Ep. 28: VC Funding is coming back in Mexico; more consolidation between tech companies; and Meta select a Mexican startup.
Welcome to Scenius Mexico: Your weekly newsletter on technology, innovation, and startups in Mexico.
Long time no see! After a short break Scenius Mexico is back in your inbox. As you will see, a lot happened in the Tech world of Mexico over the last few weeks!
Funding Rounds
Quinio raises US$40 million in equity and debt
The startup is an e-commerce aggregator that acquires, operates and builds consumer packaged e-commerce brands across Latin America. The team focuses on brands in the areas of home and kitchen, beauty and personal care, baby, health and household items. It already owns and operates several brands that have a presence in Mexico, Colombia, Chile and the U.S.
The funds will be used to continue to acquire, operate and boost brands in Latin America but the team also added some protections into its process for seeking out companies to acquire. That includes implementing new criteria filters when evaluating new brands so that the company increases its probability of acquiring a successful brand. The company is also more product-centered and is betting more on technology than when it started.
Sector: E-commerce aggregator
Total Raised: US$60 million in a mix of Equity and Debt
Founders: Juan Gavito, Santiago Gavito, and Iker Garay
Investors: Northgate Capital, Cometa, Dila Capital, AlleyCorp, Western Technology Investment, Alchimia Investments, and Business Angels.
Cicada is building the financial infrastructure for Capital Markets
The team behind the FinTech is aiming at bringing efficiency, connectivity and access to bond markets in Emerging Markets. Armed with US$7.6 million - an extension to its US$4 million Seed round - Cicada will launch in Mexico with government bonds and frequently traded corporate notes.
The founding team plans to first expand into the Swaps market (another kind of financial product), before going for other countries. The international expansion will follow with a Cicada Series A when the time is right.
Sector: FinTech - Bond Markets
Total Raised: US$7.6 million
Founders: Javier Hernández, Manuel Ballesteros
Investors: Kaszek Venture, DILA Capital
PropTech Kukun raises a US$4.5 million Seed round
Launched in 2021, the Startup manages and offers short-term stays located in key areas of Mexico City. Currently, the platform manages 130 properties and plans to grow its base to 800 by the end of 2023.
As explained in a press release, with neo-hospitality they aim to create stays that “create emotional bonds between travelers and destinations; transmit local culture through emerging design and interactive technologies.”
Sector: PropTech
Total Raised: US$4.5 million
Founders: Heberto Taracena, David Daniels, Ismael Diakite
Investors: Antelo Capital, View Capital, FJLabs, and Bridge Partners
HRTech Lara AI closes a US$1.1 million Seed round
The startup helps companies to detect, in real time, when an employee is dissatisfied with his/her job or even considering leaving all together. To this end, the team has developed a platform to analyze and automatize tasks and data collected over most used communication systems - Slack, WhatsApp, Microsoft Teams, Google Chat.
On their side, employees can interact with Lara AI’s platform to access information on their holidays, the company policies, settlement of salaries and many other HR-related topics.
With “The Great Resignation” going on, no doubt the Startup will experience rapid growth in the coming years.
Sector: HRTech
Total Raised: US$1.1 million
Founders: Guido Kuznicki, Alan Szpigiel
Investors: Newtopia VC, 500 LatAm, FJ Labs, MrPink VC, Brazil Venture Capital, and Business Angels.
FinTech Mattilda secure US$10 million in Seed funding
The team is aiming at streamlining financial and administrative processes for private schools while also offering credit backed by future school fees.
While the Startup was founded only in 2022, the team previously worked together at Lottus Education, a university-focused educational platform in Mexico.
It was while at Lottus that they saw how difficult it was for private schools to perform collections and get financing. In the United States, most private schools charge per semester. Parents can take out loans to pay for school in advance and the bank will assume the risk rather than the school. In Latin America, many of the payments are month to month, and if payment is not made, the school is the one that spends time contacting parents to collect that payment.
So far, Mattilda is working with 17 schools, accounting for some 9,000 students.
Sector: FinTech
Total Raised: US$10 million
Founders: José Agote, Jesús Lanza, Juan Pablo Bravo, Adrián Garza, and Ileana Gómez
Investors: FinTech Collective, DILA Capital, QED Investors, GSV Ventures, Picus Capital, Emerge Education, SMP, and Xochi Ventures.
Startup News
Meta chooses Leadsales for “The Future of Messaging”
The first CRM for WhatsApp in Mexico, Leadsales, has been selected by Meta to participate in its acceleration program, “The Future of Messaging,” which, in collaboration with the Plug and Play business accelerator, seeks to help businesses connect, transact and serve their customer base through messaging.
The Mexican startup, born in June 2020 as a customizable Customer Relationship Management (CRM) organization tool for WhatsApp, focuses on good follow-up of current and potential customers, as well as sales and support, is one of the 14 startups that are going transform the future of business messaging.
VC - Accelerators - M&A News
BNPL Aplazo bought data platform Sensai Metrics
Aplazo, which last raised a $27 million Series A in 2021, is using part of its war chest to do external growth, and will use Sensai's data to recommend where merchants should spend their marketing budgets.
The deal closed in the second quarter, for an undisclosed amount, according to Aplazo co-founder and CEO Angel Peña.
Mexican Yaydoo acquires B2B payments platform Oyster
Yaydoo is a company that provides financial technology and payments solutions for businesses in Latin America, and Oyster Financial provides businesses with the best technology tools to achieve growth - mainly the ability for SMEs to collect and receive payments in 24 hours.
This past August, Yaydoo merged with Paystand, the largest blockchain-enabled B2B payments network, propelling the combined company to the list of fintech unicorns on the continent. Oyster now joins Yaydoo and Paystand to simplify the processes of making and receiving corporate payments in the U.S. and Latin America.
Tribal Credit buys Mexican FinTech Paykii
Tribal Credit is a US-based Startup providing credit cards to startups in emerging markets. In April, the team announced it has raised $34.3 million to fuel its international growth. Part of this capital is now being deployed in Paykii’s acquisition to accelerate and strengthen its all-in-one financial platform for SMEs in Mexico and Latin America.
Founded in 2015, Paykii offers a financial platform to manage and pay invoices in over 28 countries, processing up to 700,000 monthly transactions.
The deal closed in for an undisclosed amount.
Proof reading and editing by TransPerfect