$14 million in fintech funding (equity)

Hola amig@s fintech,

Happy New Year to everyone! We trust you had joyful holidays and some well-deserved rest (as we did), and that you're embracing 2024 with a positive mindset (as we are). Oh, and what a better way of starting the year than subscribing to TWIF Latam!

To all the fintech enthusiasts in Mexico City, we're excited to invite you to join us for a delightful This Week in Fintech Happy Hour on February 1st. Don't miss this opportunity to kick off 2024 by connecting with our vibrant Latam fintech community. RSVP now to secure your spot!

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

Fintech continues to dominate VC investment in Latam, securing $1.6 billion, representing 40% of the total VC investment in 2023. However, there's a notable 66% decline in fintech investment compared to the previous year, 2022.(Source)

📖  Read of the Week

Real estate tokenization has advantages, but also faces difficulties and risks, such as the lack of liquidity in the sector, especially during difficult economic times. To address those issues and take advantage of technology in the sector, "Challenges of real estate tokenization" suggests the need for intermediaries, regulations, and trust in companies that tokenize properties.

🎙️ Podcast of the Week

💸 Venture Financing

💸 Equity

🇧🇷 Agrotoken, the Brazilian agricultural tokenization company, raised $12.5 million in a Pre-Series A investment round led by Bunge Ventures. 

🇧🇷 Bankme, the Brazilian credit infrastructure startup, raised $1.5 million in a Seed round led by DOMO.VC

☯️ Exits

🤝 M&A - Fintech

🌎 Minsait Payments, the Spain-based card issuing and payment processing platform and a subsidiary of Indra, has entered into a binding agreement to acquire Totalnet, the Uruguay-based payment processor platform. The completion of the deal, anticipated in Q2 2024, is contingent upon regulatory approval from the Central Bank of Uruguay. No further details of the transaction were disclosed.

🚀 Product Launches & Partnerships

💻 Fintech 

🇧🇷 Cartpanda, the Brazilian e-commerce platform, and Pagaleve, the Brazilian installment payment platform, announced a partnership to allow Cartpanda's registered merchants to provide Pix payments in 4 installments without interest, enhancing conversion rates, reducing cart abandonment, and boosting average transaction value. 

🏦 Financial Services & Banking

🌎 Betterplan, the Chilean wealthtech platform, and BCI Brokerage, the US-based financial services company, announced a partnership to bolster their market presence, targeting clients seeking innovative wealth management. Betterplan emphasizes client flexibility and autonomy, offering an open architecture to choose how and where clients manage their wealth.

🌎 Simple2u, the Chilean insurtech platform, and Sensedia, the Brazilian services connectivity and integration company, announced a partnership to launch an API platform. The partnership aims to allow any partner to offer integrated insurance through their channels, emphasizing scalability and adherence to standards and cybersecurity. 

📜 Policy

🇲🇽 Briq and Enso were authorized by the Mexican financial regulatory agency (CNBV) under the Fintech Law. Brig was approved to operate as a crowdfunding institution while Enso as an electronic payment funds institution. 

🇨🇱 Shinkansen, the Chilean startup implementing AI to transactions between entities, was authorized by the Chilean Financial Market Commission (CMF) to operate as a low-value payment chamber. Shinkansen will compete with the only other compensation chamber owned by three banks.  

🇦🇷 Argentina’s fintech association showed the industry’s support to the new government’s decree for letting financial apps or wallets receive people’s salaries. 

🇨🇴 Nu Colombia (Nubank) received authorization by the Colombian financial regulatory agency (SFC) to operate as a financial company.

🇲🇽 The Mexican financial regulatory agency, CNBV, has greenlit Bank of America's statutory changes, responding to the augmentation of its social capital.

📰 Other News 

🌎 Victoria Rodríguez Ceja, Governor of the Bank of Mexico was named central banker of the year in the Americas region.

🇧🇷 Klavi, the Brazilian developer of an open finance platform, named Rafael Simões as DPO.

🇧🇷 SumUp, the English financial technology company that enables businesses to accept card payments, named Sofia Baenninger as Marketing Lead in Brazil.

🇧🇷 David Vélez and Cristina Junqueira, co-founders of Nubank were recognized by The Economist and Fintech Magazine. Vélez was chosen as one of the five best CEOs in the world by the British publication, while Junqueira heads the list of the most inspiring women in the fintech market.

🇧🇷 Revolut, the English neo-bank announced an investment of $60 billion in Brazil, with the aim of improving the usability of the app and expanding its services.

🇲🇽 Rappi announced that RappiCuenta, its digital debit account offering, will cease operations in Mexico beginning on February 11, 2024.

📚 Deeper Reads

Evolution of digital banking: transforming the financial system

Signals: Transforming tweets into transactions with  MTLs

LatAm fintechs expect VC investments in 2024 as U.S. approaches rate cuts

Why the Cloud Should Be the Bank’s Priority

Differences between public and private blockchains (ES)

The synergy between fintechs and banks (ES)

In the last year, 1 in 3 loans were granted by a fintech, mostly to low-income people (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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