THIS WEEK’S FUNDING NEWS OVERVIEW
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💡 Read all about it in my weekly overview article and get the latest funding news from the global FinTech space in your inbox every week.
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
One of the shocking aspects of the FTX blowup was how employees were left completely in the dark about what was going on and were learning about the fate of their company, including the failed Binance takeover and the bankruptcy filing, in real time via Twitter along with the rest of us.
👉 Read the full source article by Aaron Stanley here.
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📰 ARTICLE
The Central Bank of Brazil announced that Pix protocols will be open and available to issuers from other countries, which will allow them to replicate the country’s groundbreaking instant payment system free of charge.
The declaration by the BCB’s president, Roberto Campos Neto, suggests the possibility of an ISP that's interconnected between countries is not far-fetched.
In fact, the adoption of Pix on a massive scale in Brazil grabbed the attention of countries such as Colombia and Canada, which have already approached the BCB to better understand the platform’s workings.
👉 Read the full Iupana article here.
🧐 ANALYSIS
Last year, digital wallets and Neobanks represented 48.6% of the value of global e-commerce transactions, equivalent to an amount of US$2.6 billion.
👉 Read the full Latam Fintech Hub article here.
💡INSIGHTS
The pullback in investment and a collapse in valuations have made the birth of fintech unicorns an increasingly rare event in Latin America.
Last year, 18 startups achieved a valuation in excess of US$1 billion and half of these were FinTechs, according to LABS, news, and analysis website backed by Brazilian fintech EBANX.
👉 Read the full Iupana article here.
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
☕️ REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️Zimpler announced that it will expand its operations to Latin America. Link here.
⭐️ Zulu banks $5M for its LatAm digital wallet amid shaky ground for crypto. Link here.
⭐️ Banco Afirme launched Billú, its digital bank. Link here.
⭐️ Nubank now accepts new business customers that don’t have a personal account. Link here.
BRAZIL
PagSeguro announced that it notched up net revenue of 4 billion reais ($746.3 million) in the third quarter, a growth of 45% over the same quarter of 2021. The fintech’s shares dropped 2.75% in after-hours trading, with analysts having estimated adjusted revenue of 4.1 billion reais. Link here.
Agrolend raises USD $27M to finance farmers in Brazil. The fintech’s goal is to provide a fast alternative to traditional bank credit. Link here.
Transferbank has already transacted USD $400M and recently raised a seed round. The company founded by Luis Felipe Bazzo raised USD $730K (R $4M) in its latest funding round, which included strategic entrepreneurs from the banking and logistics segments. Link here.
Nubank announced another evolution for Brazilian entrepreneurs: the possibility of opening a business account even for those who don’t have a personal account (NuConta) at the Company. Link here.
Avenue closed the acquisition of the myProfit platform, which helps investors understand and automate income tax in financial transactions - one of the main items that scare off those interested in buying stocks abroad because they are unaware of the taxes. Link here.
COLOMBIA
Zulu banks $5M for its LatAm digital wallet amid shaky ground for crypto. The $5 million seed round was led by Cadenza Ventures, which was joined by Nexo Ventures, Simplex, CMT Digital, Gaingels. Link here.
MEXICO
Mexican customers switch from banks to Fintechs, but penetration remains low. Studies by global firms show that Mexicans are using both types of financial institutions, seeking neobanks for credit cards and loans, but are also maintaining an account with a traditional bank. Link here.
Klar CEO Stefan Möller joined the Board of Directors of Fintech México, an association with approximately 200 members from the fintech industry. Link here.
Banco Afirme launched Billú, its digital bank. Billú will be focused on the metaverse and the hyper-personalization of its products and services. The company wants to sign up 250,000 customers during 2023. Link here.
URUGUAY
Investment research firm Muddy Waters Research Capital said it is short dLocal a fast-growing payments company based in Uruguay. The company, which the short-selling firm said was spun out of a high-risk processing business, has reported strong growth and profitability "that makes it an outlier." Link here.
If you are a fintech startup and have over 100 questions send me an email, maybe I can answer a few.