EP. 24: Palenca 2.0; Two Series A; HealthTech MEDU Seed; Mexico Samurai Bonds.
Welcome to Scenius Mexico: Your weekly newsletter on technology, innovation, and startups in Mexico.
Let’s start this edition by putting forward a team of builders: Palenca. Since raising their Seed round a few months ago they have been heads down coding a new API to develop the best tech in the market. Please welcome Palenca 2.0.
And here comes more funding for Mexican startups to keep charging towards their ultimate goal. A seed round for MEDU and two Series A for Draftea and R2. Capital is still being deployed to promising early stage companies that might be tomorrow’s unicorns.
Funding Rounds
HealthTech MEDU raises a US$4 million Seed round
MEDU’s goal is to reduce waste in hospitals by replacing single-wear medical garments through the creation of a line of sustainable, virus-resistant reusable pieces, including surgical gowns, head coverings and full-body suits.
The team has already launched trials in Mexican hospitals, kick-started by a US$400,000 Seed round, to test and certify the results and see if doctors liked wearing the products. They are now testing it out in U.S. hospitals as well.
The startup is profitable and continues to grow its revenue at a rate of 6x each month. Since January, it has deployed approximately 7,000 pieces of equipment, which MEDU’s CEO said is equivalent to 3 million disposables.
Sector: HealthTech
Total Raised: US$4.4 million
Founders: Tamara Chayo, Alexis Garberis
Investors: MaC Venture Capital, Halcyon Fund
R2 closes a US$15M Series A round
R2 is building the financial foundation for small & medium businesses through an embedded lending infrastructure by enabling partner platforms to offer financing to their merchants seamlessly. Put simply, for a marketplace it would be BNPL services for their buyers, and Revenue-Based Financing for their sellers.
So far the startup has partnered with some of Latin America’s most iconic companies, such as Rappi and Clip, been part of a Y Combinator batch last year, and raised US$5.9M in a seed round 7 months ago only.
In the last 12 months, R2 has financed over 3,000 small businesses and grew its monthly revenue by 23X. The team now plans to use the funds to expand its team of 35.
Fun fact: the name R2 comes from the two co-founders’ own names - Roger Larach & Roger Teran.
Sector: FinTech - Infrastructure
Total Raised: US$20.9 million
Founders: Roger Larach, Roger Teran
Investors: Gradient Ventures (Google), General Catalyst, Magma Partners, FEMSA Ventures, PayU, 166 2nd
Draftea brought in another US$20 million for its Series A
The startup is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) platform that hosts Mexican fantasy soccer matches. Draftea’s DFS offering is unique in that it offers daily engagement, in contrast to traditional sports betting platforms that host less-frequent seasonal games that tend to mirror real-world sports schedules.
Only a few months after its Seed round, which was Sequoia’s first investment in a Mexican company, the team raised a round of fresh funding led by new investor Stepstone Group, and have grown its team from 34 employees to 70.
In addition to the funding, Draftea announced a new partnership with the National Football League (NFL) to develop its own “NFL by Draftea” product.
The company is now eyeing the FIFA World Cup in Qatar this November, expected to be this year’s biggest live sports event worldwide, as a major opportunity to gain traction and start Draftea's eventual expansion into all Spanish-speaking countries.
Sector: Online Gambling - Daily Fantasy Sports
Total Raised: US$37.2 million
Founders: Alán Jaime Misrahi, Joe Cohen
Investors: Sequoia, Kaszek, Bullpen, Thirty Five Ventures, Arrive VC, Courtside Ventures, StepStone Group
Startups News
Palenca 2.0: a new API for the Payroll startup
Palenca is a payroll API enabling companies in LatAm to verify employment data and identity. It has now been well documented that Mexico lags in terms of financial inclusion.
Many Fintechs have been built in the last few years on the promise of offering credits and financial inclusion to this marginalized segment of the population, but none of that is possible without datasets to work on.
Palenca API is working on the root of the problem. Their API serves companies offering financial products an access to alternative data like: employment situation, income history, and past work behaviors.
In order to bring the best product to its customers, the team behind Palenca developed a brand new API from the ground up, taking into account user feedback and a new, more scalable, tech architecture.
CuentasOK partners with BBVA to offer a new payment solution to SMEs
Through BBVA’s online platform, the bank’s clients will be able to access CuentasOK technology allowing them to synchronize all their incoming and outgoing invoices, and bulk select the ones they want to pay in one click.
CuentasOK, which allow SME’s owners to organize, simplify, automatize, and manage their financial and fiscal administration on a single cloud-based platform, will be one of the first FinTechs to partner with BBVA and might open the doors to more collaboration between startups and banks in Mexico.
VC - Accelerators - M&A News
Platanus Ventures keep growing its Mexican presence
The Chilean software development agency turned accelerator & VC - à la Y Combinator - is strengthening its growth in Mexico by adding Rogelio Rea to its local team. Rea is the former CEO & co-founder of Atrato, a FinTech specialized in BNPL, and will be working alongside Platanus co-founder Joaquín Stephens.
So far 10 Mexican startups have been part of Platanus accelerator program and received investment from their venture capital arm. We can expect more to take part in the incoming cohorts.
Rest of the World
Mexico successfully issues Samurai Bonds
The Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP) announced the inaugural issuance of a bond in Japanese yen. With this issuance, SHCP marks the beginning of the development of the fourth sustainable market, following issuances in euros, pesos, and dollars
SHCP issued five new benchmark bonds in yen with maturities of 3, 5, 10, 15, and 20 years. The operation was taken to refinance maturities in yen for US$550 million under a neutral transaction that did not increase debt.
Through these bonds, Mexico became the first Latin American country to place sustainable bonds in Japan.
Proof reading and editing by TransPerfect