$20 million in fintech funding

Hola amig@s fintech,

This week, we have an important announcement to make: our beloved Christine Chang is bidding farewell to TWIF Latam. Elena, Daniela, and I express our deepest gratitude to her for inviting us to collaborate and for introducing us to the world of TWIF in such a delightful, insightful, and supportive way. Christine was the visionary behind TWIF Latam, nurturing it from its inception. We bid her a heartfelt "hasta pronto" (see you soon) rather than goodbye, and we wish her immense success in all her future endeavors. We are confident that everything she pursues will contribute to innovation, inclusion, and a better world.

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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Note from Christine Chang, outgoing editor-in-chief:

Hola amigos fintech!

Hard to believe this is my last TWIF Latam newsletter.  From 0 to 8,000+ subscribers in two years… WOW!  Thank you so much for subscribing and being on this journey with me and, more importantly, for being a part of, believing in and growing the Latam fintech ecosystem – from zero to hero!  🦸

It’s been amazing to see week by week how the region has been evolving, booming, right-sizing, shape-shifting in terms of how financial services are changing to meet the needs of the next billion users and future generations.  Through the events hosted in five different countries I’ve had the privilege of meeting many of you and it’s been especially rewarding to see more and more women and diverse backgrounds make your presence known and killing it in Latam fintech.

Whatever is yet to come, there is still a lot of honest and hard work to be done and I’m here for it all!  I leave you in very capable hands and I’m proud to see this next generation of Latam fintech leaders make their voices heard.  Vamos Lorena, Elena, y Daniela!

To our readers, my sincerest heartfelt thanks for reading, subscribing and doing what you do for a more (financially and in all respects) inclusive Latam.

Gracias, obrigada, appreciate you! - Christine 💙

📊 Stat of the Week

📖  Read of the Week

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated digitalization and Latam's bank account access to around 73%. To support this transformation, Open Finance policies and changes in the financial sector are essential. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) report offers insights into Open Finance in Latin America and the Caribbean, exploring its functionality, significance, and potential challenges and opportunities.

💸 Venture Financing

💸Equity

🇻🇪 Fanki, the Colombian sports fintech for teams, leagues, and organizations, raised $6 million in seed funding from US and Colombian VC funds, including Broom Ventures, Tenacity Venture Capital, and Maraton Capitals. With support from local partners like Rappi, Frubana, and Truora, and alliances with Mastercard and Powwi, Fanki already operates in Mexico and aims to revolutionize the sports industry.

🇺🇾 Nocnoc, the Uruguayan cross-border e-commerce facilitator, raised a Series A funding round of $14 million, led by PayPal Ventures, with participation from Mouro Capital, Quona Capital, Caravela Capital, Broadhaven, and Ignia. This brings Nocnoc's total venture-backed funding to $22 million. Nocnoc aims to empower businesses to tap into the Latam market through 16 marketplaces, and has presence in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, China, and Spain.

💰 Venture funds

🇦🇷 Argentina-based Kamay Ventures, a corporate venture capital fund backed by Coca-Cola and Arcor, announced investments in up to 10 Brazilian startups. With a commitment of around $10.5 million to $15 million, Kamay provides seed and pre-Series A funding for companies. The fund focuses on fintech,  e-commerce, logistics, and biotech.

☯️ Exits

🤝 M&A - Fintech

🇲🇽 Payback, the Mexican loyalty wallet operator for various businesses, announced it will cease operations, due to commercial decisions, in Mexico starting November this year. The closure will end the alliance between Payback and brands such as Cinemex, Soriana, Coppel, Adidas, Amazon, Apple, and many others.

🇨🇱 U-Payments, the Chilean digital bank and service consultant, and UltraBNK, the company specialized in providing mission-critical services, announced a merger to enhance services and benefit stakeholders. The merger aims to improve service quality and bring innovation to the digital payment industry. Details on the transaction were not disclosed.

