Finerio in Crescendo, Colombia and Chile: Fintech Stars of the Week
This week, the Latin American fintech scene shines with its own lights: Finerio wins a crucial financing, while Colombia and Chile outline their own success stories.
Welcome to our weekly newsletter covering the latest news and trends in the Latin American Fintech startup scene.
Finerio obtains USD $6.5 million to boost its platform
The startup Finerio Connect, based in Mexico City, has secured an investment round of USD $6.5 million.
This capital injection will support the development of their open finance platform, which facilitates access to personalized financial services.
This funding was led by Third Prime and involved strategic investors such as Visa, Bancolombia Ventures, and Krealo, the venture capital arm of Credicorp.
In addition to Alaya Capital, Gaingels, Plug and Play, and Winklevoss Capital, there was participation from a group of angel investors associated with Guiabolso, Dock, and ClassPass.
Previously, the company had raised around USD $3.2 million in SAFE notes.
Vía Contxto
Quick News
Argentina accelerates legislation to implement digital currency
After discussing the possible benefits of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) for the national economy, the Central Bank of the Argentina Republic announced that it has expedited its work on legislation to implement this in the country.
Director of the Central Bank, Juan Agustín D’Attellis Noguera, stated they are working on the legal framework for the CBDC project in pesos proposed by the Minister of Economy and presidential candidate Sergio Massa.
Furthermore, he praised Massa’s proposal for the CBDC. He indirectly criticized the position of the other presidential candidate, Javier Milei, who has publicly advocated for the ‘dollarization‘ of the Argentine economy.
This is not the first time Noguera has advocated for a CBDC. (Contxto)
BRLA Digital raises BRL $3 million in first investment round
The fintech BRLA Digital, which specializes in cross-border payments and cryptocurrency infrastructures, has just raised BRL $3 million in its first round of funding.
Participating in the pre-seed round is Coins, a Filipino exchange led by Wei Zhou (former CFO of Binance); and Rodrigo Benez, a digital asset investor who founded the first stablecoin in Brazil with SimpliPay, among other investors.
According to the fintech company, the funds come when their operations in Brazil need a boost.
With the boost the investment will provide the business, BRLA Digital plans to reach at least 30 clients by 2024 (currently serving five) and process over BRL$100 million monthly. (Contxto)
Nexu achieves USD $20 million Series B investment round
Nexu, the Mexican fintech that offers a financing platform for people looking to buy a car, has secured a Series B investment round of USD $20 million. This capital injection will be used to empower the startup.
Valor Capital led the investment round, with participation from FinTech Collective, Endeavor Catalyst, Altos Ventures, Wollef, Squareone, Clocktower Ventures, Gilgamesh Ventures, FJ Labs, Ivernet, and Capem.
Nexu also secured a line of credit from HSBC, although the amount was not disclosed. The fintech has raised USD $53 million in previous financings.
This newly acquired capital will be used to expand its presence in the Mexican market and to enhance and diversify its financing services. (Contxto)
Chilean Fintech Cumplo will arrive in Colombia
12 years ago, Cumplo entered the market and became one of the pioneers in fintech in Chile. Recently, they surpassed the milestone of USD $2 billion in financing for small and medium-sized enterprises.
This achievement has been highlighted by its founder and president, Nicolás Shea, who also emphasizes that they have surpassed 100,000 transactions in the three markets where they currently operate: Chile, Mexico, and Peru.
These positive results support the startup’s vision, which is to continue expanding internationally.
Shea revealed they are already working on their next international expansion, choosing Colombia as their fourth market, with which they have had some discussions. (Contxto)
FinMaq secures a USD $500,000 investment and gears up for its LatAm expansion
FinMaq, an emerging Colombian fintech, has successfully marked its presence internationally by being named the winner of the ‘International Soft Landing’ program.
The ‘International Soft Landing’ was conceived to boost tech startups. Through it, FinMaq secured a financial injection of USD $500,000
FinMaq’s unique approach focuses on providing funding for productive assets to individuals and SMEs in Colombia.
Their primary mission is to promote financial inclusion and create a substantial social impact. (Contxto)
Chile reached 300 financial technology companies according to the Finnovista Fintech Radar 2023
Santiago de Chile positioned itself as the mecca of financial innovation in Latin America thanks to the unveiling of the Finnovista Fintech Radar Chile 2023, an event co-hosted with Visa.
