The Big Tickets

• DEBT | Bolt, an Estonia-based mobility startup, secured a ~USD240m revolving credit facility from Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, LHV Bank and Luminor.

• FINTECH | GIC led a USD105m Series C for Atlan, a Singapore-based data and AI governance platform, with participation from Meritech Capital, as well as follow-on from Salesforce Ventures and Peak XV Partners.
  • Atlan raised USD27.5m from Salesforce Ventures, WaterBridge Ventures, Peak XV Partners, Grace Software and AT13 Fund in March 2024.

• DEBT | Jeeves, a Brazil-based B2B payments and corporate card platform, secured a USD75m credit facility from Community Investment Management. 

• EV | GEF Capital invested ~USD70m in TI Clean Mobility, an India-based manufacturer of electric three-wheelers for logistics and passenger transportation.
  • TI Clean Mobility raised ~USD81m from Multiples Alternate Asset Management and Tube Investments of India in May 2023.

• FINTECH | Colendi, a Turkey-based digital bank, raised a USD65m Series B from Citi Ventures, Migros Ticaret, Re-Pie Asset Management, Sepil Ventures and others. The round valued the startup at USD700m.

• BIOTECH | Shenzhen GTJA Investment Group and Beijing Xicheng Jinrui Equity Investment Fund Management led a ~USD55m Series D+ for IMPACT Therapeutics, a China-based anti-cancer therapeutics developer, with participation from Lilly Asia Ventures, Yangzhou Guojin Investment Group, Xiamen C&D Emerging Industry Equity Investment and others.

• BNPL | QED Investors led a USD45m Series B for Aplazo, a Mexico-based omnichannel payment platform, with participation from Volpe Capital, as well as follow-on from KASZEK, Oak HC/FT and Picus Capital.

• AV | Haomo.ai, a China-based autonomous driving solutions provider, raised a ~USD42m Series B2 from JZ Capital and Huzhou Changxing. 

• WOMEN-LED | Columbia Capital led a USD40m Series A for Indicium, a Brazil-based data consulting company.
  • Indicium was founded by Isabela Blasi, Matheus Dellagnelo, Matt Farmer and Daniel Avancini.

• FINTECH | Vy Capital led a USD35m Series A for Pomelo, a Philippines-based provider of international money transfers, with participation from Founders Fund and A* Capital, as well as follow-on from Afore Capital. Pomelo also secured a USD75m warehouse facility expansion as part of the round.
  • Pomelo raised a USD20m seed round from Keith Rabois (Founders Fund), Kevin Hartz (A* Capital), Afore Capital, Xfund, Josh Buckley and The Chainsmokers in August 2022.

• FINTECH | STV led a USD18m Series A for Abyan Capital, a Saudi Arabia-based robo-advisor, with participation from Wa’ed Ventures and RZM Investment. 

Deals

• FINTECH | Zig, a Brazil-based payments system for events, raised ~USD21.4m from Cloud9 Capital, Endeavor Scale-Up Ventures and Across Capital.

• BIOTECH | Seventure Partners and Xora Innovation led a USD15m Series A for Allozymes, a Singapore-based biotech developing novel enzymes, with participation from NUS Technology, Thia Ventures, as well as follow-on from SOSV and Entrepreneur First.

• AGTECH | Breakthrough Energy Ventures, GenZero, Temasek and Wavemaker Impact led a USD14m Series A for Rize, a Singapore-based agtech dedicated to sustainable rice cultivation.
  • Rize raised an undisclosed round from Breakthrough Energy Ventures, GenZero, Temasek and Wavemaker Impact in June 2023.

• AI | Openspace Ventures led a Series B for Fano Labs, a Hong Kong-based AI developer of speech and natural language processing solutions, with participation from HSBC, Greater Good Investment, Horizon Ventures, Saltagen Ventures and Kenneth Lo’s family office.

• EDTECH | Northstar Ventures and Cercano Management led a USD7m Series A for Prep, a Vietnam-based language learning and test preparation startup, with follow-on from East Ventures, Touchstone Partners and Saison Capital.

• CLEANTECH | Illuminate Financial led a USD6.5m Pre-Series A for Accacia, a Singapore-based decarbonization platform focused on the real estate and infrastructure sectors, with participation from AC Ventures, as well as follow-on from B Capital and Accel.

• FINTECH | DisrupTech Ventures and SS Capital led a USD4.6m pre-seed round for Bokra, an Egypt-based wealth management platform.

