Ep. 57: Not one, not two, but three! funding rounds - get ready for a hot summer
Welcome to Miranda Scenius: Your weekly newsletter on technology, innovation, and startups in Mexico.
Mexican founders are taking no holidays. In the last 2 weeks, ConfiAbogado announced its Seed round on TechCrunch, Vetalia received a US $10 million investment for its modern clinics for pets, and solar panel startup Bright secured a Series C with the help of Leonardo DiCaprio.
But not only they are active raising capital, but also building and expanding. Keep reading to catch up with everything that happened in the Mexican startup scene over the last 2 weeks 👇
Follow The Money
ConfiAbogado raises US $1.65 million in seed funding
The startup wants to improve accessibility to legal services across Latin America by offering affordable legal aid to a wider client base. The platform allows clients to input case details, which the system then matches to a network of validated lawyers and over 100,000 legal possibilities to produce the best strategy and generate the necessary legal documents. ConfiAbogado also offers to finance litigation costs until a case is won. The funding will support the company's expansion to new verticals, and the development of new AI tools.
Sector: LegalTech
Total raised to date: US $1.65 million
Founders: Emiliano Ruiz, Julián Ruiz
Investors: Tuesday Capital, DTB Capital, Seedstars, 500 Global, Invariantes, Goodwater, GAIN Capital and Side Door Ventures.
Vetalia’s US $10 million investment round
The startup focuses on pet care via modern clinics and a tech platform aiming to be a comprehensive pet care provider in Mexico and Latin America. The funds will be used to expand the business, launch the tech platform, hire new team members, and open clinics, with plans to open 50 clinics across the region over the next five years. Vetalia's first clinic opened in Mexico City on July 24. The pet market has an estimated value of over US $27 billion in Latin America, according to Euromonitor figures.
Sector: Veterinary Services
Total raised to date: US $10 million
Founders: MarÃa Gutiérrez and Marion BenÃtez Landa
Investors: Lukas Keindl, Andrea Viejo, Terry Gutierrez, Sujay Tyle, Gutierrez Muguerza family office
Bright raises a US $31.5 million Series C
The solar panel startup will use its new funding to speed up access to solar energy in Mexico and decrease financing and equipment costs for businesses and residents. The company also offers workflow automation to optimize distributed solar energy potential. Since its establishment, Bright has installed over 30 MW of solar energy for 4,700 customers, serving residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. The funding comes at a useful time amid significant anticipated growth in Latin America's renewable energy capacity, with an expected increase of 45% from 2022 to 2027, predominantly from solar and wind energy.
Sector: Solar Energy
Total raised to date: US $31.5 million
Founders: Jonah Greenberger
Investors: ODS Investment Fund, Leonardo DiCaprio
Startups News
Mexico emerges as Kushki's top market
The Ecuadorian payment startup has tripled its transaction volume in Mexico during the first half of 2023, and has appointed Fernando López as the new country manager. The increase in transaction volume represents a growth of 200%. The company also revealed that Mexico is now its most important country of operation, with about 30% of its staff based there.
PropTech Casai has definitively shut down
Despite historic investment rounds, including a seed round of US $5 million and a US $48 million Series A, the company faced a downturn due to internal issues, such as cashflow mismanagement, informality in operations, and failure to pivot effectively. In an attempt to stay afloat, Casai ultimately merged with Brazilian Nomah, and closed operations in Brazil to focus on Mexico. Unable to raise a Series B coupled with a lack of sufficient demand and profitability the startup eventually had to shut down. Contxto wrote a detailed analysis of Casai rise and fall here.
Jeeves extends its product range
The financial operating system has extended its product range to include prepaid cards and cross-border payments, enabling customers to move funds in and out of Mexico within 24 hours, which is a significant improvement on the previous 7-day process. As part of their global financial solutions, Jeeves now allows payments to suppliers in over 150 countries in local currencies. For Mexican startups and other businesses, this development could simplify cross-border operations and provide efficient financial solutions.
Kavak announces a US $40 million investment in Chile
The platform for buying and selling used cars, celebrates its first anniversary in Chile by announcing a US $40 million investment plan to expand its Chilean operations. The company, which uses advanced technology, big data, and AI to enhance customer experience and streamline transactions, has also established strategic partnerships with local financial institutions. This has enabled more people to access credit for purchasing used vehicles, a previously scarce service.
VC - Accelerators - News
Jüsto creates an accelerator for SMEs
The online supermarket startup has launched an accelerator program, named Aceleradora Jüsto, with the goal to create a community for the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that supply the fully digital supermarket, making up the list of Jüsto suppliers. Participants in the acceleration program will receive six free annual webinars on business topics, a 50% discount on Jüsto Insights, and strategic partnerships in various business areas. The move comes as grocery delivery revenues in Mexico are expected to hit $4.7 billion in 2023.
Rest of the World
Costa Rica Zunify expand to Mexico
The FinTech plans to raise a seed round of approximately US $2.5 million and expand its operations to Mexico by the end of 2023. The team has developed an app that enables any bank or FinTech to quickly design, issue, and accept various payment products. Currently, Zunify has 50,000 users on its platform and over 1,000 affiliated businesses.
EdTech Preply comes to Mexico
The global language learning platform is expanding to Mexico after raising an additional US $70 million in equity and debt capital. In Mexico, 58% of students select English as their second language on Preply, reflecting the demand for English proficiency due to Mexico's geographic proximity to the United States and its link to job competitiveness. The platform also observes a significant demand for Spanish learning, making Mexico a key market for Preply.
Chilean Vinko lands to Mexico
The startup specializing in SaaS solutions for digital transformation, is now prioritizing its expansion into Mexico. The company offers two main products: vForm and vTrack. vForm is a platform designed to manage application and evaluation processes in educational institutions and organizations that issue calls for applications, and it is currently used by Mexican social organizations. On the other hand, vTrack is a software solution designed to monitor and track social or social impact initiatives. The startup is now hiring local personnel and establishing strategic alliances to enhance its presence in the Mexican market.
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