👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
LatAm's Nubank beats revenue estimates on strong client additions.
The neobank reached nearly 60 million customers in Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia.
“This is the strongest quarter in Nu’s history. We reached nearly 60 million customers and a record-high activity rate of 78%,” Chief Executive Officer David Véléz said. The majority of clients (57.3 million) are in Brazil.
👉Read the full labs article here.
📊 INFOGRAPHIC
In the first quarter of 2022, the country's card industry grew by 36%.
For the first time, Brazilians made an average of 100 million purchases via cards per day. This is what the new Abecs report shows.
👉Read the full LABS article here.
📰 ARTICLE
Harlem capital asked six women founders in LATAM to share how they started their companies, their experiences raising capital, and perspectives on the landscape for women entrepreneurs.
👉Read the full article here.
💬 INTERVIEW
Creditas’ latest funding was in January, a $260 million round in which the valuation reached $4.8 billion.
Investors have been reducing valuations of Latin American startups during the global stock market rout and in an environment of higher interest rates, said Sergio Furio, founder of Creditas.
👉Read the full LABS article here.
💡INSIGHTS
Rappi has already "graduated" more than 100 founders that have created >14k jobs and raised over $2b in VC funding.
👉Read the full article here.
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
☕️ REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️Coinbase Global’s first-quarter earnings report shows U.S.'s largest cryptocurrency exchange reported a quarterly loss of $430 million and a 19% drop in monthly users. Link here.
⭐️ Google launched Google Wallet, a new Android and Wear OS app that will allow users to store things like credit cards, loyalty cards, and more. Link here.
⭐️Nubank is adding the option for customers to buy and sell bitcoin and ether on its platform. Link here.
⭐️ Grupo Financiero Banorte has joined a United Nations' program to offer digital bank accounts to refugees in Mexico. Link here.
BRAZIL
Nubank is adding the option for customers to buy and sell bitcoin and ether on its platform. Link here.
Dock has raised $110 million in a growth funding round led by U.K.-based Lightrock and Silver Lake Waterman, bringing its valuation to over $1.5 billion. Link here.
Ebury acquires Bexs to expand its footprint in Brazil. With the acquisition, Ebury aims to expand its offering of international money transfer solutions for SMEs as well as provide digital services to businesses that sell their products online in Brazil. Link here.
Magazine Luiza launched its own fintech, called Fintech Magalu. The new business arm will integrate other financial products and services already offered by Magazine Luiza, and is a new step in the company’s strategy of diversifying its portfolio, aiming at user retention and recurrence. Link here.
Nextron launches a marketplace for renewable energy credits. The startup has built a solution to trade renewable energy credits from power generators and reduce the cost of electricity bills for end consumers; it secured a $2.2 million Seed to boost its marketplace. Link here.
ARGENTINA
Belo raises USD3 million in financing round. The Seed series funding round was led by CRV, The Venture City, Newtopia, Latitude, Liquid 2 and Infinity Ventures Crypto, among others. Link here.
COLOMBIA
Habi gets $200 million in series C round. Investment round led by Homebrew and SoftBank values the company at more than $1 billion. Link here.
MEXICO
Grupo Financiero Banorte has joined a United Nations' program to offer digital bank accounts to refugees in Mexico. With this account, refugees will be able to access the UN's refugee agency services such as education, training and housing searches, according to a press release. Link here.
CHILE
Xepelin already has 15,000 clients and recently raised US$111 million in a Series B. After announcing a US$111 million raised, the co-founder of Xepelin says that they will focus on Mexico and consider countries like Colombia and Brazil in the future. Link here.
The Central Bank of Chile has delayed its plans for a central bank digital currency saying the issuance of a digital Chilean peso requires a deeper analysis of the benefits and risks, promising a new report toward the end of the year. Link here.
This is a unique place where everybody from the FinTech space is welcome to connect and share news, insights, job opportunities, investment deal flow, etc.
I look forward to talking with you there.
If you are a fintech startup and have over 100 questions send me an email, maybe I can answer a few.