$210 million in fintech funding (equity and debt)

Hola amig@s fintech,

We had an incredible three days during the Fintech Trek in Mexico City! Our agenda was packed with eight panels and one conference, all centered around hot topics like neobanks, SMEs, debt capital markets, VC, growth capital, payments, embedded finance, Mexico's economic outlook, and the regulatory landscape.

But it wasn't all work,  we also had a blast at the Balmori rooftop Happy Hour with more than 290 people registered to attend, indulged in a taco tour, and explored the sights of Coyoacan.

A huge shoutout to Nik and the TWIF team and to our co-host Quona for making this happen. We couldn't have done it without our fantastic sponsors: Visa, Community Investment Management , and Gunderson Dettmer. Our Happy Hour was generously sponsored by Ensemblex and AWS. Big thanks to Flexo and WeWork for their support as well.

Most of all, we want to express our gratitude to all the participants and panelists for making our inaugural Latam Trek such a resounding success!

And, by the way, it seems that a second voting round will take place to elect the next President of Argentina. Now, please read this week’s Latam fintech news. 

💙 Until next weekend. Até a próxima!

• Lorena

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📊 Stat of the Week

Global fintech financing reached $7.4 billion in the Q3 of 2023, which represented a drop of 3% compared to Q2, and a decrease of 46.3% compared to the same period 2022. (Source)

📖  Read of the Week

In WTF VC - fall 2023, Sam Lessin, General Partner of Slow Ventures, gives his perspective on the current moment that Venture Capital is going through.

🎙️Podcast of the Week

💸 Venture Financing

💸 Equity

🇲🇽 Nexu, the Mexican automotive financing startup, raised $20 million in a Series B funding round led by Valor Capital. The round also had participation from FinTech Collective, Endeavor Catalyst, Altos Ventures, Wollef, Squareone, Clocktower Ventures, Gilgamesh Ventures, FJ Labs, Ivernet, and Capem. It also included a debt facility with HSBC.

🇲🇽 Albo, the Mexican neobank focusing on SMEs, raised $40 million in a Series C funding round led by Morpheus Ventures and with participation from Valar Ventures and Nazca Ventures.

🇺🇾 Skyblue Analytics, the Uruguay-based big data financing and investment company, received $120,000 from the US accelerator TechStars, which will be part of its seed round.  

💵 Debt 

🇲🇽 Tribal, the US corporate credit solutions company operating in Mexico, renewed its $150 million debt facility from Partners to Growth.

💰 Venture funds 

🇲🇽 Miranda Partners, the Mexican financial and business consulting firm, and AMG Block Ventures, the Mexican seed stage venture capital fund, partnered to launch "Miranda Ventures," a VC fund focused on helping startups exchanging shares for specialized support, covering investor relations, and digital marketing. 

☯️ Exits

🤝 M&A - Fintech

🇧🇷 Payface, the Brazilian facial biometrics payments platform, announced the acquisition of SmileGo, the Brazilian onboarding and private label services platform. This acquisition comes just three months after Payface received a $3 million investment. No further details were disclosed.

🌎 Airwallex, the Hong Kong-based digital payment platform, announced the acquisition of MexPago, the Mexican mobile point of sale solution platform for businesses to receive payments. This acquisition aims to bolster its presence in Latam, primarily targeting SMEs. No further details were disclosed.

🚀 Product Launches & Partnerships

💻 Fintech 

🇨🇴 Tuily, the Colombian real-time budget management and cost allocation platform, announced its entry into the credit card market, targeting smaller, first-time-access businesses. They anticipate 350 business clients and an 80% month-to-month transaction volume increase for 2023.

🇲🇽 Money Giver, the Mexican payroll and salary services platform, and Pomelo, the Argentinian B2B financial infrastructure startup, announced a partnership to release a credit card for customers to access bonuses, and a tool for international purchases. 

🇦🇷 Takenos, the Argentine solution for workers and freelancers seeking to optimize their receipt of foreign income, announced a product enabling direct receipt of dollars and simplifying withdrawal processes for users in the region.

🇲🇽 Stori, the Mexican digital financial platform serving underserved customers, announced a new savings account with 15% annual yield. The deposit account, initially accessible to current credit card customers, will be available 24/7 and can be opened with as little as one peso.

🇲🇽 TruBit, the Mexican founded virtual assets exchange, began making transfers using the CVU (unique virtual code) to buy and sell crypto in Argentinian pesos.   

🇲🇽 Ualá, the Argentine financial ecosystem app, and Soriana, the Mexican retail company,  announced a partnership to launch cash deposits in Mexico, offering free and instant cash-in services at over 1,000 points. Users can expect a 12% annual return on their accounts. 

🌎 Yuno, the Colombian platform focused on payment process modification, and Bamboo Payment Systems, the Uruguay-based payment capacities platform,  announced a partnership to simplify international online payments for companies in Latam. They will address challenges associated with cross-border transactions, delays, procedural complications, and high fees.

🏦 Financial Services & Banking

🇧🇷 Sicredi, the Brazilian cooperative financial institution, launched a Business Financial Management (BFM) solution with AI to assist SMEs in financial management. The tool streamlines financial organization, cash flow, data integration, and simplifies financial operations.

🇨🇴 Credibanco, the Colombian financial services company, and Koibanx, the Argentine banking system to Web3, announced a partnership to boost interoperability in Colombia's financial sector, by enabling various forms of digital transactions across banks and fintechs, using blockchain and open finance.

🇧🇷 Fico, the US-based global credit scoring and analytics company, and Belvo, the Mexican open finance API platform, announced a partnership to provide real-time credit scoring services in Brazil. This partnership will offer innovative credit assessment solutions.

🌎 Thales, the European aerospace technology and security markets company, and Clara, the Mexican-Brazilian corporate spending management platform for companies in Latam, announced a partnership to accelerate financial digital transformation in Latam, integrating Clara's digital payment services into mobile apps and platforms in Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico. 

📜 Policy

🇲🇽 Nu, the Mexican arm of the Brazilian Nubank company, requested to the financial regulatory authorities a banking license in Mexico, which will broaden the products and services it offers. 

🇨🇱 The Financial Market Commission (CMF), Chile’s financial regulatory agency, has published for consultation, until November 10, the norms regarding some fintech institutions, such as crowdfunding, alternative transaction services, financial and investment advice, among others.  

📰 Other News 

🇧🇷 Iniciador named Victor Duek as Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) to create new business and innovation strategies for the company, aiming to shape the future of open finance in Brazil.

🇨🇴 Bank of Bogota launches “Entrepreneurship Windows”, for  the development and strengthening of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Colombia, plus supporting ventures led by women

🇲🇽 Scotiabank, announced that, as part of its commitment to improve the experience of its customers in Mexico, it will invest nearly $435 million to integrate new technological solutions.

📚 Deeper Reads

SME loans: how are fintechs innovating in this space?

Generalist Or Specialist? Deciding What Type Of Investor Is Right For Your Startup

The Issue of BaaS Middleware

Fintech: the main focus of corporate venture capital investments in Latin America (ES)

Banks vs fintech: the keys to understanding the final battle of virtual wallets (ES)

Super apps in Brazil: the imminent digital and financial transformation (PO)

The Latin American insurance market is worth US$174 billion (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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