Welcome to the first edition of Tech Latino! This is Stanford Latino’s biweekly newsletter where we capture the emerging trends, biggest deals, and exciting ideas in the LatAm technology environment, specifically for Gen-Z. Join us to receive our newsletter in your inbox every two weeks!
In the past 2 weeks…
💸 R2 raises $5.9 million in their seed round: R2, a fintech startup based in Mexico, was founded in the midst of the pandemic. Upon noticing SMEs (Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises) were heavily relying on e-commerce to survive, founders Roger Larach and Roger Teran decided to provide these businesses with frictionless capital. The startup provides infrastructure that allows technology companies to seamlessly offer capital to their customers in a way that is risk-free and cost-efficient. A seed round led by GeneralCatalyst took place recently, where they raised $5.9 million.
💬 Betterfly Becomes First Ever Latin American Social Unicorn: After raising $125 million in its last funding round, Chilean startup Betterfly has become the first ever Latin American social unicorn. Betterfly allows for employers to incentivize healthier lifestyles for employees, who in return can get higher life insurance or direct funds towards charitable causes.
👾 Warren Buffet invests $1 billion in Nubank: Warren Buffet recently invested in Nubank, the largest fintech bank in Latin America. NuInvest, the neobank’s investment unit, makes investing in stocks and cryptocurrency very accessible for its users. Despite Buffet’s longstanding anti-bitcoin stance, he bought $1 billion in shares.
🇨🇴 Uala expands to Colombia: Uala, an Argentine digital banking startup recently announced an expansion into Colombia with an initial $80 million investment. The unicorn offers pre-paid Mastercard branded bank cards and an app allowing access to financial services like sending and receiving money, online shopping, withdrawing cash at ATMs and financial loans. Uala plans to revolutionize the market by investing in local talent and creating a more inclusive and digitial financial ecosystem. The startup is currently operating in Argentina and Mexico, but plans to extend operations in Colombia, Chile, Peru, and Paraguay, and eventually, into the US and Europe.
🦄 Neon becomes a Unicorn: Neon is a fintech startup based in Brazil, founded in 2016 by Pedro Conrade. Recently, the startup announced that it would begin investing in technological, marketing and product resources, based on Democredit, its AI platform used to grant loans. The company plans to continue growing after having tripled its annual revenue in 2021 with plans to double its annual revenue in 2022 as its handling more than $1.1 billion per month in transactions. Neon currently has 15 million registered users in Brazil, allowing small businesses and individuals access to financial services.
Spotlights : The Fours F’s!
Every week, we spotlight one of each: a firm, a fund, a founder, and a food item. This week, we look at NotCo, Kaszek, (it’s founder) Hernan Kazah, and importantly: Arepas!
🌱 Firm Spotlight: NotCo
NotCo is a Latin American food technology startup that aims to revolutionize the food industry by providing plant-based products that taste and look authentic. It was founded in 2015, by three Chilean technologists: Karim Pichara, Matias Muchnick, and Pablo Zamora. Their AI Chef, Giuseppe (patented in 2021) helps identify animal protein sequences to match them to plant protein; this results in having similar plant products that model our favorite foods like milk and hamburgers.
They sell their products in the U.S, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Argentina. As of July of 2021, they have raised $350M and have investors like Tiger Global and DFJ Growth Fund. The company’s massive growth and brand recognition has led them to partner with Heinz in a joint venture they recently announced. They will be developing and launching a line of plant-based products, where Kraft Heinz is bringing its brand portfolio and marketing power and NotCo is bringing the technology to guide product decisions.
🤝 Fund Spotlight: Kaszek Ventures
Kaszek Ventures, headquartered in Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo, is one of Latin America’s most recognized investment firms. The fund focuses on technology products across industries; past investments come from financial services, healthcare, marketplaces and education industries.
With seven partners and 2 billion dollars in raised capital, Kaszek is the largest Latin American early-stage fund. Notable investments include Open English, PedidosYa, LaHaus, and QuintoAndar.
📈 (Co-)Founder Spotlight: Hernan Kazah
The co-founder of the Kaszek, Kazah is a notable leader in investing and entrepreneurship in Latin America. Hernan is the entrepreneur behind MercadoLibre, the largest “from-garage-to-Nasdaq'' startup in Latin America, and later Kaszek. Hernan attended the University of Buenos Aires and later went on to graduate from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1999. He is an advocate and actively engages in events to help and inspire young entrepreneurs. For his work, he was awarded the EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2018 Argentina.
🍴Food Spotlight: Arepas
Originally from Colombia and Venezuela, arepas are one of Latin America’s favorite dishes. Made from corn flour and water, the arepas can be filled with any topping you want. Our favorite: queso fresco, carne desmechada, and aguacate!
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