Nov 23: This week in Latin American Startups
A great month for Sofia and the health of the Mexican people Sofia is a Mexican telemedicine company…
Index invests in Sofia, a telemedicine and health insurance company based in Mexico.
Arturo Sanchez and his co-founders have spent the last two years developing the telemedicine and insurance platform, Sofia,…
Chile recognized as solar energy powerhouse as Sunai wins Platzi Demo Day
Contxto – A new solar energy startup has joined the major leagues in Chile’s increasingly influential renewable energy…
Zaaz Bicimensajería is Cuba’s solution for a greener way to deliver
Contxto– We all heard how important it is to limit our carbon footprint and for us to care…
Brex adapts to tough times, but is it only skin deep?
Contxto – It has been an interesting year for Brex. The fintech who had such a troubled year…
Emptor, leading Latin American identity verifier, expands to Costa Rica
Contxto– Emptor, an automated identity verification and background check provider, has announced its expansion into Costa Rica. The future…
Reversso to get over US$160,000 after successful Demo Day
Contxto – Chilean startup Reversso had a good Demo Day, has so far raised US$160,000 in a round…
Argentine Wimet rewrites office space rules post-Covid
Contxto – 2020 might very well be remembered as the year we swapped suits for sweatpants. The Covid-19…
Rappi makes home office permanent
HyperNoir – Returning to normal after the pandemic will look pretty similar to the employees of Rappi who…
Hospitality startup Casai scores largest Mexican Series A
Contxto -The emerging luxury hospitality startup, Casai, has received a round worth US$48 million, becoming the largest Series…
eHealth Care: Chilean AI might dramatically improve Covid contact tracing tech
Contxto– Sabrina Sepúlveda, a Chilean scientist, has created a mobile kit for detecting Covid-19 by means of artificial…
Nuvemshop raises US$30 million in bid to become Latin America’s Shopify
Contxto– Argentine e-commerce platform Nuvemshop raised US$30 million in funding to expand their operations as a website builder…
Falabella signs contract with Peruvian logistics company Chazki, “the Uber of logistics”
Contxto– In order to maintain leadership in the e-commerce business, Chilean retailer Falabella has signed contracts to work…
Moova, the logistics Airbnb, sees double expected growth thanks to pandemic
HyperNoir – Moova, the self-proclaimed Airbnb of urban logistics startup from Argentina, duplicated its annual turnover expectation thanks…
Startups from Paraguay (beta)
HyperNoir – Startups in Paraguay are as interesting as this often ignored corner of the Latin American ecosystem…
YVY: The Brazilian Nespresso of cleaning products
Contxto– YVY is a startup from Brazil specialized in cleaning products that provide maximum efficiency with a minimum…
MAT: The newest competitor in the Colombian ride-hailing app saga
HyperNoir – Amidst a troubling year for ride-hailing apps in Colombia, MAT makes its appearance with an innovative,…
Watch out Nubank? Ank marks Itaú’s foray into fintech
Contxto – Itaú, Brazil’s second-largest bank, has ventured into the world of fintech with its launch of an…
Proptech Wiggot get US$800K to bring AI real estate to more of Mexico
Contxto – Guadalajara, Mexico-based real estate startup, Wiggot has closed a round of US$800,000 bridge financing. This story…
RobinFood all-in with data-driven food services after US$18M investment
Contxto – RobinFood, parent company of Colombian foodtech brand MUY, has landed US$18 million of debt financing from…
SoftBank’s Latin America fund will decide the future of fintech
Welcome to our new The Exclusive deep dive content about our Latin American ecosystem. We’re giving our registered…
SME financial platform Xepelin raises US$2.5 million seed round led by Ideas Impact VC
Contxto– On October 1, Xepelin, a Chilean financial platform created for SMEs to grow, raised a US$2.5 million…
Latin America launches united regional space agency, ALCE
Contxto – Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico’s Secretary of External Relations, has just announced that his country signed a landmark…
Healthtechs Yana and Live 4 Life join to expand employee wellbeing
Contxto – Collaborations have been an important step for expansion this year. Startup Yana has not been the…
Take Blip piggybacks on Whatsapp to US$100M investment
HyperNoir – Take Blip has taken the Latin American communications sector by storm. The startup just closed its…
2Morrow Sports receives a R$1.5 million investment, disrupting sports market
Contxto – Brazilian startup 2Morrow Sports has hit a home run, landing a R$1.5 million of financing from…
Rappi seeks to improve cash solutions and reconciliations with help from SafetyPay
HyperNoir – Just after wrapping up a funding round that exceeded US$300 million, the Colombian delivery unicorn, Rappi,…
What are the ground rules for competing after Covid?
