Ep. 30: Three rounds of layoffs in a week, new links between Asia and Mexico, BioEsol Pre-Seed, and more.
Welcome to Scenius Mexico: Your weekly newsletter on technology, innovation, and startups in Mexico.
This week we added a new section in the Newsletter to cover Venture Debt rounds. Over the last few months, with the capital market tightening, many companies have turned to debt in order to stay afloat and navigate the year to come. Raising money from VC is a nice milestone but not the only one, not even the most important one. Having a diversified source of financing is a strategic financial plan to adopt for any company.
Talking about navigating hard times, three famous Mexican startups each announced a round of layoffs this past week: Bitso, Kavak, and Plerk.
On a more positive note, Mexico is building more links with Asian startups and still ranks first for any foreign company looking to expand to Latin America.
Equity Funding Rounds
BioEsol raises a US$ 1.5 million pre-seed
The CleanTech startup is focusing on accelerating the transition to renewable energies through a Software developed in-house and the use of A.I. to help SMEs to better operate and manage their energetic resources.
The founding team has already launched 7 previous startups, from which 4 were sold, and have more than 35 years of experience accumulated in the energy sector. They now want to join forces and focus their energy on having a positive impact.
BioEsol recently won 1st place at the HEINEKEN Green Challenge during the INCmty in Monterrey and now have the capital to bring their project to the next level in Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Brazil in the next 3 years.
Sector: Climate Change - Renewable energy
Total Raised: US$1.5 million
Founders: Felipe Arriola, Samuel Arriola Rodriguez, Alejandra Alfaro, Gabriel Bracamontes
Investors: Techstars, Katapult VC, Innlite, GVM
Venture Debt Rounds
FinTech Baubap Takes on US$20 Million Credit Line
This FinTech offers microloans ranging from US$25 to US$258 using alternative data and a proprietary AI system to assess the likelihood of repayment.
The company operating only in Mexico has granted loans to 500 thousand people so far and is aiming for 1.5 million by the end of 2023.
With the credit line received from Park Cities Asset Management, the startup intends to expand its financial products and offer three million new loans in the next 12 months.
Sector: FinTech - Lending
Total Raised: US$20 million in Debt
Founders: Roberto Salcedo, Conrad Wilkinson Schwarz, Luis Antonio Villarreal Castilla
Startup News
E-commerce Strade partners with Bircle
The custom sneakers e-commerce Startup is launching the first Phygital collaboration in Latin America with NFT experts of Bircle. Called Genesis Collection, each of the 8 unique custom sneakers will have an integrated NFC chip connecting to a digital version of the product as an NFT. It will also serve as a proof of ownership and authenticity for a resale on the growing investing market around sneakers. Maybe not a revolutionary use case for blockchain but certainly a fashionable one.
Plerks layoffs about 40% of its staff
The corporate employee benefits startup, which had a US$12 million Series A in August, laid off about 40% of its staff this week. The reason behind the layoff is the expectation that 2023 is shaping up to be a complicated year for raising capital and thus the need to optimize their runway. The runway is the amount of cash startups must have to survive a certain amount of time.
Bitso second wave of layoffs
The crypto exchange and Mexican unicorn, made its second wave of layoffs this week, dismissing about 100 employees, after having already dismissed 80 employees in May. The news came from former employees communicating their layoffs on social media networks. Later, the company issued a statement without giving further details and claiming “appropriate structural adjustments.” According to unidentified sources quoted by Bloomberg Linea, the layoffs are due to the global crisis in the crypto world in recent weeks sparked by the FTX case.
Kavak turmoil continues with more layoffs
Mexico's first unicorn is said to have fired around 200 employees of late. In mid-November, cuts had been made throughout the region, although their extent is difficult to establish due to the company’s secrecy in this matter. Bloomberg Línea reported that the reduction of personnel would have been due to the recommendation of the consulting firm McKinsey following years of inefficient management, nepotism and customer service failures.
VC - Accelerators - M&A News
New Ventures and IKEA are looking for Social Impact Startups
Through their incubator program named México Accelerator, the two firms have already incubated 20 startups and are looking for their next cohort.
If your startup (product or service) is solving a social or environmental issue through a viable and sustainable business model, you can apply here before December 2.
Rest of the World
Startup Cobee closes a Series B and expands to Mexico
The Spanish company that focuses on modernizing perks and benefits for employees raised US$41.4 million to expand in Latin America starting with Mexico. The Mexican VC firm DILA Capital participated in the round and will bring its local experience and network to the team.
Cobee will be competing with Guadalajara-based Startup Plerk that announced this week a 40% cut to its headcount. The Mexican market is big enough for two actors to grow and might foster innovation between them.
Indonesian unicorn J&T Express is growing in Mexico
The logistics Startup is betting on its technology and experience in its home country to tackle the challenge of e-commerce and delivery in the Mexican market. So far it has opened 15 logistics hubs, 40 distribution centers and employed 2.000 people in the country.
As usual, Mexico will be the first step in their Latin American expansion. But an interesting fact is the growing number of links made between Mexico and Asian countries lately.
Proof reading and editing by TransPerfect