THIS WEEK’S FUNDING NEWS OVERVIEW
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REPORT
A report issued recently by Mastercard has revealed that Latam is fertile ground when it comes to adopting new payment systems. The report, titled New Payments Index 2022, found that 51% of the consumers in the area had already made a transaction involving cryptocurrency.
In the same way, the report found that stablecoins were a vehicle with some penetration in the payments market in Latam. A third of the consumers in the area have reported making a purchase using stablecoins.
Walter Pimenta, vice president of products and innovation for Mastercard Latam and the Caribbean, stated:
"More and more Latin Americans show interest in cryptocurrencies and want solutions that facilitate access to the crypto world."
👉 Link to the full article here.
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
Brazilian financial technology lender Creditas is raising $200 million from investors and buying a bank as well as a mortgage startup as it moves to increase profitability.
The SoftBank-backed firm, which operates an online platform offering consumer loans, is buying the Brazilian banking license of Andorra's Andbank and will begin accepting deposits.
👉 Link to the full article here.
😎 SPONSORED CONTENT
PayRetailers is a Spanish company that offers a unified payment solution that integrates more than 250 payment methods to drive the digital growth of global businesses and financial inclusion in Latin America, with a business strategy aligned to strengthening its local operations where it operates.
📰 ARTICLE
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has agreed to loan $233 million to Latin American e-commerce giant MercadoLibre Inc.’s fintech arm as the firm plans on expanding its credit offering in two key markets.
MercadoPago will use $106 million to boost its credit portfolio aimed at individuals and smaller businesses in Brazil, while $127 million is earmarked for Mexico, according to a statement.
👉 Link to the full article here.
👨💻 BLOG
For the first time in history, remittances to Mexico surpassed $5B USD in May 2022, according to data from Banxico.
Read the full Latinometrics article below. 👇
💬 INTERVIEW
Payment installment has existed in Brazil for many years but the buzz currently surrounding BNPL products suggests a different phenomenon is underway, according to the U.S. fintech Sezzle.
"There are about 100 million Brazilians who have low credit limits, or do not have a credit card, or do not have a credit score, are negative, or have informal income and cannot prove their income. These people can benefit from BNPL," the firm's local Joao Pedro Teles says in an interview with iupana.
👉 Link to the full iupana article here.
💡INSIGHTS
Peru’s fintech industry is expected to get a boost this year, driven by favorable regulatory developments and rising demand for more accessible and inclusive financial services.
👉 Link to the full article here.
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
☕️ REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️Rajeev Misra, head of vision fund, which handles SoftBank’s LatAm funds, is stepping down from his executive role at the Japanese conglomerate, according to a statement from SoftBank. Link here.
⭐️Startup Betterfly hits unicorn status with $125 million round. Butterfly looks to launch in seven new markets in 2022- Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, and Costa Rica. Link here.
⭐️ DEUNA announced it has raised a total of $37M including a $30M Series A round. A round led by Activant Capital with participation from Valor Capital, Abstract Ventures, Acrew Capital, Upload Ventures. Link here.
BRAZIL
PicPay with more than 30 million active users, will enter the world of crypto-activities. The company has created a business unit baptized Crypto and Web3 and intends to get a series of products out of the oven. Link here.
ARGENTINA
Agrotoken announced a partnership with Visa to create a payment method allowing agricultural producers to use their grains as a form of payment through a card. Agrotoken has teamed up with Pomelo and Algorand as strategic allies for the implementation and development of a card designed for the agricultural sector. Link here.
COLOMBIA
Bitso announced that its international transfer service to the United States is now available also in Colombia, for individuals, businesses, and remittance companies. In fact, in 2021 Colombians received over $103 million in remittances from the U.S., representing a 102% growth compared to 2020. Link here.
MEXICO
Kapital (YC W22) obtained 30 million dollars on a Demo Day. The round was led by Tenacity Venture Capital, a Benjamin (BΞN) Narasin's fund. Also, the startup raised the interest of other investors and like Telesoft, Broom Ventures, Pioneer Fund, Soma Capital, FoundersX Fund, and angel investors such as the co-founder of Dropbox Arash Ferdowsi, who also serves as board observer and mentor of the company to further strengthen the technology. Link here.
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Neon announced the appointment of André Madeira as the company’s new Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Madeira brings extensive knowledge in engineering to the role, along with expertise in building scalable products for the masses from his stints at Google, Snap, and Coinbase. Link here.
Kueski, which claims to be one of the largest BNPL and online consumer lenders in Latin America, announced the appointment of Sung Hae Kim as the company’s Chief People Officer. Link here.
If you are a fintech startup and have over 100 questions send me an email, maybe I can answer a few.