The report presented shed revealing data, highlighting that fintechs in Chile have experienced exponential growth, with an annual rise of 29.5% since 2021, reaching 300 companies.
Over half of these startups focus on payments, remittances, financial management, and lending.
This recent collaboration between corporations, startups, and critical players showcases the transformative potential when forces unite to reshape the financial landscape. (Contxto)
Colombian fintech R5 reaches investment agreement with Lendable
R5, a startup from Colombia, secured an investment agreement led by the British fund Lendable, which focuses on promoting inclusion and sustainability through proven fintech in both areas.
The funds obtained will be used to expand the loan offerings for acquiring used vehicles, enabling people to get a car through a loan.
Lendable is a financing provider for various fintech companies in emerging and frontier markets.
Based in the United Kingdom, Lendable has provided more than USD $350 million in credits to fintech companies in over 14 countries. (Contxto)
Worldline and Yuno join forces to simplify online payments in Latin America
Worldline, a global leader in payment services, has chosen to collaborate with Yuno, a prominent Colombian startup specializing in online payments in Latin America and the United States.
This collaboration aims to optimize the management of various payment methods for businesses and digital retailers in the Latin American region.
Yuno has developed a cutting-edge platform called Ultimate Checkout. This innovative tool allows digital businesses to manage multiple payment methods under a single interface.
the platform will enable merchants to customize their payment process, monitor acceptance rates, produce detailed reports, and utilize advanced tools for fraud detection and intelligent transaction routing. (Contxto)
Fintech Tenpo launches credit card to compete with banks
The credit card recently launched by Tenpo, the digital account from Chile, has had a successful first month with over 15,000 issuances.
This achievement was gradually reached by inviting customers, a common strategy in launching financial innovations to the market.
This credit card offers complete control over credit limits, expenses, and budgets and is available in virtual and physical forms.
It can be acquired online without maintenance or administration costs. Despite the positive response, the fintech company aims to have more than 40,000 cards in operation by the end of the year. (Contxto)
The fintech Tuily launches business credit card in Colombia
The Colombian fintech startup Tuily has recently unveiled its business credit card and expense management platform, designed to support entrepreneurs and small businesses in the country.
This initiative is backed by Mastercard and is issued by Paymentology.
The fintech’s funding has come from its resources, but there are plans to initiate investment and debt rounds.
With a team of 22 talented individuals, Tuily aims to reach 350 businesses as clients by the end of 2023 and projects an 80% month-to-month transactional growth. (Contxto)
Yuno partners with Bamboo Payment for cross-border payments in LatAm
The Colombian startup Yuno, an expert in digital payments, has partnered with Bamboo Payment, a leading transaction manager from Uruguay.
These companies aim to optimize and streamline international transactions for Latin American organizations.
Yuno and Bamboo Payment have combined their expertise to offer a comprehensive and effective solution.
This partnership strives to overcome the usual challenges of global trade and provide a more straightforward and cost-effective way to handle transactions. (Contxto)
Spin, Oxxo’s fintech, records a 105.8% user growth in just one year
Oxxo, the Mexican convenience store chain, has experienced unprecedented growth in its fintech named Spin.
Over the past year, the user base of this financial platform doubled, reaching an impressive figure of 8.8 million customers by the end of September.
This number is a remarkable increase of 105.8% compared to the 4.3 million users it had in 2022.
Between July and September of this year, Spin attracted 1.2 million new users. The fintech increased its user base by 4.5 million, demonstrating a steady monthly growth rate of 6.2%. (Contxto)
Fintech Education
BUniversity of Hong Kong: Blockchain and FinTech: Basics, Applications, and Limitations. Understand the design rationale of blockchain technology and its emerging platforms and applications and uncover the limitations and opportunities enabled by blockchain applications, particularly as they relate to finance.
The University of Texas at Austin: Fintech: AI & Machine Learning in the Financial Industry. This is the third in a series of courses on financial technology, also called Fintech. This course provides an overview of machine learning applications in finance.
FinTech for Finance and Business Leaders. The practical skills needed to understand and implement adequate cyber security, machine learning using Python and robotic processes, and intelligent automation in the finance function.
Food for Thought
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Today there is a battle to mitigate risks and use advanced technology to provide security to users and the Fintech system. Guilherme Terrengui, Director of Business Development, LATAM & Iberia at Sumsub, talks about this.
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