Carabela Newsletter #4
Multiverse Computing raised EUR 25m. Yuno raised USD 25m. Invivo Partners launched EUR 100m fund.
Welcome to this week’s 4 new subscribers! With Carabela, every Monday you will be receiving a summary of the previous week’s most important stories in Venture Capital, Startups and Innovation in Ibero-American markets.
In this edition, we present Carabela Spotlight, a short section dedicated to showcasing interesting projects in the region - mostly (but not limited to) very early-stage startups. This section will not be paid advertising.
In the week from March 4th to 10th, two companies from the region raised double-digit Series As: Spain’s Multiverse Computing raised EUR 25m and Colombia’s Yuno raised USD 25m. Other sizeable rounds came from Brazil - Nextron Energia’s USD 5.3m Series A and FinanZero USD 4m Venture round - and El Salvador, with Sostengo’s USD 4.8m Seed round.
📷 Credits: Multiverse Computing
In an active week for M&A, Brazil’s VMTecnologia was acquired by Nayax for USD 22.3m, Brazil’s Zapay was acquired by Fleetcor, Colombia’s Andro was acquired by Infinity Capital and Chile’s Admetricks was acquired by Similarweb. The last three operations were for undisclosed amounts.
In investors news, three new funds were launched in Spain: Invivo Partners’ EUR 100m Invivo Ventures III, Generalitat de Catalunya’s EUR 55m FITA and Fluidra’s EUR 20m Fluidra Ventures. Other ecosystem news include BBVA Technology starting its operations in Latin America, and Metamask expanding its services in Mexico, Colombia, Perú, Chile and Argentina.
You can find more detail for these news (and more) below:
Cross-border 🌎
BBVA Technology, a unit launched in 2023 by the Spanish bank, starts operations in Latin America with headquarters in Mexico and presence in multiple other countries. (Contxto)
Metamask expands in Latin America by offering local payment options in Mexico (SPEI or STP), Colombia (PSE), and Perú, Chile and Argentina (Khipu) for its Cryptocurrency services. (Altcoin Buzz)
Andes 🇧🇴 🇨🇴 🇪🇨 🇵🇪 🇻🇪
Colombian Fintech Yuno raised a USD 25m Series A, at a USD 150m valuation. The round was led by DST Global Partners, and the funding will be used to expand Yuno’s operations to Europe, Asia and Africa. (Techcrunch)
Colombian Crypto startup Kravata raised a USD 3.6m Venture round from international funds to finance the expansion of its operations across Latin America. (Contxto)
Peruvian Retailtech startup Price Lab raised a USD 360k Pre-Seed round, led by Paraguayan VC fund iThinkVC. The funds will be used to expand the company’s operations regionally, starting with Mexico. (Latam List)
Colombian Blockchain startup Andro got acquired by Dubai-based firm Infinity Capital, for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition will allow Infinity to expand its offer of solutions for stable coins and large funds. (Latam List)
The Colombian startup ecosystem will meet in Bogotá on March 14th and 15th, to attend Startco. (Startco)
Cono Sur 🇦🇷 🇨🇱 🇵🇾 🇺🇾
Chilean Adtech Admetricks got acquired by Similarweb for and undisclosed amount. The acquisition will increase Similarweb’s capabilities for display advertising analysis. (Tekios)
Brasil 🇧🇷
Brazilian Climatetech Nextron Energia raised a USD 5.3m Series A led by Vox Capital and Copel Ventures. The funds will be used to expand Nextron’s operations nationally and reach 50,000 subscribers by the end of 2024. (FinSMEs)
Brazilian Fintech FinanZero raises a USD 4m Venture round from 4Equity. The funds are intended to support FinanZero’s brand and business growth strategy. (Contxto)
Brazilian Food Manufacturing startup Naturanic raised a USD 2m Series A led by Moriah Asset. The funds will be used to expand Naturanic’s organic snacks offering into protein bars and spreads. (FinSMEs)
Brazilian Insurtech and Cybersecurity startup Bluecyber raised a USD 1.5m Seed round led by Invisto and Bossa Invest. The funds are earmarked to allow the company expand to other Latin American markets. (Fintech Global)