• E-COMMERCE | Seaya Cathay Latam led a USD4.5m seed round for Reuse, a Chile-based refurbished electronics marketplace, with participation from Dalus Capital, IGNIA Partners, Angel Hub, Silence VC and Compusoluciones Ventures.

• DIGITAL SECURITY | Seamfix, a Nigeria-based global digital identity solutions provider, raised USD4.5m from Alitheia IDF.

• FINTECH | Accel led a USD4m seed round for Swypex, an Egypt-based financial management software for businesses, with participation from Foundation Ventures, The Raba Partnership and angels.

• PROPTECH | P1 Ventures, Localglobe and Ingressive Capital led a USD3.5m seed round for MNZL, an Egypt-based asset-backed lending platform, with participation from 500 Global, Flat6Labs, First Circle Capital, ENZA Capital, Beenok and angel investors.

• ELECTRONIC GAMES | Actera led a USD3.5m seed round for Mage, a Turkey-based mobile game developer, with participation from Ludus Ventures. 

• WOMEN-LED | Ventures Platform led a USD3.2m debt and equity seed round for Maad, a Senegal-based B2B e-commerce startup, with participation from Launch Africa, Seedstars International Ventures, Reflect Ventures, Oui Capital, Voltron Capital and Alumni Ventures. The round included USD900k in debt financing from Proparco and local banks.
  • Maad was co-founded by Jessica Long and Sidy Niang.

• FOOD DELIVERY | Chowdeck, a Nigeria-based on-demand delivery service platform, raised a USD2.5m seed round from Y Combinator, Goodwater Capital, FounderX Ventures, and angels Simon Borrero (Rappi), Juan Pablo Ortega (Rappi), Shola Akinlade (Paystack) and others.

• FINTECH | Higala, a Philippines-based inclusive instant payments system, raised a seed round from Chemonics International and Talino Venture Studios.

• EDTECH | Canary led a USD1.6m pre-seed round for Yuna, a Brazil-based edtech that allows children to transform reading into an interactive experience, with participation from Positive Ventures. 

• LOGISTICS | Ingressive Capital led a USD1.3m pre-seed round for Renda, a Nigeria-based provider of logistics services for e-commerce businesses, with participation from Techstars Toronto, Magic Fund, Golden Palm Investments, Reflect Ventures and Vastly Valuable Ventures. 

• DEBT | Founders Factory Africa and SeedFi contributed USD600k in debt financing.

• ROBOTICS | Tera Ventures and Karista co-led a ~USD1.6m Series A for 10Lines, an Estonia-based manufacturer of autonomous line-marking robots for pavement, with participation from Butterfly Ventures and Mike Oliinyk (Montonio).

• HEALTHTECH | Flat6Labs and Vision Health Pioneers led a USD1m seed round for Arab Therapy, a Jordan-based online mental health platform.

• NANOTECH | Founder One invested in Materix, a Turkey-based nano-coating developer. 

/ For more Latin American deal activity, subscribe to LAVCA’s LatAm Venture Bulletin.

Funds

• TPG reached a final close of TPG Asia VIII, an Asia-focused fund aiming to pursue a geographically distributed strategy of thematic growth investing.
  • The fund invested in Fractal Analytics.

• ICONIQ Growth reached a final close of ICONIQ Growth Fund VI, a tech-focused growth fund, at USD5.75b.

• IvyCap reached a final close of IvyCap Ventures Trust Fund III to invest in high-growth companies within consumer tech, healthtech, fintech, edtech, SaaS, enterprise tech, deep tech and others.
  • Investments from the fund include Snitch, FlexifyMe and Mindeye Solutions.

• Stride Ventures reached a USD165m final close of its third fund to invest in the consumer, financial services and clean tech sectors.
  • Stride Ventures Fund II closed at ~USD200m in August 2022.
  • Investments from the fund include BlueStone, Moneyview, Foxtale, newMe, Nat Habit and Agrostar.

•  Accion Impact Management reached a USD152.5m final close for Accion Digital Transformation Fund, a new vehicle to invest in scaled-up and mature financial services companies with good digitization prospects that service SMEs in Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa. 
  • Accion also manages Accion Venture Lab, a USD23m early-stage fund with investments including Konfio, Tienda Pago, Terra Magna and Henry. 

• Venturance reached a final close of Zentynel Biotechnology Fund at USD20m.
  • Investments from the fund include Autem Medical, Respira Labs and Multiplai.

