from SRM Ventures.

🇧🇷 Baasic, the Brazilian embedded finance startup, received a $382,000 investment from Deal, the Brazilian tech services consultancy.

💰 Venture funds 

🇸🇻 Innogen Capital, the Salvadorian VC firm, and the U.S. Government announced they will invest $3.7 millions in early stage tech startups in El Salvador. The funds are from the ICV DELTA FUND 1, supported by USAID.

🇨🇱 Manatura Ventures, the Chilean early-stage VC firm, announced the “Manatura Ventures Challenge,” an open call for LatAm startups to help them make a soft landing in Miami.

🇧🇷 Investidores.vc, the Brazilian investment platform, raised $438,000 from investors including Suno and G$ Educaçao, to launch two products that will help startups prepare to exit and to offer special credit lines. 

🚀 Product Launches & Partnerships

💻 Fintech 

🇧🇷 Stark Bank, the Brazilian B2B neobank, announced the expansion of its financial services to the acquiring market for virtual transactions.

🇨🇴 Finaktiva, the Colombian all-in-one financing ecosystem for SMEs, announced a new platform enabling businesses to manage their treasury processes, offering centralized financial management solutions. 

🇲🇽 Klar, the Mexican digital bank app, announced a new feature offering personal loans up to US$6,000 for its users. With fixed annual interest rates and flexible repayment options, Klar aims to tailor loans to individual needs.

🇧🇷 TBD, the US-based open-source tech, announced the launch of tbDEX in Brazil, a decentralized payment system facilitating international transfers and enabling self-sovereign identity adoption. The protocol aims to address trust and compliance issues in cross-border transactions.

🇨🇴 Konvex, the Colombian API software for reconciliation and underwriting, announced the launch of an universal API designed to streamline SME operations by integrating more than 10 ERP systems into a single interface. 

🇧🇷 B3, the Brazilian financial market infrastructure company, announced a tokenized asset solution for crowdfunding platforms, aiding startups in fundraising and secondary market trading, supported by Kria and EqSeed.

🇦🇷 Findo, the Argentinian credit scores company, announced an AI-powered credit scoring for underserved communities. This system aims to expand financial inclusion by assessing over 170 parameters to determine creditworthiness, benefiting thousands in LatAm.

🇨🇴 Littio, the Colombian financial systems platform for emerging economies, announced a US bank account for Colombians, connecting users to the US banking network.

🇲🇽 Leadsales, the Mexican WhatsApp CRM, announced a No-Code Chatbot in LatAm, streamlining conversational commerce. 

🏦 Financial Services & Banking

🇲🇽 Stripe, the online payment processing and commerce solutions API, and Cruz Roja Mexicana, the Mexican humanitarian organization, announced a partnership to digitize donations, offering diverse payment methods including credit cards, bank transfers, and mobile wallets like Google/Apple Pay.

🇨🇴 MO Credit, the US-based non-profit organization that provides banking and financial services, and uFlow, the US-based cloud-based Decision Engine, announced a partnership to encourage credit access in Colombia for traditional financial institutions and fintechs. This will enable pre-approved credit decisions through integrated decision-making engines.

📜 Policy

🇲🇽 Konfio, the B2B credit company, will ask for a banking license from the Mexican financial regulation agencies to broaden their services. 

🇺🇾 The Central Bank of Uruguay instructed Wenance, the Argentinian company, to cease its operations in the country for not having the mandatory authorizations. 

🇦🇷 Mercado Pago in Argentina will have to accept QR payments from other companies and digital wallets, enabling interoperability starting in May, as ordered by the Central Bank of Argentina.  

📰 Other News 

🇲🇽 Mercedes Araoz Fernández, former Vice President of Peru, was named as Independent member of the Board of Directors at Banco Compartamos.

🇵🇪 Iván Wortman was named Country Manager in Peru at Prometeo.

🇲🇽 Serpa Cloud, the Mexican SaaS platform that offers development teams a cloud computing network, raised a $1 million round led by Connetic-Ventures, with participation from Amplifica Capital and Rogue Women's Fund.

🇲🇽 Revolut, the UK-based financial services platform, announced an investment of at least $100 million during 2024 in Mexico, to maintain liquidity ratios and hire talent.

🇲🇽 Nu, announced an investment of at least $100 million during 2024 in Mexico.

🇨🇴 Amazon Web Services (AWS), announced the opening of a new infrastructure location in Latin America in Colombia.

🇵🇷 Parallel18, the program of the Puerto Rican Trust for Science, Technology and Research (FCTIPR), announced the opening of its call for its P18 international acceleration program, where up to 25 innovative companies will be accepted.

📚 Deeper Reads

The 2024 Bitcoin Halving Explained: How It Works & Why It Matters

Embedded Finance Market Anticipated to Surpass $228bn by 2028; B2B Market to Propel Growth

Incognia’s location-based solutions offer fraud antidote 

Latin Americans invest in cryptocurrencies to save money for the future (ES)

The way to having a future bank (ES)

📣 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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