Fintech Snapshot – September 2019

8 October, 2019

Katie Llanos-Small

After a quiet August (check it out my August Snapshot), September was the most active month of the year for fintech investment in Latin America. A total of 17 deals (14 equity, 2 debt, and 1 M&A), raised a total of US$ 613.5 million (US$ 313.5 million in equity and US$ 300 million in debt) for Latin American fintechs.

Definitely, the most relevant deal was Softbank’s US$250 miillion investment in the proptech QuintoAndar. With that, QuintoAndar joined the unicorn club.

Also, the Mexican market is attracting more and more attention. The lending fintech Konfio landed an impressive US$ 250 million in debt financing from Goldman Sachs and Victory Park Capital. Klar, a new neobank, raised a major Seed round of US$ 7.5 million led by Quona together with a US$ 50 million in debt financing from Arc Labs.

On the regulatory side, the deadline expired for the Mexican fintechs to apply for licenses to continue operations. The CNBV (Mexico’s securities regulator) announced that it received 85 applications for fintech licenses; this is a great number considering that the requirements weren’t easy.

As we’re entering the last quarter of the year, I would like to share a report analyzing the first 3 quarters of the year. Check it out below:

Fintech Investment Latin America 3Q2019 from Thiago Paiva

Source: Thiago Paiva

Well, let’s jump into the relevant fintech deals and news of September, and stay tuned for the next Fintech Snapshot next month!

Main Investments

Brazil – The payroll advance lender Xerpa secured a US$ 12.8 million Series B round from Vostok and Pathfinder;
Brazil – The proptech QuintoAndar became a unicorn after receiving a US$ 250 million round from Softbank, Dragoneer, General Atlantic, and Kaszek;
Brazil – Gorila Invest, a wealth management startup, received US$ 8.42 million investment from Ribbit Capital, Monashees, Canary, and Iporanga;
Brazil – The lending fintech Bom para Crédito closed a US$ 8.435 million Series B round from Grupo Globo;
Brazil – The education lending company Provi closed a US$ 1.3 million Seed round led by Global Founder Capital with the participation of some angel investors;
Brazil – The recurring payment platform Vindi received a Series B investment by Confrapar of US$ 4.81 million;
Colombia – The lending fintech Sempli secured a US$ 8 million Series A led by Oiko Credit;
Colombia – The fintech IMIX received an undisclosed investment from Wayra Peru and The Board Perú;
Mexico – The payment fintech Billpocket raised an undisclosed amount from Axon Partner Group;
Mexico – The Mexican proptech Flat raised a US$ 4.6 million pre-seed round led by Allvp with the participation of Liquid 2 Ventures, Next Billion Ventures, Picus Capital, and some angels;
Mexico – The neobank Klar was raised US$ 7.5 million in equity led by Quona Capital and US$ 50 million in debt from Arc Labs;
Mexico – The lending fintech Konfio raised another round of debt financing, this time it secured a US$ 250 million from Goldman Sachs and Victory Park Capital;
Mexico – The wage advancement platform Minu secured a US$ 6.5 million seed round from QED Investors, Village Global, Next Billion Ventures, Mountain Nazca, and some angels;
Peru – The lending fintech Independencia received a US$ 1 million investment from Credicorp;

M&A

Brazil – MEI Fácil was acquired by Neon for an undisclosed amount;

Regulations

Mexico – The 1 year grace period offered to fintechs operating in Mexico to apply for the fintech licenses expired and the CNBV (Mexican SEC) received 85 applications from fintechs by the deadline;

Partnerships:

Brazil – Grupo Globo, the largest media group in Brazil, launched a joint-venture with Stone to create financial solutions for micro-entrepreneurs and freelancers;

Relevant Moves

Brazil – Cielo, the leading payment processor in Brazil, is starting to accept payments in cryptocurrency in its Point-of-Sale;
Mexico – Startupbootcamp Fintech Mexico City announced its new acceleration batch;
Spain – The leading neobank in Spain announced a US$ 25 million round and that is entering the Mexican market;
USA – The financial inclusion fund Acción Venture Labs just raised another fund to invest in early-stage inclusive fintechs in emerging economies;

Thiago Paiva is a partner at Liquia Digital Assets, an investment bank for the digital assets economy. He is passionate about the intersection of finance and technology.

He has 9+ years working with startups and innovation, investing in more than 60 startups through global accelerators Wayra (Telefonica’s global accelerator) and Startupbootcamp Fintech. He worked closely with more than 20 fintechs from 8 different countries for the past five years.