Today’s Soapbox opinion was written by María José Contreras de Velasco, who is charged with promoting a culture…
Koibanx raises seed round with an eye set on Mexico
HyperNoir – Last Thursday (1), Koibanx announced it had closed a seed round for an undisclosed amount. For…
Satellogic launches Global Consortium of Geospatial Imagery with major institutions
Contxto– The Argentine satellite whizzes behind Satellogic recently launched their very own Global Consortium of Geospatial Imagery with…
Two new Latin American-ish unicorns forebode ominous news for the region
Contxtoaria-label=”undefined (opens in a new tab)” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Contxto– The world announced two new unicorns into the ecosystem just…
Raise venture capital in a week? Horus says, “Challenge accepted”
HyperNoir – It’s time to turn our eyes back to Brazil (again) because agtech Horus Aeronaves has raised…
Wheel the World joins Plug and Play Travel & Hospitality’s portfolio
HyperNoir – Previously featured on our Market Map for Latam startups serving people with disabilities, Wheel the World…
Urban mobility app 99 to debut WhatsApp ride-hailing feature
Contxto – Booking a private ride over the 99 app in Brazil will now be as simple as…
Breast cancer prevention startups in Latin America (beta)
HyperNoir – Every year, over 462,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer across the Americas. Of these, nearly…
Brazilian Big Data and AI expert, Cortex, closes US$30 million SoftBank-led round
Contxto– What started in June as a SoftBank-led investment round for Cortex has resulted in the Brazilian “growth…
3 science-based startups from Argentina each raise US$1.75 million
Contxto – Many of the investment rounds we cover here at Contxto involve a lot of the same…
“Women investing” is no longer a wish in Mexico’s VC ecosystem, it is now a non-profit
Contxtoaria-label=”undefined (opens in a new tab)” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Contxto– Mujeres Invirtiendo—a group dedicated to building a venture capital (VC)…
MUY tags US$18M to scale cloud kitchens and restaurants in Mexico
Contxto – MUY is hungry for growth. The startup closed US$15 million almost a year ago, launched into…
Covid merges e-commerce and in-store sales for retailers
Contxto – Coronavirus initially boded doomsday for vendors as they scrambled to digitize their operations and products. And…
Fintech was about going digital, why are challenger banks addicted to plastic cards?
HyperNoir – Some might think that the story of fintech in Latin America is that of an underdog:…
Bossa Nova tags US$885,000 for new sports tech fund
Contxto – “I truly believe in the molding, values, and lessons you learn through sports regardless of whether…
Fintech Moni launches lending solutions into Colombia
Contxto – Fintech Moni is entering a new market. Last Tuesday (29), the Argentine startup announced the launch…
Jüsto snags extra US$5M to scale grocery deliveries in Latin America
Contxto – Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, many households in Mexico bought their groceries online for the first…
Fintech a55 snags US$2M to scale lending solutions to SaaS businesses
Contxto – Five months later and once again fintech a55 raised funding. This week, the lending startup announced…
Vozy closes US$800K to scale voice AI services into Mexico and Peru
HyperNoir – Automated (dull) voice responses are becoming a thing of the past in customer service. With voice…
Pachama closes US$5M to build carbon neutral companies with AI
Contxto – Argentine sustainability startup Pachama is reeling in US$5 million to help more companies reduce their carbon…
Advent raises US$2 billion for seventh private equity fund for Latin America
Contxto – Last Tuesday (29) private equity firm Advent International announced it raised US$2 billion for its fund…
Used car platform Kavak hits US$1.15B valuation. First-ever unicorn from Mexico
Contxto – Used car platform Kavak announced it reached unicorn status yesterday (30). In an interview, the startup…
Three factors to understand the success (and failure) of a startup
Today’s Soapbox opinion was written by Daniela Arias, co-Founder of Naranja Media Podcast and Empréndete Contxto – While…