$42.3 million in fintech funding (equity)

Hola amig@s fintech,

This week, the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum unfolded in Davos, featuring the active participation of Latin American government leaders, company representatives, civil society leaders and entrepreneurs. Despite occasional significant debates on government policies in our region, it's noteworthy that the meeting's agenda is increasingly centered on technology, innovation, and key challenges like AI regulation. 

Also, a quick reminder not to miss our first 🇲🇽 Mexico City TWIF Fintech Mixer of 2024, cohosted by Taktile x Belvo, on February 1st—RSVP now! 

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

In "The 2024 Retail Banking Crystal Ball research," 70% predict that by 2030, two or more fintech or big tech firms worldwide will be among the top 10 financial services providers, up from 63% in 2021. (Source).

📖  Read of the Week

According to "2024 fintech predictions",  the firm QED Investors anticipates a 2024 of consolidation in the Latin American market, after a period of transformation, there are four main promising things: nearshoring, cross-border payments and global trade, AI, and the macroeconomic environment.

🎙️ Podcast of the Week

💸 Venture Financing

💸 Equity

🇦🇷 Pomelo, the Argentinian payment technology company, raised $40 million in a Series B round led by Kaszek with the participation of Monashees, Index Ventures, Insight Partners, Endeavor Catalyst, S32, TQ Ventures and Alter Global.

🇨🇴 Aprobe, the Colombian P2P credit company, raised $2.3 million in a Seed Round with the participation of Treebu Capital and the HubBog investment angel network.

💰 Venture funds 

🌎 500 Global, the VC firm focused on early stage companies, announced its fourth fund for the region’s startups, 500 LatAm Seed IV, L.P. 

🇧🇷 Suno, the Brazilian investment firm, and Bigtrade, the agribusiness credit company, announced the creation of Fiagro, an investment fund for coffee producers.

☯️ Exits

🤝 M&A - Fintech

🇧🇷 Visa completed the acquisition of Pismo, the Brazilian payments and financial markets infrastructure platform, for $1 billion in cash. They aim to offer customers core banking and card issuer processing capabilities across various products through cloud-native APIs. 

🚀 Product Launches & Partnerships

💻 Fintech 

🇲🇽 Nu México announced it has integrated into its app Dimo (Dinero Móvil), the Mexican platform managed by the Central Bank. The integration allows users to initiate the registration process with Dimo directly from their Nu account, requiring only the recipient's phone number. 

🇧🇷 Ebury Bank, the UK-based financial services platform focused on SMEs and large platforms,, announced its launch in Brazil, following the completion of its acquisition of Grupo Bexs, consolidating its position as an important player in international payments. The company plans for an IPO in the next two years.

🇨🇴 Nubank announced the introduction of its high-yield savings account in Colombia, offering a market-leading 13% annual return. The digital account offers 24/7 customer service, zero maintenance fees, and free unlimited transfers to other banks in the country.

🇲🇽 Finsus, the Mexican platform that offers SME credit and financial services platform, launched 'Sin Fronteras' debit card in Mexico. The initiative, in collaboration with Mastercard and Evertec, provides benefits such as telemedicine insurance, life insurance, and commission-free payments for basic services, enhancing financial access for the 33% of Mexico's population in smaller localities.

🇨🇴 Payments Way, the Colombian payment gateway, announced a partnership with Mastercard to introduce the Click to Pay solution in Colombia. In collaboration with Placetopay and Redeban, they aim to reduce complexity during online purchases while adhering to international security standards.

🏦 Financial Services & Banking

🇧🇷 Mastercard announced a partnership with Izzi Remessas, the Brazilian payment platform part of B&T Group, to venture into the international Pix market. Scheduled to begin in Q1 2024, the collaboration aims to provide users with a Pix-like international transaction service, enabling account to account transfers. 

📜 Policy

🇨🇱 The Chilean Commission for Financial Markets (CMF), the financial regulatory agency, released the regulation on financial services providers under the Fintech Law, including all phases of the authorization and operation process. The regulation is applicable to crowdfunding platforms, alternative transaction systems, financial instrument intermediation, order routing, credit and investment advisory, and financial instrument custody. It will enter into force on February 3. 

🇲🇽 Mexico’s National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV), the regulatory agency, released the Financial Savings and Financing report for Mexico (June 2023), which provides insights into different financial intermediation channels, and enables the assessment of the financial system's progress.

📰 Other News 

🇨🇱 ChilePay, the Chilean reselling payment gateways company, named Juan Antonio Figueroa as Executive Director, aiming to promote financial inclusion through the digitalization of payment methods.

🌎 Colledge, the US-based university admissions consulting service, and Celo, the US web3 company, announced their third cohort Celo Incuba, a program focused on projects to develop apps in areas such as decentralized finance, regenerative finance. The program focuses on the Latam market as the first stage.

📚 Deeper Reads

The API Economy’s Impact on Banking Operations

Demystifying adviser’s role startups

Latin America is a huge market for startups, but there’s one big catch

We need banking that is unusual

Preference for immediate payment systems in Latam is growing (ES)

Digital wallets and virtual cards will continue to grow in 2024 in Latin America (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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