$450,000 in equity fintech funding

Hola amig@s fintech,

Happy New Moon in Taurus 🌚♉️, apparently full of good luck and abundance.  Cheers to that!

👉 Btw friends, be sure to check out Daniela’s ClimateTech Corner below and send her your comments, questions, and suggestions!  

💛 Until next weekend. Até a próxima! - Team TWIF Latam

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📊 Stat of the Week

🦉 Post of the Week

💸 Venture Financing

💸Equity

🌐 El Dorado, the peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto wallet, raised a $450,000 pre-seed round from Berkeley Skydeck accelerator, Flori Ventures, Startup Istanbul, and various angel investors. The funding will be used to expand its digital wallet offering from Colombia to Brazil, Chile, Peru and other markets, allowing users to send and receive BTC, USDT, and other stablecoins.

💰 Venture funds

🇨🇱 Chile-based Manutara Ventures announced a second fund of $28 million to invest tickets of $1-3 million in early-stage software and biotech startups up to series A.  Portfolio companies include Xepelin, Iwana Cash, ETpay, and Rocketbot.

🌐 SoftBank announced a re-branding of the SB Opportunity Fund (Fund 2) to be called the “Open Opportunity Fund”, indicating that the fund is now open for investment from other limited partners (LPs) versus being solely backed by SoftBank.  The fund is targeting a size of $150 million and will continue to invest in Black and Latinx-led startups.  SoftBank has invested $100 million into 75 Black and Latinx-founded companies so far via SB Opportunity Fund 1, including Atomic, Brex, and Arcus.

☯️ Exits

🤝 M&A

Global M&A shows resilience as prices drop | PitchBook

💻 IPOs & SPACs

A Bunch Of AI-Related Companies Are Going Public Via SPAC

🚀 Product Launches & Partnerships

💻 Fintech

🇦🇷 n1u, the Argentinian neobank, launched a new digital wallet targeting the gaming niche, aiming to reach 600,000 users by the end of the year. The wallet focuses on providing financial tools to young users, allowing them to make online purchases and engage in gamified experiences.

🇧🇴 Presto, the Bolivian technology development company, launched the country's first BNPL solution, in collaboration with Visa and Banco Nacional de Bolivia. With an initial credit limit of $200 and a focus on financial inclusion, Presto's digital app simplifies the application process and enables users to track payments and purchases.

🇵🇾 Geopagos, the Argentinian payment infrastructure company, announced its expansion to Paraguay, marking its entry into a total of 16 countries. Geopagos enters the Paraguayan market through a partnership with Banco Itaú, offering the Pik payment platform to empower entrepreneurs, SMEs, and independent professionals for quick and secure card transactions.

🇵🇪 Alprestamo, the Argentinian credit marketplace, announced its expansion to Peru, aiming to enhance financial inclusion in the region. The platform connects millions of users with financial institutions, offering a single platform with a wide range of product options, faster approval and acquisition times, and data security.

🏦 Financial Services & Banking

🌎 Mastercard launched Mastercard Crypto Credential, a set of standards and infrastructure for verifying interactions on blockchain networks. The initiative aims to foster trust and compliance among consumers, companies, and financial institutions. Mastercard is partnering with organizations and blockchain networks to drive adoption, with a focus on Latam and the Caribbean.

📜 Policy

🇲🇽 Uber and Neritopay, the global mobility company and the payment processing company, obtained the approval to operate as an electronic payment funds institution (IFPE), complying with the Mexican Fintech Law. There are 57 firms authorized to operate under this regulation.

🇦🇷 Ualá, the Buenos Aires based digital bank, announced that it will no longer offer crypto transactions on its platform, in response to the Argentinian Central Bank’s new regulations prohibiting payment service providers from facilitating unregulated digital asset operations. Ualá is the first company to implement this measure.

🇧🇷 Latam Gateway, the Brazilian payment provider, received authorization from the Central Bank to operate as a payment institution.

