We’re back! After two weeks winding down following the culmination of the school year, we’re excited to catch up on what has been going on in the LatAm tech environment. Get excited, there’s A LOT to cover…
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Since we last spoke…
🔥 Mexican startup Around announces plans to expand beyond Mexico: After raising a seed round of $3.8M, Around, the subscription-based prop-tech that connects underutilized workspaces with growing businesses, announces its plans to expand to Buenos Aires, Santiago and Lima. Since it was founded, Around has reached $2.5M in annual revenue, and expects 5x growth in the next year.
🇧🇷 MAYA Capital, an early-stage fund founded by two Brazilian women, recently secured $100 million: This is MAYA’s second venture capital fund, doubling their first $40M fund. MAYA has had some major successes in the past, including unicorns NotCo and Merama.
👩🏽⚕️Chilean healthtech Examedi raised $17 million in Series A led by General Catalyst: Examedi, which currently operates in Chile and Mexico, allows its customers to get tests done at home, and analyzes their samples. With this new funding round, they hope to develop their B2B solutions, and expand to other countries in Latin America.
💸 Take Blip raises $70 million in Series B: Take Blip is a Brazilian startup that makes customer service seamless by allowing customers to easily chat with businesses. Recently, they raised $70 million in a Series B funding round led by Warburg Pincus. The startup, which currently has over 240,000 users, is now valued at $170 million.
🤑 Kushki, the first ever Ecuadorian Unicorn, recently raised $100 million in an extension to a previous Series B round, in which they had raised $86 million: This FinTech aims to make digital payments easier at minimum cost. It also lets businesses access all the information surrounding payments to make integrating Kushki into their business as seamless as possible. The extension–backed by Kaszek Ventures, Softbank Latam Fund, and more– brings Kushki’s valuation to $1.5 billion.
🏦 Mono (a Colombian startup founded half a year ago) held a seed round led by Tiger Global where they raised $6 million: The round happened following the startup’s participation in YC’s Winter cohort. Mono lowers barriers to entry for SMEs and other startups by facilitating the banking process for them, so that they can “focus on their business and not their bank”.
Spotlights : The Four F’s!
Every week, we spotlight one of each: a firm, a fund, a founder, and a food item. This week, we look at Mono (YC W22), Talanta’s founder Johanna Molina, Maya Capital, and Tamales!
💳 Firm: Mono (YC W22)
Mono is a FinTech founded in 2020 by Salomon Valencia, Sebastian Vasquez, José Lobo, and Juan Poveda. Headquartered in Bogotá, Mono provides business accounts for startups, with both digital and physical cards. Mono raised $6M from Tiger Global in their Seed Round after YC.
🎓 Founder Spotlight: Johanna Molina
Johanna Molina is from Medellín, Colombia. She co-founded Talanta, a platform that helps students anywhere connect to internships, in January of 2021. Before this, Johanna was focusing on her other company, The Intern Group, where she worked as Co-Founder and Head of Impact. Founded in 2011, The Intern Group also works to connect students to internships, programs, and scholarships. Johanna studied in Fundación Universitaria CEIPA where she received a diploma in Finance. Now, Johanna focuses on making an impact in this digital world, connecting students to opportunities.
💛 Fund Spotlight: Maya Capital
Maya Capital is an early-stage fund focusing on investments in Latin America. Started in 2018 by Lara Lemann and Monica Saggorio, the headquarters call São Paulo, Brazil home. The fund invests in entrepreneurs and early stage startups that solve Latin America’s most relevant problems. As of recently, they have raised 100 million dollars in their second fund.
🫔 Food Spotlight: Tamales
Tamales are a classic Mexican dish made with corn dough. Ranging from chicken to beans, the fillings are endless and very customizable. Tamales have become so popular, each region has its own filling preference and custom.
💡 This week’s reads:
👨🏻💻 Google to invest $1.2B in Latin America
🏦 (Written in Spanish) Ecosistema de Venture Capital y Growth Equity, por Endeavor y Glisco Partners
🇨🇷 Costa Rica Launches Two Venture Capital Funds for SMEs
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Great to see Latin American ingenuity on display. Thanks for putting this roundup together.