Fintech every week: Hot Housing Market, Cool Real Estate Startups: Funding Declines While Fintech Booms in Latin America!
Summer blockbuster releases: "From 'funding falters' starring real estate startups and 'the rise of fintech as a force to be reckoned with". This and more in fintech cinema, folks.
Welcome to our weekly newsletter covering the latest news and trends in the Latin American Fintech startups scene.
Real Estate Startup Investment Falters, Even As Housing Demand Stays Hot
These days, as the broad pullback in venture investment extends into its second year, real estate-focused startups have not been spared. Per Crunchbase data, funding to U.S. startups in categories tied to real estate is on track to hit its lowest level in at least five years.
While funding has fallen, we are still seeing large financings. Standouts include:
EquipmentShare, the Columbia, Missouri-based operator of a marketplace for construction contractors to rent and buy equipment, picked up $290 million in an April Series E round. To date, the 8-year-old company has raised $1.8 billion in debt financing and $600 million in equity funding.
R-Zero, a Utah-based developer of connected sensors and disinfection devices for indoor spaces, picked up $105 million in a February Series C financing. The company is particularly focused on shared spaces, such as health care facilities, schools and offices.
Avenue One, a New York-based tech platform for institutional investors in residential real estate, landed $100 million in a financing led by growth investor WestCap.
Vía Crunchbase
Quick News
Platzi launches a call for early-stage startups in Latin America. The renowned edtech platform, Platzi, has launched a call for Latin American startups in their seed stage. This initiative, called Platzi Startups Latam 2023, aims to accelerate the growth of the region’s most promising emerging companies and support them in their investment search process. (Contxto)
INI, an Argentine fintech specializing in offline payments, has received an investment from Kamay Ventures. INI has received investment from Kamay Ventures, the first venture capital fund in the southern cone led by Coca-Cola Latin America and the Arcor Group. With the support of Kamay Ventures, the fintech company plans to expand its operations to the rest of Latin America, strengthen its sales teams, and create strategic alliances to access competitive rates. (Contxto).
Credicorp Launches Investment Fund Program for startups in Colombia, Chile, and Peru. The Credicorp Group, a recognized financial holding company, has announced the creation of a startup accelerator program focused on financial services called “The Future of Financial Services”, through its corporate venture capital firm, Krealo. The initiative aims to identify and support the 10 most promising pre-seed stage startups in the financial services sectors of Colombia, Chile, and Peru.(Contxto)
Cybersecurity Funding Falls 63% In Q2. In 2021, venture funding in the red-hot cybersecurity market topped $23 billion. Two years later, it seems like a security startup will be lucky to raise just one-third of that. Venture funding for cybersecurity dropped to just slightly more than $1.6 billion in the just completed second quarter — a 63% drop from the same quarter last year when startups saw nearly $4.3 billion (Crunchbase).
The 'fintech' and 'insurtech' sectors: new leaders in attracting investment in Latin America. According to a study by Mapfre, the fintech sector and its insurtech subsector concentrate the highest investment in Latin America, accounting for 40% of the market, followed by the e-commerce industry, with 12%. (El Español)
Fintech Education
Fintech: AI & Machine Learning in the Financial Industry. This is the third in a series of courses on financial technology from Texas Mc Comb. This course provides an overview of machine learning applications in finance.
Fintech: Disruption in Finance. The University of Cape Town (UCT) Fintech: Disruption in Finance online short course prepares you to better understand, interpret, and respond to the disruptions and opportunities within the financial market. With a holistic approach to the financial industry, this course provides you with an overview of the main fields of technological disruption, such as blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), and big data.
Professional Certificate in FinTech for Finance and Business Leaders. You will learn the practical skills necessary to understand and effectively apply cybersecurity, machine learning using Python and robotic processes and intelligent automation in the finance function.
Food for Thought
KEYNOTE INTERVIEW by Anne Gaviola, GlobalNews to Peter Shi, Growth Equity Investor at Maverix
Peter is an Growth Investor with Maverix Private Equity, where he focuses on FinTech and Generative AI. Before joining Maverix, Peter was an Investment Associate at Searchlight Capital, a leading global private equity investment firm with more than $8 billion of assets under management. Peter analyzed investment opportunities across several industry verticals and was involved in portfolio company oversight.
Jobs
Corporate Affairs Lead @CapitalHumano (expected to work Hybrid)
Head of Growth @Meru (expected to work remotely)
Head of User Acquisition - Fintech @VenturePeople (expected to work face-to-face)