This week in LATAM startups: A new region for fintech growth
Not only Silicon Valley. Latin America is a fintech hotbed too. Also: how to communicate your startup's mission on social media —effectively and with sex appeal.
Welcome to our weekly newsletter covering the latest news and trends in the Latin American startup scene.
Beyond Silicon Valley, Latin America is a fintech hotbed
The recent Global Startup Ecosystem Index report highlights that cities such as New York, London, Shanghai and Tel Aviv are now among the top ten most favorable areas to establish a startup, challenging San Francisco's dominance.
While in the United States, Silicon Valley continues to dominate markets such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, biotechnology and healthcare, its success is mainly explained by the presence of renowned research institutions, abundant venture capital, a thriving ecosystem of global tech giants and government support.
In Latin America, the region is experiencing tremendous progress in the financial technology sector. A report by the BID reveals a staggering 77% growth, with the sector reaching a value of $7.6 billion by 2022.
Vía Entrepreneur en Español
Tips for communicating your startup mission on social media
Ben Brown, founder of Going Green Media, which has more than 200,000 followers on Instagram, and has a dual focus on helping startups share their innovation in an accessible way, gave Forbes five keys.
A first tip is to give posts a personal touch. That's achieved by putting a person behind your product, that achieves a connection to how the product benefits the individual.
It is also advisable to follow the trends that are happening on social networks. Algorithms are constantly changing, so make them work for you. If you've been posting images for a long time and haven't seen it work, stop and change it.
Via Forbes
Quick News
Dropbox creates a $50 million fund to invest in AI startups. The new venture capital fund that will not only provide financial resources but also offer guidance to companies in creating AI products that shape the future of work. (Contxto)
Rappi and Flink will encourage savings and investment in the country. Rappi users will be able to learn about all the investment and savings instruments available to them through Flink, including the purchase and sale of fractional shares of the New York Stock Exchange, cryptocurrencies and a stock market investment account (Flink).
Now Bank is competing with digital banking. The banking industry in Mexico is rapidly evolving to neobanks. These are digital-born financial institutions that possess a full banking license (traditional and digital banking). Now Bank is one of those and is backed by INVEX. Sets itself apart from fintechs and traditional digital banks with its more robust offering of products and services. (Contxto)
Betterfly signed a new partnership with insurer Chubb. Through this, the Chilean startup's flexible benefits will be incorporated to 200,000 of its policyholders in Mexico (RH Digital).
May was the worst month for startup financing since 2020. Latin American firms raised UDS$253 million during May, a drop of 82% compared to 2022. (Diario Financiero)
Nuvei names Laura Miller as Chief Revenue Officer and Global eCommerce Director. Nuvei Corporation, the Canadian fintech company, has announced the appointment of Laura Miller to the newly created position of Chief Revenue Officer and Global Director of eCommerce. She will lead the company’s global business strategy across key high-growth verticals. (Contxto)
Tiger Global seeks liquidity. The fund told select secondary investors that they can bid for any startup in its portfolio after no lead buyer emerged for a portfolio of packaged assets. (PitchBook)
The Manutara Ventures fund will finance startups that want to expand to the United States or Mexico. It will invest in five startups looking to internationalize and will provide them with USD$500,000. (DF Sud)
Argentina loses appeal for investments and mergers and acquisitions decline. During the first quarter of this year, almost the same number of transactions were carried out as in the same period last year (23 versus 22), but with a significantly lower value: $400 million compared to $1.7 billion. (Contxto)
Finds
tools, websites and accessories
Simón: an innovative startup that seeks to equip Mexican microenterprises with the necessary tools to achieve the productivity of their corporate counterparts, has dedicated itself to addressing the challenges faced by entrepreneurs.
Reflect: It is a tool to automate website and web application testing, making it faster to get your site up and running without waiting for engineers to write testing code, or for human testers to run the site through its paces. It allows companies to have the ease of use and convenience of manual testing, but the speed of execution of automated or code-based testing.
Magmo: Well, sometimes you need to take notes of the phone calls. Or (better) you can record everything. We are talking about a gadget for an iPhone without to pay a monthly fee or some other kind of costs that Apple use to invent. It is a rectangle that looks like a powerbank but is basically a recorder that attaches to the iPhone with MagSafe. The original Magmo was a success and now they hope to repeat it with a Magmo Pro that will be even more advanced.
Tuesday: Apple announced Tuesday, that updated the search tab of its Podcasts app by launching nine subcategories to make it easier for users to discover new shows across different topics, including: Entrepreneurship, Self-Improvement, Mental Health, Relationships, Personal Journals, Documentary, Books, Parenting and Language Learning.
Food for Thought
In a regulatory action last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lodged 13 cases against Binance, the preeminent global cryptocurrency exchange. Allegations of improper handling of customer funds, along with numerous additional white-collar transgressions, were leveled against the firm. Concurrently, Coinbase, the largest crypto entity in the U.S. and a publicly listed company, faced charges for purported non-compliance with broker-dealer registration.
