Carabela Newsletter #2
Simetrik raises USD 55m. Loovi raises USD 9m. MWC 2024 kicks off in Barcelona.
Welcome to this week’s 8 new subscribers! With Carabela, you will be receiving every Monday a summary of the previous week’s most important events in Venture Capital, Startups and Innovation in Ibero-American markets.
In the week from February 19th to February 25th, the biggest funding rounds came from Colombia and Brazil: Colombia’s Simetrik raised a USD 55m Series B, and Brazil’s Loovi raised a USD 9m round. It was also an active M&A week, with acquisitions in Brazil (Will Bank acquired by Banco Master), Mexico (Tu Mejor Amigo acquired by Cuida Mi Mascota) and Spain (Cityscoot acquired by Cooltra, Housell acquired by Tiko and Ofertia acquired by Shopfully).
📷 Credits: Simetrik
In other ecosystem news, Demium Capital announced it invested more than EUR 6m in Spanish startups in 2023, two new editions of accelerator programs for Latin American startups (The Ganesha Lab for Biotech startups and Pygma for Fintech startups), and MWC kicks off today in Barcelona!
You can find more detail for these news (and more) below:
Cross-border 🌎
The Ganesha Lab calls for Latin American Biotech startups for its BIGinBIO2024 program. Selected startups will be integrated to the The Ganesha Lab platform, and will receive an investment of USD 100k. (Tekios Mag)
Pygma launches its first accelerator for Latin American Fintech startups, which aims to empower founders in Pre-Seed stage with a 10-week program culminating with a Demo Day in NYC (Latam Fintech).
Andes 🇧🇴 🇨🇴 🇪🇨 🇵🇪 🇻🇪
Colombian Fintech Simetrik raised a USD 55m Series B led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management. The funds will be dedicated to further develop its financial solutions’ capabilities and continue growing internationally (Reuters).
The United Kingdom’s government financed 6 Peruvian projects through the Climate Finance Accelerator program. The six projects are: Bio Natural Solutions, Blume, Ecoproducts, Gualca Seed, Nanoinventa and Textil del Valle (Gov.uk).
Cono Sur 🇦🇷 🇨🇱 🇵🇾 🇺🇾
Brazilian fintech Kucoin will invest USD 5m in 2024 to further develop its anti-fraud and payments platforms hub in Uruguay (Latam Fintech).
Brasil 🇧🇷
Brazilian Insuretech Loovi raised a USD 9m funding round led by Marçal Holding y Oliveira Participações to invest in hiring and technology (Latam Fintech).
Brazilian Agritech Bemagro raised a USD 2m Seed round led by CNH Industrial, Rural Ventures, MMAgro and Agroven. The funds will be used to expand globally (Latam List).
Banco Master announced the acquisition of a majority stake in Brazilian neobank Will Bank for an undisclosed amount. The operation will allow Atmos (which invested in 2021) and the founders to exit the business. (Latam Fintech)
Iberia 🇵🇹 🇪🇸
Portuguese IoT startup Connected raised a EUR 2m Pre-Seed round led by Shilling VC, to expand its team and accelerate the development of its NB-IoT technology (El Referente).
Spanish Healthtech startup WIVI Vision raised a EUR 4m Series A led by Adara Ventures to expand, hire and develop new technologies (EU Startups).
Spanish Healthtech startup Ailin raised a EUR 1.5m Seed round led by an unnamed Family office, with participation of several business angels and two impact funds, including Decelera Ventures. The funds will be used to introduce Artificial Technology algorithms to Ailin’s solutions (El Referente).
Spanish Buildtech startup CubicUp raised a EUR 1m funding round led by impact fund Fondo Bolsa Social, to expand to Barcelona and continue its mission of facilitating and digitalizing the process of house reform, in a sustainable way (El Referente).
Spanish Advanced Materials startup Pack2Earth raised a EUR 1m Pre-Seed round led by JRV Holding GmbH, to advance the 25 pilot programs of the 2 materials developed by the company (Capital Riesgo).
Spanish Micromobility startup Cooltra acquires French competitor Cityscoot for EUR 400k, in an operation that will also require Cooltra to spend approximately EUR 1.5m to finance the merger (Techcrunch).
Spanish Proptech startup Tiko acquires local competitor Housell for an undisclosed amount, creating one of the industry leaders in Spain and Portugal (Contxto).
Spanish Marketplace Ofertia is acquired by Shopfully for an undisclosed amount, consolidating the Italian firm’s presence not only in Spain but also in Colombia and Mexico (EFA News).
Demium Capital announces that it closed 2023 with more than EUR 6m invested in Spanish startups. The fund counts more than 250 startups in its portfolio, with 18 being added only in 2023 (Capital Riesgo).
The tech world gathers in Barcelona from February 26th to 29th to participate in MWC, which will count with a startup-specific event: 4YFN (Techcrunch).
México, Centroamérica y Caribe 🇨🇷 🇨🇺 🇩🇴 🇸🇻 🇬🇹 🇭🇳 🇲🇽 🇳🇮 🇵🇦 🇵🇷
Mexican Pet tech Tu Mejor Amigo announces its being acquired by Cuida Mi Mascota for an undisclosed amount (Startups Latam).
That’s it for today. 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!