Ep. 19: Sequoia Capital is Back, UnDosTres Series B, Octapus Mega Seed, and new HealthTech PROSPERiA
Welcome to Scenius Mexico: Your weekly newsletter on technology, innovation, and startups in Mexico.
When Sequoia Capital announced that its newest incubator for European companies will invest USD $1 million into founders just for being selected, it shook the accelerator world. The famous VC firm is now coming back to its home region with the opening of applications for founders based in the Americas (North & South) - and thus, available for Mexican founders too!
Meanwhile, long time FinTech UnDosTres made the headlines for its USD $30 million Series B, accompanied by newcomer Octapus’ USD $8 million mega seed round and PROSPERiA’s USD $2 million round.
In this edition I added a new section called “Rest of the World” where I will be covering Startups expanding into the Mexican market. Feel free to share your feedback about it.
Funding Rounds
FinTech UnDosTres raises a USD $30 million Series B
Founded in 2015, UnDosTres’ goal is to integrate financial solutions into a digital platform, which mitigates inefficiencies associated with payments. So far one million users have used the platform to pay for things such as taxes, tolls, and even movie tickets.
Per Alejandro Rodriguez, Managing Partner at IDC Ventures, the startup has a lot of room to grow in a market where 85% of Mexicans have never made online payments.
With this new funding round, the team’s goal is to accelerate a customer-friendly solution for integrated financial services to reach that percentage of Mexicans who have not yet made any online transactions.
Main local and regional competitors of this business model include MercadoPago, Billpocket, Conekta, Pai, and Retrypay.
Sector: FinTech - Payments
Total Raised: USD $41.3 million
Founders: Arpit Gupta, Naveen Sharma, Vikram Deswal
Investors: Soldiers Field Angels, IDC Ventures, IGNIA Partners, Dalus Capital, Telegraph Hill Capital, AI8 Ventures, Benber LP
Octapus raises a USD $ 8 million Seed round and announce its first acquisition
Working as an aggregator of hybrid cloud, cybersecurity and data management solutions for SMBs in Latam, Octapus seeks to facilitate the digital onboarding of SMBs in Latam and accompany them through the different steps of their digital transformation with value-added solutions, in compliance with local regulations for data protection.
All over the world, SMBs are working on the digitalization of their business but are still struggling to understand and find cloud and cyber security solutions for their specific needs. Octapus is betting on the aggregator model, à la Merama in the e-commerce sector, to become a one-stop-shop in this complex and fragmented market.
Following this first equity round of USD $8m the team is now launching their platform and materializing their acquisition of OnCloud, a provider of compliant cloud & business continuity solutions with extensive experience in Mexico and the US. They are also looking for an MBA Associate to help them in the execution of their business development and M&A strategy in the coming months. If interested, you can learn more about the job here.
Sector: Cyber Security - Cloud
Total Raised: USD $8 million
Founders: Pierre-Etienne Lambert, Felipe Villaned, Esteban Rey
Investors: Pacific Lake Partners, The Operand Group, Ambit Partners, Snowdon Partners, Reka Capital, Next Coast Ventures, Aken Capital
HealthTech PROSPERiA raises a USD $2 million Seed Round
Launched in 2020, PROSPERiA is developing a solution to detect chronic diseases in emerging markets. Their product has already been used to evaluate 10,000 patients, detecting over 4,500 potential pathologies.
The team wants to use this investment to boost the growth that they have had in recent months and reach 10,000 patients per month throughout the country and not just in Mexico City.
Cristina Campero, founder & CEO, shared that, before finding Sweden based Cardo Health fund, she went through a long and complex process due to the difficulties of operating a HealthTech startup in Latin America.
Mexico’s health-reactive culture also contributes to the difficulties. While this culture started to shift during the pandemic, Campero explained that the region still lacks a preventive health culture.
Sector: HealthTech
Total Raised: USD $2 million
Founders: Cristina Campero Peredo
Investors: Cardo Health
VC - Accelerators - M&A News
Sequoia Capital opens applications to its Arc program
Following its first batch focused on European companies in March of this year, the famous VC firm is now looking for startups from North America and LATAM.
The program is a seven-week mentorship where they coach the founders in their Company Design, in addition to a USD $1 million investment in each company just for being selected.
The program will last from September 12 to October 26 and includes on-site (Menlo Park, California) and remote modalities and is open to seed-stage founders actively working on an idea, product and company.
Interested founders can apply on the fund’s website until July 22.
HEINEKEN Green Challenge is launching its 2022 edition
Based in Monterrey with a focus on North East states (Durango, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas), the group is looking for projects working on sustainable energy production and use.
The 21 best teams will be offered a seat to participate in the 12-week INC Accelerator, and the 10 finalists will receive an investment ranging from MXN $50,000 up to MXN $500,000.
Founders interested in applying can do so on the challenge website until September 16.
Rest of the World
Chilean HealthTech Mindy is going after the Mexican Market
Focused on mental health, the Startup offers a platform connecting pre-screened psychologists with patients looking for online therapies.
With already a hundred professionals and 5,000 monthly sessions in Chile, the team is now ready to grow into the Mexican market and open its platform to other professionals in the health industry to become a global wellness platform.