Ep. 16 - Kolors $20 million Series A, Intrare becomes a Social Startup, Platanus Ventures is opening to more founders, and more.
Welcome to Scenius Mexico: Your weekly newsletter on technology, innovation, and startups in Mexico.
Some VCs read my tweet a few months ago and decided to go big on Kolors, a mobility Startup aiming at disrupting the busing industry in Mexico.
Feel free to follow me for more million dollar predictions! (JK)
Apart from Kolors funding, not much has been happening of late. Seems like the market is cooling down for now. The good news is that founders have more time to focus on building, and some great projects will emerge - like Intrare moving from NGO to a Social Startup model to keep helping immigrants find work in Mexico.
Love it!
Funding Rounds
Mobility Startup Kolors closes a US$20 million Series A
The startup operates in the intercity busing industry, an estimated $20 billion market in Latin America, by building a platform that connects intercity bus riders with bus drivers.
In countries like Mexico, busing is still one of the most common ways for people to travel from one city to another. But the quality of the service can vary greatly, which can be problematic on a 10+ hour trip.
Kolors is looking to the the air travel industry for ideas on how to improve the bus experience. They go as far as having their own bus attendants on every trip promoted on their platform to ensure quality and collect feedback.
Most of the funding will go toward improving the company’s tech backend, a “smart bus platform” allowing for route optimization, booking, scheduling, pricing, marketing, sales and customer service.
Sector: Mobility
Total Raised: US$26 million
Founders: Rodrigo Martinez
Investors: UP.Partners, Toyota Ventures, Maniv Mobility, K5 Global, Mazapil
Startup News
Intrare evolves from a NGO to a Social Startup
Founded in 2018 by Hannah Töpler, Intrare’s mission is to help refugees in Mexico find a job and accelerate their integration into the country.
After two years of successful partnerships with companies like Walmart, Uber Eats, Ben&Frank, and Kubo Financiero, the team is now building a new technology to accelerate its mission.
The hiring market is booming in Mexico and Latin America but very few are focusing on the immigrant segment - which is crucial for the economy and full of hidden gems.
Prestashop is holding its e-commerce event in Mexico City
By now everyone reading Scenius Mexico knows that the e-commerce sector is booming in Mexico and Latin America. Startups focusing on aggregating e-commerce brands are popping up everywhere and FinTechs are betting big on online payment infrastructure to take advantage of the trend. If you’re interested in getting insight into what’s happening and networking with industry experts, Prestashop is organizing a full-day conference at the Espacio R venue on June 9th. You can register for free for the PrestaShop Day event by clicking on this link.
FinTechs Tribal and Arcus - recently acquired by Mastercard - are joining forces
Their target is the SPEI (Sistema de Pagos Electrónicos Interbancarios) in Mexico. Together they aim at offering an easy way for inter-company payments. With this new alliance, Tribal Pay will be able to offer its customers an option to wire money or pay suppliers online at no cost.
This news follows Banxico’s (Banco de México) announcement of its version 2.0 of the SPEI system in the country, which currently accounts for 4% of inter-company transactions.
VC - Accelerators - M&A News
New Ventures and BBVA are looking for 100 impact-driven Startups
The accelerator program, called Momentum 2022, will be open until June 17th to every founder looking to make a positive change in Mexico.
Selected Startups will receive support in financial planning, fundraising strategies, product-market fit, and how to find and manage the best talent.
If your project suits the social and climate-change focus of the program, you can apply here and maybe join a network of 600 alumni founders.
Platanus Ventures is hungry for more Startups
The venture funds / accelerator announced a few months ago that it would invest up to US$100.000 to selected companies in their program. This news got a lot of attention from founders and the team at Platanus received many more applications than the previous year. As a consequence, they decided to move from a batch of 5 Startups to 15 for 2022.
The first generation of startups participating in the program include Mexicans Fiscoclic, Trendi, Verso, and Wonder XR Studios.