• Golden Gate Ventures reached a first close for its MENA fund at USD100m to invest in alternative energy, green technology, B2B AI, deep tech, fintech, healthtech and edtech sectors.

• Shorooq Partners held a USD100m first close of its second venture debt fund targeting startups in the MENA tech ecosystem. South Korea-based IMM Investment is a minority partner in the fund.

• Seven Seven Six, the VC firm led by Alexix Ohanian (Reddit), has reached a first close of USD186.6m for 776 Fund III.
  • Seven Seven Six’s portfolio in global markets includes Polygon Technology (India) and Sky Mavis (Vietnam). 

• Early Game Ventureslaunched Early Game Ventures Fund II with a target of EUR60m to invest in tech startups in central and eastern Europe.
  • Early Game Ventures previously invested in Kinderpedia, Bunnyshell, Ecstasy from Fund I.

• ADQ and Oman Investment Authority jointly launched a Jasoor Fund, a USD180m tech-focused fund to invest in SMEs and tech startups in the Sultanate and broader MENA region.

• Temasek’s Vertex Holdings launched Vertex Ventures Japan Fund I, a ~USD65m inaugural fund to foster collaboration between the startup collaboration between the startup ecosystem of Singapore and Japan.
  • Vertex Holdings will partner with the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) and UTokyo IPC to promote human resource development and research cooperation to develop the startup ecosystems of Japan and Singapore.
  • Temasek previously partnered with Japan’s Norinchukin bank to raise a USD173m green agri fund.

• 500 Global launched its sixth accelerator program in Georgia to accelerate startups across the Eurasia region.

IPOs, M&As and Exits

• Japan-based HR platform Mynaviacquired a majority stake in Awign Enterprises, an India-based work-fulfillment platform, in an all-cash deal.
  • Awign raised a USD15m Series B in August 2022 and a USD4m Series A in December 2019.

• Apis Partners fully exited its stake in Adumo, a South Africa-based provider of payment processing services, through a strategic sale to Lesaka Technologies, a South Africa-based fintech provider of secure transaction channels for B2B customers, for ~USD85.9m).

• Headline and Lendable exited SAVii, a Philippines-based salary loan management platform, through a strategic sale to GoTyme Bank, a Philippines-based digital bank.

• Confrapar exited JobConvo, a Brazil-based online recruitment system, through a strategic sale to Senior Sisstemas, a Brazil-based developer of enterprise resource management solutions.

• Chile Ventures and WeBoost exited Rayo, a Chile-based provider of logistic services for all types of businesses, through a strategic sale to ClicOH, an Argentina-based provider of fulfillment solutions.

• GvAngels exited DeÔnibus, a Brazil-based developer of a bus travel platform, through a strategic sale to Travelier, an Israel-based travel-tech company operating a network of digital platforms for traveling. 

• ByteDance acquired Oladance, a China-based developer of open wearable stereo technology for headphones, for ~USD50m.

News

• DATA | Microsoft and G42 invested USD1b in Kenya to build a green data center, an East Africa Innovation Lab and promote local-language AI model development and research.
  • This is the third major investment commitment from Microsoft announced recently in global markets after investing USD1.5b directly into G42 in April, and USD1.7b to advance cloud technologies in Indonesia. 
  • Microsoft also partnered with OpenAI to launch the Societal Resilience Fund, a USD2m fund to promote AI education among voters in marginalized communities globally. 

• CLOUD | Amazon announced an additional USD9b investment in Singapore’s cloud infrastructure technology.
  • Amazon plans to commit up to USD17b to the space in Singapore before 2028.

• Congrats to Nubank for becoming the first digital bank to reach 100m customers outside of Asia. 

• DEFI | Chipper Cash, an African cross-border payments company, partnered with TBD, the decentralized platform launched by Jack Dorsey’s Block, to decrease friction in global cross-border payments.
  • Chipper Cash raised a USD150m Series C in 2021.

• SATTELITES | Starlink launched operations in Indonesia after receiving regulatory approval earlier this month.

• EV | The Economist reviews Latin America’s adoption of green tech – EVs, solar panels and batteries – in the face of the ongoing US-China geoeconomic tensions.
  • BYD, a Chinese EV manufacturer, recently acquired Ford’s former plant in Bahia, Brazil for ~USD60m and plans to invest up to ~USD600m to produce 150k vehicles per year.
  • “… politicians in the United States fret that Latin America’s growing reliance on Chinese green technology, from electric buses to solar panels, is a problem and even a threat.”