This week in LATAM startups: Real issues to be solved by fintech according to VCs and worthy readings about DeepTech and AI
Are current fintech business models covering all the needs of users in the region? We asked to VC investors. On the other hand, will 2024 be the year of bitcoin's resurgence?
Welcome to our weekly newsletter covering the latest news and trends in the Latin American startup scene.
Latin American fintechs’ unfinished business according to VCs
The fintech sector is one of the fastest growing in terms of venture capital investment. However, there are still many issues to be solved. To be attractive, fintech companies must rethink basic issues focused on generating incremental value for the user, who must always be at the center.
Venture capitalists are always on the hunt for rapid growth and high returns. Especially from fintech, the most promising sector in most regions (and where investments have been focused lately, according to Crunchbase records). Latin America is no different, asserts Ricardo Sangion, partner at TheVentureCity in Brazil, the country that gave birth to one of the world’s leading fintech companies: Nubank.
Sangion states that the primary unmet need is greater access to credit at lower interest rates. “This is something that is abundant in the US and far from being a reality in Latin America,” he says.
Vía Contxto
Bitcoin’s surge: 300% increase to USD$120,000 in 2024
According to Standard Chartered analyst Geoff Kendrick, Bitcoin could experience a surge of up to 300%, reaching a valuation of USD$120,000 by the end of 2024. Kendrick’s previous prediction in April was that Bitcoin would reach USD$100,000 by next year, but he now believes this estimate may be too conservative, taking into account the impact of miner profitability.
Kendrick attributes his more bullish stance to increased mining profitability. As miners find it more profitable to hold onto their Bitcoin rather than sell it immediately, the reduced supply of Bitcoin in the market can push prices higher. Kendrick estimates that in the second quarter, nearly 100% of all mined Bitcoin was sold, but he expects miners to gradually reduce their sales over time.
The recent increase in Bitcoin’s price, with it surpassing $30,000, has been attributed to interest from Wall Street giants in creating Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Vía Contxto
Quick News
eBay Purchases Certilogo. This acquisition underscores eBay's commitment to combating counterfeits, particularly in burgeoning markets like Latin America, where it has recently made significant progress. (Contxto)
Huawei will accelerate Latin startups. Together with the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation (Amexcid), they launched Spark Accelerator in Chile, a startup accelerator where entrepreneurs from Pacific Alliance countries can access financing of between USD$2,000 and USD$100,000 to develop their projects. (Tekios)
Truora will be Meta's business solutions provider. The Colombian startup has raised a total of $18.7M in funding over 4 rounds. The deal with Meta boosts the startup's growth in LatAm. (Contxto)
Chinese logistics in Mexico. iMile, the Chinese logistics startup, will strengthen its presence in the country through a greater infrastructure in the northern region. It currently has 14 active hubs throughout the country, with an installed capacity that in one year went from 90,000 packages per day to 135,000 (Marketing4Ecommerce).
Envíame arrives in Mexico. The Chilean startup has just landed in the Mexican market and has appointed Diego Díaz as country manager. The company has already managed to incorporate 20 recognized logistics operators in its platform, such as Estafeta, 99 minutos and Quiken. (Contxto)
Brian Requarth, co-founder of Latitud, is the new shark on Shark Tank Mexico. Bestselling author on Amazon for his bestseller Viva el Emprendedor. He grew his real estate company from two to more than 500 employees (Emprendedor.com).
Liquido introduces solution allowing LatAm businesses to integrate their stores on WhatsApp. Liquido's solution, specializing in financial infrastructure development, will allow users in Latin America to browse, select, and pay without leaving WhatsApp. (Contxto)
Grupo Modelo promotes sustainability startups. The company promotes entrepreneurship through Aceleradora 100+ to fund sustainable innovation projects with up to 100 thousand dollars. (Forbes)
Ecommerce in Mexico exceeds MXN$600 billion in authorized sales by 2022.
In terms of online stores, the websites with the highest volume of retail sales Mexico are Mercado Libre, Amazon and Walmart Mexico. (Contxto)
Socially focused startups. In partnership with Selina, the accommodation network focused on millennials and generation Z, TechnoArt will present a new cohort of its three-week program, which aims to make Selina's extensive network in more than 20 countries available to participating companies. (Entrepreneur en Español)
Finds
tools, websites and accessories
Daito. A browser-based 2FA authentificator for you and your team. Easy import from Google.
Stack Overflow. A question and answer site for professional and amateur programmers.
TripIt. It is a mobile application to organize your trips and create itineraries from your flight confirmations and reservations.
