Hola amig@s fintech,

Thank you to everyone who joined us at the Fintech Founders & VC Mixer in Rio de Janeiro! We loved connecting with such an inspiring group of founders, investors, and fintech enthusiasts—your presence made the event a real success. Looking forward to seeing you all around LatAm this year!

🩵Until next weekend. Até a próxima!

• Lorena

Feedback?  Reach out to us anytime! This week we're Elena on stat, read, post, and podcast of the week, financing, other news and deeper reads; Carlos on product launches and partnerships, and policy; and Lorena on editing.

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📊 Stat of the Week 

In 2024, Latin America's venture capital ecosystem faced significant challenges, with total funding dropping to $3.6 billion across 694 rounds—the lowest in five years. Brazil led with $1.7 billion, followed by Mexico ($792M), Argentina ($418M), and Colombia ($353M). Notably, only Peru, Colombia, and Argentina saw year-over-year growth (Source).

📖  Read of the Week

According to the Payway Index, Argentina's public transportation system processed a record 10.2 million card-based fare payments in Q1 2025, marking a significant milestone in the country's digital payment adoption. Additionally, contactless transactions now account for 70% of in-person payments at terminals managed by the company, reflecting a substantial shift in consumer behavior towards digital and contactless payment methods. 

🦉 Post of the Week

🎙️ Podcast of the Week

💸 Venture Financing

💸 Equity

🇲🇽 Clara, the corporate spend management platform, raised $80 million in a funding round. The round includes a $40 million equity investment led by Citi Ventures and Kaszek Ventures alongside a second $40 million investment made through General Catalyst’s Customer Value Fund.

🇲🇽 Belvo, the platform providing open finance APIs, secured a $15 million funding round from Quona Capital, Kaszek, Kibo Ventures, Future Positive, Citi Ventures, and Y Combinator. The funds will support the launch of new products and AI enhancements.

🇺🇾 Zapia, the Uruguayan AI startup that transforms WhatsApp into a virtual assistant for financial tasks, received a $7.25 million investment led by Prosus, with participation from Endeavor Catalyst, Anthos Capital, Factory HQ, and SnR. 

🌎 Zar, the stablecoin startup, raised a $7 million seed round led by Dragonfly Capital, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), and VanEck Ventures, with participation from Coinbase Ventures and the co-founders of Solana. 

🇧🇷 Credituz, the Brazilian digital credit company focused on real estate financing for marginalized communities, raised $5 million in its first investment round from angel investors Marc Slezynger, Fabio Alperowitch, and Claudia Massei. 

🇦🇷 Alprestamo, the Argentine company that operates a financial product marketplace, secured a $1.3 million investment from Chilean firm CFC Capital. The funds will be used to expand into new business verticals, including SME products, mortgage loans, and secured loans. 

🇨🇴 Supra, the Colombian cross-border payments and treasury solutions for SMEs  company, received an investment from Citi. While the amount remains undisclosed, this marks Citi's second investment in Supra.

💵 Debt 

🇦🇷 Credicuotas, the Argentine company specializing in consumer loans, secured $38.9 million through its 12th negotiable obligation issuance, organized by BIND Banco and BIND Inversiones. The funds will be used to diversify funding sources and expand its loan portfolio. 

🇲🇽 Vexi, the Mexican credit cards for underbanked consumers company, obtained a $15.3 million credit line from Banco Covalto. The funding will expand Vexi's credit offerings and support the development of new financial products.

💰 Venture funds 

🌎 Fluent Ventures, the San Francisco-based global venture capital firm, has launched a $40 million fund to invest in early-stage startups across LatAm, MENA, Africa, and Southeast Asia. The fund targets companies replicating proven Western business models in fintech, healthtech, and commerce, with initial investments ranging from $250,000 to $2 million.

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🚀 Product Launches & Partnerships

💻 Fintech

🇨🇴 Akua, the Colombian paytech, launched the first AI-powered cloud-native acquiring platform in the region, enabling merchants to process card payments quickly and securely. Built in just eight months, the solution integrates fraud prevention, tokenization, Tap to Phone, and real-time reporting, with direct connections to Visa and Mastercard.

🇦🇷 PayGoal, the Argentinian digital tax platform, launched Apitax, a scalable and automated tax compliance solution designed to simplify the complex and fragmented regulatory landscape of Latin America's digital payments ecosystem.

🏦 Financial Services & Banking 

🇲🇽 FEMSA is progressing toward the launch of ‘Oxxo Bank’ by piloting card and QR code payment terminals in neighborhood shops, aiming to expand the payment capabilities of its Spin by Oxxo app.

🇲🇽 Ualá partnered with Oxxo and Mastercard to add over 23,000 convenience stores to its cash withdrawal network in Mexico, expanding its footprint to more than 85,000 access points. Users can now withdraw up to MX$3,000 per transaction directly from their debit cards

🇨🇱 Klap, one of Chile’s fastest-growing acquiring networks, launched Visa and Mastercard acquiring services using BPC’s cloud-native SmartVista platform, enabling the processing of over 90 million transactions per month. 

📜 Policy

🇧🇷 A new payment system integrating biometric authentication and Open Finance principles is poised to replace Pix in certain transactions in Brazil. This system aims to enhance security and convenience by eliminating the need for passwords and complex applications, allowing users to authorize payments through facial recognition or fingerprints. 

🇲🇽 Mercado Libre México reported that its banking license application, initiated in September 2024 before Mexican authorities, is progressing as planned, according to Pedro Rivas, General Manager for Mexico.

🇲🇽 Hey Banco, the digital bank operated by Banregio, is close to obtaining its independent banking license from Mexican authorities, according to CEO Manuel Rivero. He stated that even with the license approved, the bank will continue operating under the Regional holding group.

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📰 Other News 

🇲🇽 Bernardo González Rosas was named Chairman of the Board of Directors at Plata.

🇨🇱 Jaime Domingo was named Chief Revenue Officer at Kushki.

🇧🇷 Israel Buzaym was named Country Manager at Bybit Brazil.

🌎 Doménico Barbato Gaviria was named General Manager at Mercado Libre in Colombia and Venezuela.

🇨🇱 Corfo, Chile's economic development agency, launched a new Open Innovation Program in collaboration with Cencosud Scotiabank. The initiative invites innovative teams to tackle two key challenges in the financial sector: combating online transaction fraud and transforming physical financial spaces into "phygital" experiences that blend digital and physical interactions. 

🇧🇷 The National School of Insurance (ENS) introduced an Advanced Certification in Open Insurance (OPIN). This program is designed to equip professionals with practical knowledge to navigate technological innovations and digital transformation in the insurance sector.

📚 Deeper Reads

When banks want to be 'fintech' (ES)

The future of remittances in Mexico is digital (ES)

They foresee almost total financial inclusion by 2030 (ES)

The future of two payments: how new trends are transforming companies (PO)

Why Banks Are Embracing Embedded Finance To Stay Competitive

📣 LatAm fintech enthusiasts looking for a new role, check out https://jobs.thisweekinfintech.com

Made in LatAm with 🩵 by 

Elena, Digital Innovation Manager at Banco Azteca

Carlos, Senior Associate at Emant Consultants

Lorena, Head of Policy for Spanish-speaking LatAm at Tools for Humanity

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