$130.3 million in fintech funding (equity and debt)

Hola amig@s fintech,

As Easter approaches, I hope you're all doing well and looking forward to a well-deserved break. We'll be taking a few days off as well and will return with more exciting fintech news from Latin America in the first week of April. In the meantime, take care, relax, and enjoy some quality time with your loved ones (or yourself). Whether it's listening to music, reading, or simply unwinding, make sure to recharge your batteries. And if you haven't already, don't forget to subscribe to TWIF LatAm for the latest updates!

☀️ Until next weekend. Até a próxima!

• Lorena

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📊 Stat of the Week

Participation of women in Argentina’s fintech sector grew 3.2% in 2023 compared to 2022. 45.2% of positions are occupied by women, while 36.5% of women hold  leadership roles, exceeding the world average and countries such as the United States and Canada (Source).

📖  Read of the Week

The Association of Payment Methods’ Aggregators (ASAMEP) and KPMG published the study "The aggregator sector in Mexico," which constitutes a basis to understand the sector in Mexico, its particularities, contributions, and challenges.

🦉 Post of the Week

🎙️ Podcast of the Week

💸 Venture Financing

💸 Equity

🇵🇪 Leasy, the Peruvian automobile financing for ride-hailing drivers startup, raised $28 millions in a Series A round, in equity and debt, led by Magma Partners, Entangle Group, DeBa Ventures, Noa Capital, and Grupo CAPEM.

🌎 Marco, the US-based platform trade financing for LatAm SMEs exporting to the US, raised a $12 million Series A round, led by IDC Ventures, SquareOne Capital, Neer Venture Partners, and Florida Funders.

🇲🇽 Grupago, the Mexican AI-driven SMB credit startup, raised $4.3 millions in a Seed round, with the participation of Deciens Capital, Precursor Ventures, Clocktower Ventures, Twine Ventures, and angel investors.

💵 Debt 

🇨🇴 Addi, the Colombian BNPL firm, secured $86 millions, from which $50 million are in debt financing provided by Goldman Sachs and a $36 millions from equity funding led by Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures, and GIC Private Limited.

💰 Venture funds 

🌎 SoftBank, the Japanese investment firm, showed interest in investing again in LatAm startups. This, encouraged by the reduced valuations of some of them, and the release of capital from successful exits, which will allow for reinvestments. The firm, which has already invested almost $8 billion in LatAm startups, plans to refocus on the tech sector, allocating 70% to existing startups in its portfolio, and 30% for new investments.

🇧🇷 PicPay, the Brazilian digital wallet, announced the launch of its first fintech fund, which will be managed by Wealth High Governance and only offered through the company’s app.

☯️ Exits

🤝 M&A - Fintech

🇧🇷 Asaas, the Brazilian financial management company for SMEs, closed the acquisition of Nexinvoice, the Brazilian accounts automatization startup from Guando Group. No further details were disclosed.

🚀 Product Launches & Partnerships

💻 Fintech 

🇨🇱 Mercado Pago, the financial tech arm of Mercado Libre, launched the crypto transfer service in Chile. This is the third country, after Brazil and Mexico, to have this feature. 

🇧🇷 WE Payments, the Brazilian paytech, launched a leading one-stop comprehensive solution for sports betting operators in Brazil, integrating bet collection and instant prize payments to bettors.

🇨🇱 Andean Wide, the Chilean payments technology platform, announced a partnership with Bitso Business, Bitso's B2B segment that supports cross-border payments technology, enabling its clients with new technological tools to optimize operations.

🌎 Aura Pay, the Spanish financial services solutions for LatAm migrants, announced the launch of Unicorn, a blockchain-based B2B solution to make the remittances process more agile in the region.

📜 Policy

🇧🇷 The Central Bank of Brazil defined that RWA tokens, BItcoin and crypto currencies are priorities for this year in terms of the National Financial System regulation. These, along with other innovative topics that will be in the Bank’s agenda in 2024. The Bank also authorized OneKey Payments, the Brazilian payments specialist, to operate as payment institution and digital currency issuer.  

🇦🇷 The Argentine Senate approved an anti-money laundering bill which addresses crypto and digital assets in general. The newly passed law establishes strict regulations and provisions for virtual assets services providers as well as a mandatory registry that will be supervised by the Argentinian financial regulator, the National Securities Commission (CNV).

🇨🇴 The Colombian consumer regulatory agency, the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce (SIC), charged Nanocred Colombia, the financial platform, with usury and deception to its users, resulting in a fine of $327 million. 

📰 Other News 

🌎 Kiki del Valle was named as Divisional President for Latin America North and the Caribbean at Mastercard.

🇲🇽 Mercado Libre, announced it will invest $2,450 million in Mexico, and a significant portion will be destined to the expansion and strengthening of its fintech arm, Mercado Pago. 

🇦🇷 N5 the US company that provides customer engagement software and IT services to leading banks, announced its expansion in LatAm through the acquisition of Argentine software and professional services companies of the financial sector, investing $20 million during 2024.

🇨🇱 Betterfly, the Chilean insurtech, launched a 100% personalized platform that integrates insurance, wellness benefits, and social impact in a gamified experience rewarding users for their healthy habits.

🌎 IDB Lab, the innovation laboratory of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and TechnoArt, the global platform for startups growth, announced the "Miami LAC Gateway" program to scale LatAm startups in the US. The goal is to make it easier for entrepreneurs to contact investors, local startups, accelerators, and service providers. 

🌎 Platanus Ventures, the Chilean startup accelerator, announced a new investment deal for startups that join its portfolio, offering a fixed agreement of $200,000 in exchange for a 5.5% stake, agreed with a post-money SAFE.

📚 Deeper Reads

Why LatAm Startup Founders Should Take A Practical, Pessimistic Approach In 2024

Five Fintech Trends that Are Revolutionizing the Financial Sector

After Contactless, The Next Big Thing In Retail Payments Is A2A

Purple washing: the hypocrisy of equality (ES)

Millions of dollars in false "remittances" paying ransoms for migrants kidnapped in Mexico (ES)

"They forgot me" and credit in Open Finance (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 and Lorena

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