Food for Thought
This is how AI will transform the way science gets done
Amid the escalating climate crisis, semiconductor giant Nvidia is creating an AI-powered Earth-2, a "digital twin" of our planet, to precisely forecast extreme weather events. Leveraging FourCastNet, an AI model utilizing massive amounts of Earth system data, Earth-2 can generate weather predictions for the upcoming two weeks at a much faster and more accurate rate than current methods. Unlike conventional systems producing around 50 weekly predictions, FourCastNet can foresee thousands of possibilities, providing invaluable preparation time for communities at risk of uncommon but severe disasters. This innovative approach signals a burgeoning revolution in climate modeling with AI, a shift anticipated to drastically transform the scientific realm and reverberate widely, impacting society at large. (MIT Technology Review)
How Christopher Nolan Learned to Stop Worrying and Love AI
Do you want to know how AI helps to creators economy? Here is a case. Upon learning of the forthcoming biopic on J. Robert Oppenheimer by Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas, WIRED's affinity for the Nolan-Thomas duo is undeniable, given their mutual love for science and ability to captivate audiences with mind-bending films. Despite their historical nature contrasting with WIRED's future-oriented parlance, the Oppenheimer biopic struck a chord. The contemporary discussions surrounding our potentially apocalyptic era—characterized by climate change, war, and generative AI—echo the mid-1940s nuclear threshold. This parallel drawn between the present and Oppenheimer's era when he led the New Mexico bomb project has intrigued the magazine, prompting them to reconsider their initial hesitation about diving into this historical film narrative. Here how it would works for this creator. (WIRED)
Can Virtual Reality Mimic Nature’s Power to Make Us Healthier?
Here is a great opportunity for Deep Tech. Scientists have long studied the health benefits of exposing humans to nature, through urban green spaces, forest visits, or even houseplants. Lately, they've begun examining if virtual reality experiences of nature can yield similar benefits, reflecting recent compelling findings about the health impacts of nature exposure. As Michelle Kondo, a research social scientist at the U.S. Forest Service points out, the surge in such research is partly driven by the availability of extensive electronic medical records, enabling comparison of health data sets with satellite images of individuals' residential greenness.
Most studies generally indicate the positive influence of green spaces on various health aspects. Evidence suggests that exposure to nature can reduce the rates of premature death, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes, improve overall perceived health, and even decrease "epigenetic aging". Psychological benefits, like enhanced emotional states, increased social interactions, and improved cognition, memory and attention, are also observed. (Scientific American)
Worthy Recommendations
Podcast Worth Listening, according Fabrice Serfati, managing director at IGNIA Partners:
Read to Lead. This is a podcast where Fabrice invites entrepreneurs to discuss books that help them improve their skills. It's a sort of reading circle.
Book Worth Reading, according Antonio Nunes, Instaleap’s CEO :
The Sales Developement Playbook by Trish Bertuzzi. “For entrepreneurs who are in the world of software as a service is a book that I think is very good”, says Nunes. This book encapsulates author Trish Bertuzzi’s three decades of practical, hands-on experience. It presents six elements for building new pipeline and accelerating revenue growth with inside sales.
Jobs
Financial accountant @ Cumplo (Santiago, Chile, expected to hybrid work)
Marketing Manager @ Fintual (Mexico City, expected to hybrid work)
Fraud Analyst @ Albo (Uruguay, expected to remote work)
Control Desk and Credit Operations Associate @ Clara (Mexico City, expected to remote work)
Internal Communications Analyst @ Jüsto (Sao Paulo, Brasil, expected to attend to work)
Deals
These startups and companies received capital this week:
InvGate | SaaS | Late Stage. InvGate, a SaaS solution with global operations at the intersection of IT Service Management (ITSM), IT Asset Management (ITAM) and Enterprise Service Management (ESM), today announced that it has raised a USD$35 million growth round led by Riverwood Capital.
Mattilda | Edtech | Serie A. mattilda raises US$19 million in series A to boost education in LatAm. The investment was led by GSV Ventures, with participation from Fintech Collective and Dila Capital.
Regcheq | Software | Seed. Chilean startup Regcheq received a US$2 million investment. Six months ago, one of its investors, Grupo Sable, acquired the Mexican fintech UBCubo and now transfers the assets to Regcheq (Startups Latam).
Trez | HR Tech | Seed. Investors in the round include the accelerator Techstars. The capital will be used to expand its customer base, with the goal of reaching 1,500 users by the end of the fiscal year.
Teachy | Edtech | Pre-seed. Teachy is a platform that doubles teachers time through artificial intelligence. This Brazilian startup raised USD$1,6 millions in a round lead by NXTP Ventures.
Turbi | Mobility. Turbi is a digital shared mobility company that makes car rental experience practical, cheaper and unique. The Brazilian startup raised R$80 millions.
Tecpetrol | Energy | Debt. Tecpetrol is an energy company with experience in oil and gas that raised $1,1 billions Argentinian pesos.
Suprime Optimization | Science and Marketing. Supreme Optimization provides Digital Agency for Life Sciences. The amount of this round for the Puerto Rican company was not disclosed; Balance Point Capital Partners provided the funds.
Anta | Telecommunications | Serie A. Colombian telecommunications provider focused on rapid development rural and semi-rural areas, the amount of this round was not disclosed.
BetterWare | Sales | Post-IPO Debt. BetterWare is a company in direct sales of products and solutions for the home, the mexican company raised $814 millions Mexican pesos.