Investors still have big checks for Latin America

Although the report from specialist company Atlantico points out that 2022 funding in Latin America has been cut in half compared to 2021, the amount of venture capital remains above historical levels, with a 21% increase when comparing Q2 2022 to Q2 2019, not counting the atypical years of the pandemic and 2021.

Data from Atlantico, a sister company to early-stage investor Canary, also shows that foreign investors are slowing down business in the region but not exiting entirely.

In Q2 2022, there were 47% transactions with foreign investors and 53% with local investors in Latin America. These were the startups that raised funds in Latin America this week:

ALI

Ali, a consigned credit fintech, received a R$135 million Series A round (almost US$25 million) to fund its customer portfolio in an investment led by BoostLAB, BTG Pactual’s business hub.

According to the startup, the funds will be used to expand the products, commercial, technology, and HR areas. The company hopes to reach 1 million customers by 2023.

Founded in 2018, Ali says it offers lower rates, which guarantees savings of about 40% compared to other more popular credits (personal loans, credit cards, among others).

Ali is active in private consigned credit and solar financing loans.

CORTEX

Cortex raised nearly US$48 million in a Series C investment round led by Lightrock, a global private equity manager that has invested in Latin American companies such as Creditas, Dock, Frete.com, Buser, Dr. Consulta, and Konfio.

SoftBank Latin America Funds and Riverwood Capital, which co-led the company’s 2020 investment round, also accompanied the new contribution so that they would not be diluted.

Cortex has a SaaS Big Data analytics platform that provides intelligence solutions for sales, marketing, and communications. The platform allows non-technical users to configure the product.

For example, the company says that the B2B Sales Intelligence solution allows sales teams to locate ideal customers to prospect, quantify the market, and plan sales.

The company has in its client portfolio companies such as Visa, iFood, Vibra Energia, Flash Benefícios, and Bradesco.

PRESTAMYPE

Peruvian startup Prestamype received US$2 million from the Inter-American Development Bank’s Innovation Lab (IDB Lab) and US$800,000 in funding from Salkantay, Peru’s largest venture capital firm.

Prestamype promises to offer access to liquidity for small businesses with more affordable conditions, flexible requirements, and investment opportunities with more attractive rates of return.

Co-founded by Laure Schlesinger and Carlos Ferreyros, the fintech company plans to expand into Mexico and Colombia in the next two years.

With information from Bloomberg

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