This week in LATAM startups: Cryptocurrency for Everyday Life in Latam & a USD$1 billion startup M&A
Learn how Latam startups are trying to disrupt (the real one, not the bullshit) with crypto. Also, Visa acquired Pismo, a Brasilian startup for (wait for it) USD$1 billion.
Welcome to our weekly newsletter covering the latest news and trends in the Latin American startup scene.
Visa acquired Brazilian fintech Pismo
Credit card giant Visa is to acquire Brazilian payments infrastructure startup Pismo for USD$1 billion in cash, in what is likely to be one of the largest Brazilian fintech M&A deals, following Didi's purchase of the startup 99 App in 2018 for the same billion-dollar amount.
Founded in 2016 by Juliana Motta (CPO), Ricardo Josua (CEO), Daniela Binatti (CTO) and Marcelo Parise (VP of engineering), São Paulo-based Pismo has been amassing a roster of well-known clients, including Citi, Itaú (one of Brazil's largest banks), Revolut, N26, Nubank and Cora. The company processes nearly 50 billion API calls and $40 billion in transaction volume per year, and manages nearly 80 million accounts and more than 40 million cards issued.
Pismo has expanded outside its home country and now also operates in several Latin American countries, including Mexico and Chile, as well as in the United States and Europe. The startup also has some clients in India, Southeast Asia and Australia.
Vía Bloomberg
Cryptocurrency for Everyday Life in Latam
The use of cryptocurrencies in Latin America has gained relevance in recent years. However, for many countries, the main barrier is that their use is limited to a speculative investment method rather than a means of payment or an alternative asset to the local currency.
Some coins like Bitcoin have mainly focused on countries such as the United States, Russia, or Nigeria, but their significance in Latin America and the Caribbean has also been steadily growing.
The major task for startups promoting the use of cryptocurrencies is to make their use increasingly accessible in countries where it is not yet widespread.
Bitso in Mexico, Mercado Bitcoin in Brazil, and Ripio in Argentina have successfully established strong regional positions in the field of digital currency exchange, and in the case of Ripio, they have created their own cryptocurrency.
Via Contxto
Quick News
Shortage of IPOs. Tiger Global Management turned down hundreds of bids for its private assets in recent months because it felt the offers were too low. (Bloomberg)
Startups on exchanges by 2024. IPOs of Latino startups on U.S. exchanges will resume in the region in 2024, according to a senior Nasdaq official. (Bloomberg Línea).
Artificial Intelligence. The venture capital fund ALLVP revealed in a report that 46% of corporate companies in Latin America are already using artificial intelligence (AI) in their daily operations. Furthermore, an impressive 93% of these corporations have plans to implement it in the future. (Contxto)
Alliance for remittances. Mercado Pago joined Felix Pago in Mexico to simplify sending money from the U.S. through WhatsApp. (América Retail)
AWS Global Fintech Accelerator. Amazon Web Services has announced the launch of its acceleration program , which will focus on supporting 150 FinTech startups with business models related to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) technology. (Contxto)
Landing in LatAm. British startup Stasher, which connects travelers with hotels and local businesses that can store their luggage, bought Chilean startup Airkeep to enter Latin America. (Tekios)
Fintech of the Year. Jeeves,the expense management platform, has been awarded 'Fintech of the Year' at the Europe Fintech Awards 2023. (Contxto)
Cemex supports startups. Cemex Ventures is looking for innovative solutions that can improve productivity, supply chain or sustainability in the construction sector, to apply for the 7th edition of the Construction Startup Competition. (Entrepreneur en Español)
The new mobile transfer platform, Dinero Móvil (DiMo), of the Bank of Mexico has started operating, and users of the Interbank Electronic Payment System (SPEI) are preparing to use it. DiMo has the potential to enable small businesses to receive digital payments using only a phone number. (Contxto)
Business creation. Fintech Clara foresees the creation of 500 companies in Mexico by the end of 2023 through the Tally alliance. (Axis Negocios)
Finds
tools, websites and accessories
Microsoft. The company this week announced a series of new AI-powered shopping tools for its new Bing search engine and the Bing AI chatbot in the Edge sidebar.