Brazilian Fintech StopClub raised USD 1.2m Venture round led by Redpoint eventures, to expand geographically and relaunch StopClub Bank for its customers. (Latam List)
Brazilian Saas Proffer raised a USD 600k Seed round led by Criatec 4. The funds will be used to grow beyond its pharmaceutical niche, in retail and distribution, as well as develop models for other sectors. (Latam List)
Brazilian Fintech VMTecnologia got acquired by US-based Nayax for USD 22.3m, and in this way allowing Nayax to enter the Brazilian and Latin American markets. (Street Insider)
US-based Fleetcor acquired a majority stake in Brazilian Fintech Zapay. The operation’s goal is to leverage the synergies between Zapay and Fleetcor’s other Brazilian subsidiary, Sem Parar. (Finsiders Brasil)
Iberia 🇵🇹 🇪🇸
Spanish Quantum Computing startup Multiverse Computing raised a EUR 25m Series A led by Columbus Venture Partners, tripling the company’s valuation to EUR ~100m. It’s the biggest raise ever by a Quantum Software startup in the EU, and it’ll be used to develop and launch Multiverse’s AI product to erase knowledge from LLMs. (Sifted)
Spanish Quantum Cryptography startup LuxQuanta raised a EUR 2.5m from the EIC Accelerator. The funds will be destined to develop and commercialise a photonic chip, allowing for better industrialisation and lower costs for the Metropolitan networks the company works with. (El Referente)
Spanish Marketplace Blaine Box raised a EUR 2.3m Series A led by a Canarian family office. The funds will be used to fuel Blaine’s international expansion and escalate is personalised decoration service. (El Referente)
Portuguese Mobility startup Ubirider raised a USD 1.95m Seed round led by Techtree Investments and Grupo Barraqueiro. The funds will be destined to expand internationally and grow the marketing and product development teams. (The Paypers)
Spanish Healthtech Braingaze raised a EUR 1.5m Venture round led by RYSE Asset Management, to accelerate the development of its diagnostic and therapeutic solutions for cognitive disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. (Capital Riesgo)
Portuguese Logistics startup Zeoos raised a EUR 1m Seed round led by Lince Capital, with the aim of consolidating partnerships, improve the platform and grow the team. (Essential Business)
Spanish Personal care startup Mediterranean Algae raised EUR 500k in an Equity Crowdfunding round through the Startupxplore platform. The round was raised in less than 24 hours, and will be used to expand the company and launch new products. (El Referente)
Spanish Biotechnology startup IMIDomics sold a stake to Belgian corporation Union Chimique Belge for an undisclosed amount, to support the startup's research efforts in the field of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. (UCB)
Invivo Partners launched the Invivo Ventures III - worth EUR 100m - to invest in life sciences startups. (Web Capital Riesgo)
The Generalitat de Catalunya launched a EUR 55m VC fund (Fondo de Inversión en Tecnología Avanzada) to be managed by Grow Venture Partners. The funds are intended to aid in the commercialisation of scientific research made in Catalonia. (Web Capital Riesgo)
Spanish corporate Fluidra launched Fluidra Ventures, a new CVC fund of EUR 20m that will invest in innovative solutions related to the pool and wellness market. (Web Capital Riesgo)
México, Centroamérica y Caribe 🇨🇷 🇨🇺 🇩🇴 🇸🇻 🇬🇹 🇭🇳 🇲🇽 🇳🇮 🇵🇦 🇵🇷
Salvadoran Insurtech Sostengo raised a USD 4.8m Seed round to expand its insurance solutions to underserved markets - USD 3.8m - and entering the United States market - USD 1m. (Contxto)
Carabela Spotlight 🔦
In this first edition of the Carabela Spotlight, we present WePlug, a Spanish startup looking to solve the problem of low availability of charging stations for electric vehicles, by connecting Hosts - private owners of charging stations - and Electric car owners. A sort of AirBnB for private charging stations. They’re currently building their prototype, so if you’re interested in their offering, go join their waitlist!
📷 Credits: WePlug
That’s it for today. I hope you all 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!