$55.2 million in fintech funding 

Hola amig@s fintech,

As we transition from the vibrant days of Carnaval in our region, we're excited to share that TWIF Latam has reached 35k subscribers!

Now, some announcements:

1. The Fintech México Forum 2024 is fully booked! Stay tuned for the highlights of the event in a couple of weeks.

2. FINNOSUMMIT Connect 2024 will be happening from March 4 to 7 in Cancún. Join us for an opportunity to share experiences, network with industry leaders from Latin America, and shape the future of the financial industry. TWIF paid subscribers get a 20% discount—email us at latam@thisweekinfintech.com and validate your discount when purchasing your ticket by reaching out to tickets@finnosummit.com. 

Thank you for your continued support. Below is this week’s roundup of Latam fintech news. If you’re reading this online, please consider sharing and subscribing!  

💛 Until next weekend. Até a próxima!

• Lorena

📺 Sponsored Content

📖  Read & stat of the Week

Finnovista's Fintech Radar Mexico VIII Edition, sponsored by Visa, highlights that the country's fintech ecosystem has experienced a growth of 18.9%, going from 650 in 2022 to 773 in 2023. The largest number of companies can be found within these segments: lending, payments and remittances, enterprise financial management, and enterprise technologies for financial institutions.

🎙️ Podcast of the Week

💸 Venture Financing

💸 Equity

🇨🇴 Bold, the Colombian payment infrastructure company, raised $50 million in a Series C investment round led by General Atlantic, in collaboration with IFC (International Financial Corporation from the World Bank). Current investors, such as InQLab and Amador also participated in the round. 

🇲🇽 Coba, the US-Mexican cross-border payments company, raised $2.2 million in a Seed round led by Alaya Capital and Switch VC, and with participation of Banco BASE and Topaz, after completing the YCombinator Summer 2023 batch.

🇨🇴 Platform, the Colombian B2B factoring startup, raised $3 million from Skandia Planeación Financiera and Progresión Sociedad Comisionista de Bolsa together with other investors. No further details were disclosed.

☯️ Exits

🤝 M&A - Fintech

🇵🇪 Washington Capital, the Peru-based family office, announced the acquisition of 50% of X Prime, the Peruvian platform specializing in structured notes and OTC markets. They aim to capture $10 million in the first year and attract 1,500 retail investors by the end of 2024. No further details were disclosed.

🚀 Product Launches & Partnerships

💻 Fintech 

🇨🇴 Littio, the Colombian financial systems platform for emerging economies, and tapi, the Argentinian payment solutions platform, announced a partnership to enable Colombian users to seamlessly pay for over 15,000 services, enhancing payment experiences in Colombia.

🇨🇱 Prometeo, the Uruguayan open banking platform, announced its entry into Chile. Co-founder and co-CEO Ximena Alemán highlights the country's robust regulatory framework and anticipates launching new products related to bank account validation and aggregation.

🏦 Financial Services & Banking

🌎Banesco Panama, the Panama-based traditional financial institution, in partnership with Copa Airlines and Visa, announced the launch of the Visa ConnectMiles Card, offering various perks for travelers such as up to 15,000 welcome miles, lounge access, and discounts on ticket purchases. The launch aims to elevate travel experiences and reward customer loyalty.

📜 Policy

🇨🇴 Dale!, the Colombian digital wallet from Grupo Aval, obtained the “friendly biz” certification from the Diversity Chamber. 

📰 Other News 

🇦🇷 Lemon, the Argentina-based digital wallet with FIAT and crypto capabilities, published an open source, public, and real-time weekly document  to promote transparency in the crypto sector, allowing each user to control the location and volume of reserves safeguarded by Lemon.

🇲🇽 Vemo, the Mexican cleantech company that integrates the entire clean mobility ecosystem, raised $60 million from Orion Infrastructure Capital (OIC) to finance its business strategy in Latam.

🌎 500 Global, the investment firm, announced its new investment offer of $300,000 for early stage startups in Latam (pre-seed and seed), now each investment will have a 1-1 work plan to work with the company for 6 to 12 months. There will no longer be batches or calls.

📚 Deeper Reads

10 Startups To Watch In Costa Rica

Chile's Fintech Sector: A Beacon of Technological Advancement and Empowerment

These Four Trends are Shaping How Fintech Should be Using Generative AI

Financial and digital management to overcome the economic challenges of microenterprises (ES)

The evolution of payments in Latin America (ES)

Why is a KYC not enough to stop fraud? (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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