Brazilian startups raise US$591 million in January, 45% of Latin America’s total

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In January, Brazilian startups raised US$591 million in 62 rounds. Investments in Brazil dropped when compared to the first month of last year, when the figure reached US$668 million.

Nevertheless, the amount represents 45% of the total raised in Latin America in the first 31 days of the year, according to a report by Sling Hub, a data intelligence platform on the regional startup ecosystem.

These companies totaled US$1.3 billion in investments in Latin America in the first month of 2022, an annual increase of 70%. Investments were distributed in 81 rounds, at an average of US$25.4 million per round, 56% more than in 2021.

Of the 7 countries registered in Sling Hub’s database, only Peru failed to register a startup funding round.

In the breakdown of investment volume by country, Colombia ranks second, with 19%, after raising US$255 million.

Part of these figures are due to a Series B round involving Tul, a construction materials e-commerce platform that raised US$181 million.

The startup round, which announced its arrival in Brazil in March, was only lower than the round conducted by Creditas. Less than a year after becoming a unicorn, the Brazilian fintech raised US$260 million and was valued at US$4.8 billion.

Among the 10 largest rounds in January, 3 were Brazilian. In addition to Creditas, Gupy raised US$90 million. In 10th place comes gaming startup Rei do Pitaco with US$32 million.

The monthly report prepared by Sling Hub is based on over 2.9 million data from Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Argentina, Peru and Uruguay, with almost 25,000 registered startups.

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

Brazil was the main player in the Latin American M&As. The country accounted for 88% of acquisitions and 100% of mergers in January. Fintechs Credoro and Cobre Fácil were highlights among mergers, and Quinto Andar among acquisitions.

The unicorn bought the Argentine group Navent, the fourth in its history, thus becoming the leading housing group in the region.

In January, Latin America reported almost double the number of mergers and acquisitions when compared to the same period in 2021. There were 30: 25 acquisitions and 5 mergers.

The highest number of transactions were with fintechs (6). Financial technology represented 20% of startups acquired in the first month of the year.