🌐 Payoneer (NASDAQ: PAYO), the US-based commerce technology company, and Belo, the Argentinean crypto platform, announced their integration to enhance financial flexibility and user experience, providing users with a new withdrawal method for their funds. Details on the transaction were not disclosed.

🚀 Product Launches & Partnerships

💻 Fintech

🇻🇪 AAvance, the Colombian financial inclusion platform, launched a digital wallet for Venezuelan migrants in Colombia, providing a way to manage low-balance deposits and access a Visa debit card. The platform offers benefits such as fee exemptions, financial education, and a network of payment and recharge points.

🇪🇨 Flow, the Chilean online payment platform, announced its expansion to Ecuador. The company is currently finalizing details, contacting local providers, and complying with regulations to start operations. Flow has presence in Peru, Mexico, and Chile.

🇲🇽 Ualá, the Argentinean neo-bank and personal financial management app, expanded its product offerings in Mexico with a high-yield savings account, which offers an annual interest rate of 9%. Ualá also announced that it will start accepting remittances through Western Union and has relaunched its loyalty program in Mexico.

🇲🇽 Aurora, the Mexican platform offering financial services to workers, announced its entry to Mexico with payroll advances through free and subscription plans, along with customized insurance and financial education.

🇨🇱 MACH, the Chilean digital branch of Banco Bci, announced its shift from prepaid cards to current accounts, issuing Visa debit cards for expanded usability.

🇧🇷 Lanistar, the UK-based fintech, launched a cryptocurrency trading service in its Brazilian app. The platform allows users in Brazil to buy and sell crypto, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Dogecoin, as part of its commitment to revolutionize the future of finance.

🏦 Financial Services & Banking

🇲🇽 Citibanamex, the Mexican bank, and Minu, the Mexican micro unsecured loan services platform, announced a partnership to offer salary advances to its 5 million payroll account customers in Mexico. This partnership aims to improve financial health by providing liquidity based on the number of days worked in the pay period.

🇦🇷 Google launched its virtual wallet in Argentina, enabling contactless payments and the addition of financial institution cards. Collaborations with Visa, Mastercard, and several banks facilitate accessibility, while security features include tokenization and device-specific security codes.

📜 Policy

🇲🇽 Representative Iraís Reyes (Movimiento Ciudadano party) introduced a bill to amend the Credit Information Societies Law, seeking to shorten the time individuals with a poor credit rating remain on the Credit Buro "blacklist" to just ten days. Currently, credit history records can persist for one to six years.

🇦🇷 dLocal, the cross-border payment solutions company, is under investigation by Argentina’s authorities for potential money laundering. The company allegedly carried out overbilling and currency smuggling totaling at least $400 million.

🇧🇷 Representative Áureo Ribeiro (Solidariedade-RJ) revealed that the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) in the House is investigating financial pyramids and cryptocurrency scams, and plans to summon Binance for questioning regarding the breaching of securities trading laws.

📰 Other News

🇨🇴 La Haus, a Colombian-based proptech, raised 62M in its C round, involving NFX, Next Play Capital, Acrew Capital and Kaszek.

🇧🇷 Binance announced that the largest use of its Binance Card in Brazil is in supermarkets, followed by transportation payments and subscriptions to streaming services.

🌐Swift announced its plan to tokenize digital assets with the aim of improving and ensuring interoperability between financial institution systems and a growing variety of blockchain networks. This initiative seeks to help companies simplify their architecture and operations, while reducing costs and reducing the risk of becoming technologically obsolete.

📚 Deeper Reads

Forbes’ Fintech 50 (US, 2023)

Fintech x AI: The Lightspeed View

How to scare off a VC?

How LatAm fintechs are diversifying their businesses to tackle challenging times

Financial inclusion, security within everyone's reach (ES)

ChatGPT and the future of SMEs in Latin America and the Caribbean (ES)

Made in Latam with 💛 by Elena, Daniela, and Lorena

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