Carabela Newsletter # 13
Nubank reached 100m customers. Matrix Renewables received EUR 300m loan from Santander. Mercado Libre disclosed over USD 35m in crypto holdings.
Welcome to this week’s 4 new subscribers! My name is Ghers Fisman, and I send the Carabela Newsletter every Monday to keep you updated with the most important stories in Venture Capital, Startups and Innovation in Ibero-American markets. If you’d like to get in touch, please send me a message to ghersf91@gmail.com or my LinkedIn profile. I’ll be more than happy to have a chat!
On the week of May 6th to 12th was, the two largest Latin American tech companies made the news: Nubank due to announcing it had reached 100m customers, and Mercado Libre due to its more than USD 35m holdings of cryptocurrency.
📷 Credits: Nubank
Large credit facilities were raised by companies in the region to expand their operations: Spain’s Matrix Renewables received a EUR 300m loan from Santander CIB, Miami-based Jeeves got USD 75m to finance its Latin American expansion, and Mexico’s Plata landed a USD 100m loan to help them reach 1 million customers. Regarding equity fundings, the largest rounds were raised by Spain’s Sesame (EUR 23m), Spain’s Luzia (EUR 17.7m), Colombia’s Bacu (USD 8.2m) and Mexico’s Naya Homes (USD 3.1m).
In other news, Spain’s Freepik made its largest acquisition to date (Magnific), and Colombian food waste startup Oliver closed down after 3 years operating in the space.
For more detail of these news (and more), continue reading:
Cross-border
🌎 Jeeves received USD 75m credit line to grow in Latin America. The Miami-based Fintech landed the loan from the Community Investment Management (CIM), just over two years after its USD 180m Series C. (Latam List)
Iberia
🇪🇸 Matrix Renewables secured EUR 300m corporate financing from Santander. The company will allocate the funds from the Green and Sustainable loan to projects in Spain, the United States, Italy and Chile. (Matrix Renewables)
🇪🇸 Sesame raised a EUR 23m round led by GP Bullhound. The HR Tech startup plans to further expand its operations in Latin America - after entering Mexico in 2023 - and Europe. (Contxto)
🇪🇸 Luzia raised a EUR 17.7m round led by Monashees. The Spanish and Portuguese language smart personal assistant will expand its team and further develop the product, to keep its leadership position in Latam and Europe. (Web Capital Riesgo)
🇪🇸 GoMining raised USD 3m from Bitscale Capital. The Barcelona-based Bitcoin mining company plans to dedicate the funds to expand its infrastructure in the Middle East and North Africa. (FinSMEs)
🇪🇸 Internxt closed a EUR 1.4m round from the CDTI. The company will launch three new services on its privacy-centered suite: Internxt Meet, Internxt Mail and Internxt VPN. (El Referente)
🇪🇸 Routal raised a EUR 1m from H Capital and EIT Innoenergy. The AI route-optimization startup, formerly known as SmartMonkey, will invest in product development and its Latin American expansion. (Contxto)
🇪🇸 Magnific acquired by Freepik for an undisclosed amount. Malaga-based Freepik acquired the AI photo editing tool based in Murcia, and it’s the company’s biggest acquisition to date. (Tech.eu)
🇵🇹 NHOA completed the acquisition of Atlante Infra Portugal. After having bought 60% of the company in late 2022, NHOA finished the acquisition of Atlante, a fast and ultra-fast charging network for EVs. (Market Screener)
🇵🇹 Checkfirst raised a USD 1.5m Pre-Seed round led by Olisipo Way and Hiero VC. The company uses AI to allow remote TICC - Testing, Inspection, Certification and Compliance. (Yahoo! Finance)
Brasil
🇧🇷 Nubank reached 100m customers. With presence in Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, the Brazilian giant is the first digital bank outside of the Asian continent to reach this number. (Contxto)
México, Centroamérica y Caribe
🇲🇽 Plata received a USD 100m credit facility from Fasanara Capital. The startup, known for its credit card (Plata Card), aims to reach 1m customers in 2024, from the current 300k. (Fasanara Capital)
🇲🇽 Naya Homes raised a USD 3.1m round led by Primary Venture Partners. The short-term rentals company will use the funds to expand to 10 additional Mexican cities. (Naya Homes)
Andes
🇨🇴 Bacu raised a USD 8.2m round. (SEC Filing)
🇨🇴 Oliver announced it will shut down its operations. The food waste startup closed its doors after three years of operations, more than 150k tons of food saved and USD 300k raised. (Startups Latam)
Cono Sur
🇦🇷 Mercado Libre disclosed more than USD 35m of cryptocurrency. The company’s crypto holdings - at the end of Q1 2024 -consisted of 412.7 BTC and 3,041.6 ETH. (Tekios)
That’s it for today. I hope you enjoyed this edition of the newsletter. Have a great week, and see you next Monday!
If you have any feedback, comments or just want to have a chat, please contact me at ghersf91@gmail.com or my LinkedIn profile, I’ll be glad to hear from you!