Ep. 11 - Jüsto massive Series B, Tani Salud entering the HealthTech game, and a new acquisition for Casai
Welcome to Scenius Mexico: Your weekly newsletter on technology, innovation, and startups in Mexico.
Mexican superstar Jüsto made the headlines this week with its massive Series B round. Things are moving fast in the Delivery sector around the world with a super-rounds being raised while other startups crash.
The pandemic showed the importance of the healthcare system and sparked the creativity of many Startup entrepreneurs as they looked to tackle many of the numerous challenges faced by the industry. One of them is Tani Salud, co-founded by Natalie Copuroglu and startup studio Polymath Ventures.
Lastly, it seems like Dock's acquisition of Cacao paycard has been completed successfully with the FinTech officially launching in Mexico. Let’s wish the same for PropTech Casai, which acquired Brazilian Loopkey this week.
Funding Rounds
Jüsto raises a US$152 million Series B to expand in Peru and Brazil
Jüsto operates a delivery business, with no physical store, that enables customers to buy groceries directly from its website, or an app, and delivers the order to the customer’s location of choice.
This new investment will be used to accelerate the company's growth to more cities and keep improving the many operating challenges faced by this kind of business.
The delivery industry is part of a bigger trend, with many international competitors including JOKR, Gorillas, Rino, Bokksu, Breadfast, Appetito, and Zepto.
Usually, this category of startups are split into two business models: quick commerce and full basket. Quick commerce focuses on small orders delivered in less than an hour while full basket focuses on weekly grocery orders delivered on the same day.
Sector: Delivery - Groceries
Total Raised: US$250 million
Founders: Ricardo Weder, Alejandro Sisniega, Juan Pablo Saldaña, Ricardo Martinez Finger
Investors: General Atlantic, Tarsadia Capital, Citius, Arago Capital, Foundation Capital and Quiet Capital
Medical procedures marketplace Tani Salud raises a USD$700k Pre-Seed round
Co-founded by entrepreneur Natalie Copuroglu, in collaboration with famous LatAm startup studio Polymath Ventures, Tani Salud provides quality care and transparent surgery prices for the middle class in Latin America.
With less than 5% of the Mexican population having health insurance, Natalie Copuroglu wants to enable access to safe and high-quality surgeons and facilities in the country.
Recently, we have witnessed more ventures trying to tackle certain verticals from the HealthTech sector. Most of these companies were founded during the pandemic and it seems like investors are noticing the traction generated these past months and betting on the future of HealthTech in Mexico.
Sector: HealthTech
Total Raised: US$700K
Founders: Natalie Copuroglu
Investors: Polymath Ventures, First Check Ventures, 500 Startups, Roger Laughlin (B.A.), Jesse Damstra (B.A.)
General News
FinTech Dock officially launches in Mexico
Some weeks ago, I covered Dock buying Mexican startup Cacao Paycard [link]. The Brazilian FinTech used this acquisition to fast track its launch in Mexico as it seeks to become the leading payments infrastructure provider in Latin America.
Currently, Dock serves over 60 million accounts in Brazil. The FinTech aims to reach 1 billion users throughout Latin America, and the Mexican market will play a significant role in achieving this.
500 Global program Somos Lucha announced its new batch of Startups
500 Global is an international Venture Capital firm running a series of themed accelerator programs. Somos Lucha is their Latin America-focused program where selected Startups receive training and a $60,000 investment.
Three Mexican startups are currently enrolled in Batch 15 of the program:
Artificial Nerds: A platform that helps companies automate chat and voice channels using artificial intelligence.
Koltin: A Startup that provides digital health insurance and preventive care for the growing population of older adults in the region.
Scorce: An Unique API that easily connects companies to the best APIs in Latin America.
During its ten years of presence in Latin America, 500 Global has invested in two unicorns — Mexican fintechs Clip and Konfío — and several groundbreaking companies, such as Conekta, 99 minutos, Platzi, Jüsto, Ayenda, Yana, Graviti and Baubap, to name a few.
Venture Capital - M&A News
PropTech Casai acquires Brazilian Loopkey
Casai is a Mexico-based short-term rental startup with operations in Brazil as well. They are aiming to be a high-end Airbnb for high-end business travelers, nomads, and families.
Loopkey is an access control company that provides an entry management system with electronic locks.
Casai has been using their product and approached them with the idea to form a partnership.
Backed by Andreessen Horowitz and armed with a war chest of $48 million following their Series A round; Casai is following an acquisition strategy to build what they call “the first hospitality operating system for real estate partners in Latin America”.
US funding firm Partners for Growth announced a $325 million global credit fund to invest in LatAm companies.
More international financial institutions are starting to offer credit to SMBs targeting the region and Mexico will be on top of the list with Brazil.
Unlike a venture capital round, in which entrepreneurs sell a percentage of their company to investors, in a venture debt round entrepreneurs get a loan from the investment fund.
This amount invested – this debt – must be paid back within a certain period, either with money from a new funding round, profit generation or a liquidity event.
For now, PFG's goal is to finance up to 10 Latin American startups in 12 months, with checks ranging from $2 million to $50 million.