THIS WEEK’S FUNDING NEWS OVERVIEW
For the past week’s funding news overview, we recommend reading our weekly #DoneDeal newsletter 👇
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REPORT
The fintech ecosystem in Latin America has risen quickly over the past couple of years, with sustained growth observed in all segments and the number of active fintech companies, a new report from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Finnovista shows.
👉 Read the full Fintech in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Consolidated Ecosystem for Recovery report article by Fintechnews Switzerland here.
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
Mercado Libre Inc. has tapped Brazil’s local debt market as it seeks to fund its largest investment plan for the nation yet.
The firm raised 1 billion reais ($193 million) in local bonds that are backed by real-estate receivables known locally as CRIs.
👉 Read the full Bloomberg UK article by Vinicius Andrade here.
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📊 INFOGRAPHIC
LatAm seed and early-stage startup investment maintain an upward trend.
👉 Read the full Bloomberg Línea article by Isabela Fleischmann here.
👨💻 BLOG
Spin by Oxxo has reached 3M customers in 2 quarters, a number that took Nubank three years to reach.
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
☕️ REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️Nubank prepares to offer payroll loans and accounts abroad. Link here.
⭐️R2 reached a US$100M valuation following a US$15M Series A round. Link here.
⭐️Inswitch and Binance Pay partner to boost crypto payment adoption in LatAm. Link here.
⭐️Fintech lenders in Latin America play a “critical role” in reducing the funding gap for small businesses, new research has revealed. Link here.
BRAZIL
US central bank plans to launch ‘FedNow’ in 2023, an instant payments model similar to Brazil’s Pix. According to the Wall Street Journal, FedNow will have lower costs and greater efficiency than private versions, as well as reducing the vulnerability of the financial system. Link here.
Inter & Co Inc., previously known as Banco Inter, says it is on a mission to transform the way the world banks. As part of its expansion and growth strategy, Inter acquired U.S. international payment fintech USEND, offering digital money transfer and remittance services focused on immigrants and the underserved population. Link here.
Caju secured a $25 million Series B round led by the US-based fund K1 Investment Management, with participation from Valor Capital Group, Picus Capital, Caravela Capital, FJ Labs, and Clocktower. Link here.
Pagaleve raised a $25 million Series A led by Salesforce Ventures, the investment arm of Salesforce. The startup is Salesforce Ventures’ first investment in Brazil. Link here.
A proposal by the largest private bank in Brazil, Itaú Unibanco, to build a decentralized finance liquidity pool has been selected to join the Banco Central do Brasil’s (BCB) Laboratory of Financial and Technological Innovations (LIFT) Challenge initiative. Link here.
2TM – the holding company for Brazil's largest crypto exchange by valuation, Mercado Bitcoin – laid off 15% of its workforce or about 100 employees. Link here.
The Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission banned the Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange Bybit from brokering securities. Link here.
Credix announced an $11.25 million Series A raise. The round was co-led by Motive Partners’ Early Stage fund and ParaFi Capital. Link here.
COLOMBIA
Following Colombia’s change in government, the country’s initiative to register land titles on Ripple’s XRP Ledger has stalled. The project is now stopped as there is a change in country land titles policy due to changes in top country management. A blockchain expert even believes that the project is dead politically. Link here.
MEXICO
Bitso partnered with Africhange, an African-Canadian remittance platform, to facilitate cross-border transactions with crypto from Canada to Mexico. Link here.
Clip entered into a $50 million, three-year, unsecured revolving credit facility. The funding will be used by the company to expand its efforts to meet businesses’ demand for innovative payment. Link here.
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Rogelio Rea, the former CEO of Atrato, joins Platanus Ventures to strengthen its team in Mexico. Link here.
If you are a fintech startup and have over 100 questions send me an email, maybe I can answer a few.