🇧🇷 Brazil's Central Bank plans to integrate Pix, Open Finance, and Real Digital to foster the development of a more efficient and secure digital economy. This will consolidate the Brazilian financial system as the most technologically advanced of the region. No specific date was mentioned for its implementation.

🇨🇴 Colombia announced the creation of its own digital payment system, similar to Brazil's Pix, following the approval of the Government's National Development Plan, which has also make official the implementation of open finance.

🌐 The fintech associations of the Pacific Alliance countries (Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru)  launched the "Open Finance Standards as a Lever for Regional Conversion" proposal at the Chile Fintech Forum 2023. The initiative aims to establish a common standard for open finance across the region by providing key information to regulatory entities.

📰 Other News

🇦🇷 CrypStation, a crypto café in Argentina, reported a steady rise in the use of cryptocurrencies as a payment method in retail stores. In 2022, 52% of consumers had tried using cryptocurrencies for payments, and this year the number has reached 73%.

🇨🇱 Platanus Ventures, the Chilean accelerator,  launched its sixth generation of startups, each one received a $100,000 investment, and mentors will guide them for three months to strengthen their businesses. The batch includes Pronty (Colombia), Repartes (Chile), Sento (Guatemala), Kunzapp (Mexico & Chile), Kambia (Peru), and Divisso (Chile), among others.

🌐 Sura, the insurance company, partners with Google Cloud, one of the big four tech companies, to accelerate digital transformation in the insurance and healthcare sectors. The three-year agreement aims to benefit 10 million users by driving innovation through data analysis, automation, and AI.

🌐 SVB's former CEO spoke out in defense of the bank's risk management efforts following its unexpected collapse. Regulators vowed to enhance supervision to prevent future failures. The executives of SVB and Signature Bank, another failed lender, along with overseeing regulators, faced intense scrutiny during separate congressional hearings.

📚 Deeper Reads

Orchestrating payments for merchant aggregators and platforms

Startup radar: VCs on femtech startups worth watching

Real Digital: what is the impact of this currency on the Brazilian financial market? (PO)

Mexican fintechs to grow into SME lending this year

Lessons and Challenges of the Argentine Fintech Market

VC funding of women climate tech founders is abysmal. Here’s how it could improve

Five major trends for Brazilian digital banks (PO)

🌱 ClimateTech Corner by Daniela

Hello again and welcome to ClimateTech Corner! In this edition, we will explore one of the most powerful tools in the fight against the climate crisis: carbon capture.

Carbon capture involves removing carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere and storing it back to Earth's surface to prevent its release. It is like grabbing a bucket and tossing water back into the sea when your ship is sinking.

But what exactly makes carbon capture so powerful?

We all recognize that the increasing level of CO₂ in the atmosphere poses a significant problem, akin to the ship filling with water. Most strategies to combat climate change focus on reducing the amount of CO₂ we produce, effectively slowing down the influx of water into the ship. While reducing CO₂ production through renewable energy and sustainable practices is important, it alone cannot tackle the existing CO₂ levels.

This is where carbon capture steps in. By taking CO₂ from the atmosphere and safely storing it, we actively reverse the process that contributes to climate change. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, carbon capture strategies are indispensable for achieving our climate targets.

There are various approaches to carbon capture, ranging from tech-oriented solutions to nature-based methods.

Nature-based solutions tap into the power of photosynthesis, where plants absorb CO₂ and release oxygen. However, deforestation limits this natural process, necessitating human intervention.

Tech-oriented solutions involve capturing CO₂ directly from sources or from the atmosphere, offering business opportunities and the potential for innovative materials.

I hope this brief introduction has shed some light on the importance of this powerful tool in the battle against the climate crisis. Stay tuned for our next edition as we continue to dive into various climate topics … Do not forget to provide me with feedback, in order to continue delivering the content that is most relevant to you!

Made in Latam with 💛 by Elena, Daniela, Lorena, and Christine

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