US$4.27 billion - Total Startup Funding in Latin America | Ep. 117
Plus, Drivana Seed Round, RappiPay new CEO, Nestlé $1B Bet on Mexico, and more!
Your weekly newsletter on technology, VCs, and startups in Spanish-speaking Latin America.
Estimados,
I will keep the introduction short and focus on one number: US$4.27 billion.
In 2024, startup investments in Latin America surged by 23%, reaching US$4.27 billion across 621 rounds, up from US$3.4 billion in 2023, according to Distrito.
Brazil remained the regional leader, capturing US$2.14 billion from 391 rounds, followed by Mexico and Colombia. Mega-rounds and renewed VC confidence signal an optimistic outlook for 2025.
Follow The Money
🇲🇽 Drivana Raised a US$1 million Seed Round
Drivana is a Mexico City-based peer-to-peer car sharing startup. The platform connects vehicle owners with users, offering a transparent and customer-focused alternative to traditional car rental services by eliminating hidden fees and including insurance. Drivana aims to transform the underutilized car market in Latin America, expand its operations across key cities, and build a comprehensive Fintech and insurance ecosystem that optimizes fleet financing and vehicle management, capitalizing on a growing market opportunity.
Sector: Mobility
Founders: Edson Arteaga
Investors: Grupo Felni, Movtech Capital, Nut VC, Ferter VC, RC Ventures and Arkangeles
🇨🇱 Banca me Raises a US$3 Million Round
Chilean Fintech Banca me, closed a $3 million financing round— US$2 million in debt and US$1 million in equity— following its 400% growth in 2024, issuing over US$4 million in credits across more than 6,000 loans while achieving profitability for the first time. The new capital will fuel its strategic expansion in 2025, which will include new products like Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) and additional SaaS offerings for partners in sectors such as real estate and banking.
Sector: FinTech
Founders: Cristian Eing, Vincente Claro, Vicente Deppe
Investors: Grupo Contémpora, ByC Compañía
🇺🇸-🇨🇴 Taxflow Raised a US$750K Pre-seed Round
Founded in November 2023 by Colombian entrepreneurs based in San Francisco, Taxflow is developing an AI-powered accounting system designed to automate tax filing tasks, data collection, and transaction categorization. Taxflow plans to use the funds to expand its team, further develop its technology, and acquire new clients for the 2025 tax year, with aspirations to address the expected challenge posed by the retirement of 75% of accountants in the US in the coming years.
Sector: FinTech
Founders: Felipe Salinas, Julián Arango
Investors: Platanus Ventures, BFF, Brian Requarth (Latitud), Brian York.
Startups News
MongoDB to Offers its Atlas Platform in Mexico
MongoDB is expanding its Atlas platform to serve local customers in Mexico through the new AWS region, aiming to modernize legacy applications for sectors like public services, SMEs, and finance. Leveraging its partnership with AWS, MongoDB is focused on providing flexible, developer-friendly database solutions that support both structured and unstructured data, while integrating advanced AI tools.
RappiPay Appointed a New CEO
Ignacio Giraldo has been appointed the new CEO of RappiPay, Rappi's financial vertical in Colombia. With extensive experience from Banco Itaú and CitiBank, he is tasked with strengthening RappiCuenta and expanding the customer base for the RappiCard. The company aims to redefine consumer banking in Colombia by creating a more interactive, user-focused financial ecosystem that directly addresses the evolving needs of a digitally savvy market.
VC - Accelerators News
Bitso Launches "The Push" Accelerator
Mexican startup Bitso has launched "The Push", an accelerator program aimed at Fintech developing stablecoin solutions, to position Latin America as a hub for digital payments and blockchain innovation. The program will provide specialized mentorship and up to US$250,000 in investment to help startups overcome expansion challenges and drive the adoption of stablecoins for fast, secure international transactions.
New US$5 million Fund for Blockchain Technology in LatAm
Core Foundation has launched the Core Latin America Ecosystem Fund, a US$5 million investment initiative aimed at expanding blockchain technologies in Latin America. Building on previous efforts in Africa and India, the fund will support projects that address critical regional challenges, such as remittances, cross-border payments, stablecoins, DeFi lending, supply chain logistics, and more. Each selected project will receive comprehensive support, to help overcome economic instability, limited access to traditional financial services, and regulatory uncertainties.
Economy
Nestlé announces a US$1 billion investment in Mexico
Swiss multinational Nestlé announced a US$1 billion investment in Mexico over the next three years to expand its production capacity, as part of the broader "Plan Mexico" initiative. President Claudia Sheinbaum highlighted this move during a meeting with Nestlé executives, including the CEO for the Americas, emphasizing the long-standing relationship of 94 years between Nestlé and Mexico and the significant boost it will provide to local manufacturing, particularly at its new plant in Veracruz.
Expansion Plans
🇨🇴 Finaktiva to expand into Peru
Colombian Fintech Finaktiva offers supply chain financing, credit, and digital banking services. The startup, which works with major firms like Bavaria, Alpina, and Claro to optimize cash flow for SMEs, is now set to expand into Peru in 2025, a market three times larger in factoring than Colombia. With a team of 135 employees, over 10,000 SMEs served, and one million financing operations completed, Finaktiva aims to become the 360-degree financial partner for businesses in Latin America and is on track to achieve profitability in the coming months.
🇪🇸 Íkualo is Expanding to Colombia
Spanish Fintech for immigrants in Europe, Íkualo, is expanding its services to Colombia to address the financial exclusion faced by the region's immigrant population. CEO Harold Correa explained that the platform, which currently serves 60,000 users, allows users to open accounts via mobile using just their passport. With US$4 million in funding raised over the past three years, Íkualo aims to grow its user base to 200,000 by December 2025. The team is also developing additional services such as remittance options via blockchain and fiat, mortgages, and leasing solutions for immigrants in Spain.
🇲🇽 Startup Cheaf to Launches in Argentina
Mexican startup Cheaf is launching in Argentina, offering a platform where users can buy near-expiry food at up to 50% off from major supermarkets like Jumbo, Disco, and Vea. The app aims to tackle Argentina’s significant food waste problem by providing affordable, high-quality food that is still fit for consumption. Operating in several Latin American countries, Cheaf has already saved more than 5.6 million kilograms of food and prevented over 14 million kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions.
Support the newsletter and get exclusive content and perks here:
See you for the next edition. Have a question or any feedback? Just hit reply. I'd love to chat!
Check out Scenius Podcast on Spotify & YouTube.
Want to get your brand in front of thousands of founders, investors, executives, and startup operators? Answer directly to this email.
Abrazo,
Arnaud
Follow me on: