Episode 6 - Opening the way for more climate change-focused startups in Mexico?
Welcome to Scenius Mexico: Your weekly newsletter on technology, innovation, and startups in Mexico.
As usual, a lot of moving in the Fintech space this week. But a piece of interesting news comes from Sistema.bio, a climate change-focused startup closing its Serie B.
On the other hand, Delt.ai plays with DeFi by offering new credit facilities in crypto, and Cometa Ventures partners with a global investor and announces the launch of its third fund.
You can read this episode online.
Funding Rounds
Sistema.bio, a climate change-focused startup, raises US$15,6 million Serie B
The startup manufacture, sell, install and finance a patented biodigester system for small and medium-scale farmers to convert their waste into economic, health, and environmental benefits.
Founded in 2010 and with headquarter in Mexico City, Sistema.bio has 200 thousand users spread across 30 countries.
We don’t often hear about climate change-oriented startups raising big rounds in Mexico but I hope that Sistema.bio’s success will open the path to many more.
Sector: Climat Change - Renewable Energy
Founders: Camilo Pages, Alexander Eaton
Investors: KawiSafi Ventures, AXA IM Alts, Engie RDE, ElectriFI, Chroma Impact, Blink CV, and Co Capital
Finerio Connect receives an undisclosed funding sum from Village Capital
Founded in 2016, the startup leverages open banking and personal finance APIs to help financial institutions process data into useful insights to empower their clients’ financial wellbeing.
The funds come from The Financial Health Innovation Fund - a series of funds and impact investing activities focused on investing in early-stage, impact-driven startups through a variety of mechanisms, including revenue share and convertible debt.
Sector: FinTech - Open Banking
Founders: Nick Grassi, José Luis López Amador
Investors: Village Capital, MetLife Foundation
Luca raises US$3 million Pre-Seed
Luca is a platform providing learning programs for primary and secondary school students by the mean of pre-recorded K12 videos, gamified content, and personalized study paths.
Founded in 2020 by Frederico Bello, the Startup has its headquarter in Mexico City with offices in Madrid.
The EdTech sector is in a boom in Mexico with a reported 44 million students base and strong players in the field like Lottus Education and Collective Academy.
Sector: EdTech
Total Raised: US$3 million
Founders: Frederico Bello
Investors: Heartcore Capital, Shilling Capital, Juan Romero (B.A.), Hugo Arévalo (B.A.), Brian Requarth (B.A.), Gonzalo Manrique (B.A.)
General News
Flink, the investment platform, reveals its expansion plan to Colombia
The startup raised a US$57 million Series B round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners last year and will use a part of it to grow in new markets.
Flink currently has 1.6 million subscribers and aims to reach 4 million in 2022.
In its native market, the team is working with regulators to modernize Mexico‘s brokerage system. One of the main obstacles to market access is that Mexico‘s legal framework does not allow digital onboarding to brokerages.
Delt.ai secures a US$25M debt financing processed in crypto tokens
The Startup, offering a corporate card in Mexico, will receive the funds through the decentralized finance platform (DeFi) TrustToken in its native cryptocurrency TrueUSD.
Delt.ai now plans to place the debt facility to its customers while bringing returns to TrueUSD crypto holders.
Venture Capital (VC) News
Cometa Ventures partners with U.S. Capria Ventures
Cometa Ventures, a Mexican VC focused on investing in SaaS and digitization of companies' solutions, will be the local foothold of global investing firm Capria Ventures.
International funds are having a hard time understanding the nuances of each LatAm market and getting access to local ecosystems. Partnerships with established VCs are a logical first step to getting exposure to a booming region. Hopefully, most of them will soon move to the next step and build a local presence to understand the market they are investing in better and bring more to the table than money.
Cometa Ventures is at the same time launching its third fund, Cometa III, with a target fund size of $100 million.