WhatsApp Business. Meta announced that it will be possible to create click-to WhatsApp ads from Facebook and Instagram without needing to have a Facebook account. It will also offer new ways to connect with customers more efficiently.
Playable. YouTube is testing an online gaming offering that could give users the ability to play games via the YouTube website on desktop or the YouTube app via iOS and Android devices.
Food for Thought
Morgan Stanley’s New York office has benn struggling the past four years. In June 30, today, the last vestiges of US dollar Libor will disappear, ending a decade-long saga to strip the controversial bank lending rate from about USD$220trn of financial contracts.
In this article, Christopher Whittall explains what does that means for investors… and for the entire financial ecosystem. (Via International Financing Review)
Positive Momentum for VC-Backed IPOs
Things are gaining momentum, according with Julia De Luca. VC-backed companies that recently went public have posted strong gains in recent months. Pitchbook’s VC-backed IPO index risen 21.9% this year, while the PE-backed IPO index is up 18.7%. The S&P 500 index has climbed nearly 14% in 2023. Another interesting read for the week was also PitchBook's new Q4 2022 Private Capital Indexes, a report that shows return, risk and other reference metrics across each of the seven private asset classes. Very useful to compare and help on the construction of a well-balanced portfolio, says De Luca.
How can we read this numbers with joy and carefully at the same time? In this article, you can understand the way to make it an opportunity. (Via LatAm Tech Weekly Series)
Worthy Recommendations
Book Worth Reading, according Claudia M. Sheppard, startup coach:
Trillion Dollar Coach by Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, and Alan Eagle. The book tells the story of Bill Campbell. Campbell was a senior executive at GO Corp, Intuit, Clarit, and Columbia University. But he is best remembered for guiding a handful of technology company founders. His success in that sphere led him to be known simply as “Silicon Valley’s coach.”
Podcast Worth Listening:
The Talk para emprender! by WORTEV. The venture capital fund and accelerator, WORTEV, offers a podcast where they talk to innovative entrepreneurs, who tell what steps they have taken to guide successful businesses.
Jobs
Data Sciencie Manager @ Jüsto (Mexico, City, expected to hybrid work)
Ejecutivo de Ventas PTV @ Konfío (Mexico, City, expected to hybrid work)
Industry Relations Jr Manager @ Clip (Mexico, City, expected to hybrid work)
Brand and Designer Director @ Kueski (Torreón, Mexico, expected to remote work)
Content Lead @ Clara (Mexico City, expected to remote work)
Deals
These startups received capital this week:
Nuvocargo | Logistics | Serie B. Nuvocargo, a freight startup for cross-border trade between the US and Mexico, raised a $36.5 million funding round led by QED. (Contxto)
Yara | Consumer | Seed. Brazilian startup Yara Couro de Amazônia, raised US$416 thousand to produce sustainable from fish skin. Yara developed a technology that transforms fish skin waste into leather, a sustainable technique. (Tekios)
Moova | Logistics | Seed. Moova, the 2018-founded logistics technology platform, has secured a significant $5 million investment in its latest funding round, led by Toyota Tsusho Corporation. (Contxto)
Assas | Fintech. Brazilian fintech Asaas, which offers a complete digital account for companies to automate financial management processes, received US$21 million to grow with its own cash generation. (Tekios)
SuaQuadra | Proptech | Seed. Brazilian proptech SuaQuadra, a platform that facilitates the search for registered commercial properties for entrepreneurs, raised US$4.4 million in a seed round led by investment fund Kaszek. (Tekios)
Agrosure | Agrotech | Grant. This brazilian startup is helping and training rural producers with technology. They only get USD$5,000 to go with new clients, but, hey, is still capital. (CrunchBase)
Iguá Saneamiento | Environmental Consulting | Debt. Iguá Saneamento, a Brazilian water and sewage services company founded in 2006, raised USD$791,205,130 in debt financing from The Brazilian Development Bank(BNDES) and XP Investimentos (CrunchBase)
VIPe | Fintech | Series A. This company builds financial health, starting with the ones who need it the most. They rises USD$22,903,306 in a Series A from Airborne Ventures. (CrunchBase)