Despite the gravity of these government-initiated actions, the response from the market was muted. The enforcement actions arrive at a turbulent time for the crypto industry, which has been besieged by issues, and is facing existential questions regarding its future. The market has contracted significantly, with multiple firms folding, numerous individual investors incurring losses or divesting, and large-scale institutional investment moving away. (link)
Millionaires Are Begging Governments to Tax Them More
A coalition of multimillionaires has urged for increased scrutiny on wealth taxation, a move they believe will promote broader economic stability. Among them, Gemma McGough, an entrepreneur who joined the UK's 1% following her company's sale in 2017, found her perspective shifting after reading Naomi Klein's critique of capitalism's environmental impact. Subsequently, she traded her Porsche for a Tesla and established Eleos Compliance, a business adhering to B Corp principles. McGough now draws most of her income from investments and rentals rather than salary. Observing the discrepancy in taxation between salaried income and income from assets, she concluded the tax policy was flawed and she should contribute more, despite having worked hard to build her wealth. (link)
The new US border wall is an app
Keisy Plaza, a Venezuelan migrant residing in Ciudad Juárez, has spent weeks attempting to secure an appointment with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for her family through a mobile application called CBP One. Despite her proximity to El Paso, Texas, she remains stuck at the border due to software errors and overwhelming demand.
Earlier this year, the Biden administration introduced a requirement for those seeking asylum at the southern border to request an appointment with an immigration official via CBP One. The app, initially designed to expedite processing at ports of entry, expanded its function in January to include undocumented individuals seeking protection from violence, poverty, or persecution. (link to read it, or hear it)
Worthy Recommendations
TED Talk Worth Listening:
“The cost of work stress and how to reduce it” by Rob S. Cooke (Wellness Advocate and Relationship Manager). That TED Talks will help you to be a better leader and understand more about your employees to implement strategies to reduce work stress that could lead to chronic diseases. Stress is inevitable, however, it is possible to manage it to your advantage.
Book Worth Reading, according to Clare Scherrer, Smith's Group CFO:
Fear Less by Pippa Grange, “The author, Pippa Grange, is a sports psychologist who works with elite athletes - including with the England football team for the World Cup in 2018 - and business leaders. Her research and coaching apply in a range of settings and focus on how fear (conventionally viewed as a motivator) can equally stand in the way of optimal performance”, says the Smith’s Group executive.
Jobs
Growth Director @ Bitso (expected to work remotely)
Creative Strategist Senior Analyst @ Didi (Mexico, City, expected to hybrid work)
Creadora de Contenido @ La Haus (Mexico, City, expected to hybrid work)
UI Designer @ Klar (Mexico City, attendance at work is required)
Content Marketing Manager @ Homify (Mexico City, attendance at work is required)
Deals
These startups received capital this week:
Clivi | Healthtech | Seed. Mexico-based diabetes management startup received $10 million in seed funding in a round co-led by Dalus Capital and Foundation Capital, with participation from Femsa Ventures. (TechCrunch)
Scape | Wellness | Seed. The Mexican on-demand spa and wellness company received a $1.3 million investment in an oversubscribed round in which funds such as 500 Global, Amplifica Capital, Angel Ventures and Daedalus Ventures participated. (Contxto)
GGTech | e-sports | Seed. Glisco Partners led the US$11 million round in GGtech, a Spanish video game and e-sports company, to support its consolidation in key markets and its expansion into the United States and Europe. (Infobae)
Volt | e-sports | Serie B. Volt secures US$60 million in a funding round led by Silicon Valley investor IVP. The funding will be used to fuel Volt’s expansion into new international markets, including APAC and the Americas, and support product development in existing markets across Europe, the UK, and Brazil. (Contxto)
Glitzi | Wellness | Seed. La startup mexicana del sector de belleza y bienestar a domicilio, cerró una ronda semilla de US$2.8 millones de dólares de inversionistas como Y Combinator y Act One Ventures. (Tekios)
Kanastra | Fintech | Seed. A São Paulo, Brazil-based capital markets infrastructure provider, raised US$13 millon in Seed funding. The round was co-led by Valor Capital and Quona Capital, alongside QED Investors, Actyus, Collaborative, Crestone, Grão, Endeavor, Clocktower, Latitud, and Norte. (Contxto)
FinMaq | Fintech | Funding. Colombian fintech, FinMaq, closed a successful investment round, securing US$3.5M in equity and US$20M in funding. The company plans to use the capital to grow its presence in Colombia and expand operations to Chile, Peru, and Mexico. (LatamList)
Intuition | Developer Platform | Funding. Decentralized infrastructure provider Intuition has raised US$4 million in a seed round fundraise led by Superscrypt. The raise comes as Intuition approaches the public launch of its protocol and first applications later this year. (PRNewswire)