Happy Sunday!
Building on last week’s update, this edition will spotlight tech events held in Brazil over the past week rather than providing a general market overview. This focus is especially beneficial for readers in the U.S. or Brazil who may have missed these events due to work commitments (even I couldn’t attend all of them—busy schedules abound). I hope this summary helps alleviate any FOMO you may be feeling! It definitely helped on my end 🙂Â
As you can see, after seeking assistance, I’ve revamped the layout! Gabriel Cantu, founder of NewsCo (a startup previously featured in Startups to Watch), and his team contributed to this update. My newsletter also gets a special mention in their app, be sure to download it here or in your AppStore from Apple.Â
I have more exciting news: Due to numerous requests, I’m currently working on launching a Portuguese version of the newsletter weekly (perhaps with a “simpler” twist), alongside creating a detailed event log on a Notion page. I’ll keep you informed as these projects develop….
Lastly, I would like to thank my readers who attended the events and sent over pictures, summaries, and general impressions. Shout out to Marcella Falcao (Head of Investors & Corporates at Cubo Itau), Julia Figueiredo (Director LatAm & US at Partners for Growth) and Milena Oliveira (co-founder at Volpe). I could not have done it without you. Now, without further ado, let’s dive into this week’s events.Â
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Opinions expressed here are solely my own and does not represent those of people, institutions, organizations that I may or may not be associated with in any capacity, unless explicitly stated.
Volpe Tech Breakfast
Event brought together their LPs to discuss key trends in LatAm:
- Profitability: increasing profitability of the venture capital asset class in LatAm, with annualized returns averaging around 15% over the past five years.
- Exits Comparison: Compared exit rates of VC-backed companies in LatAm (averaging 2-3 per year) to more developed markets like the US (averaging 10-15 per year), showing growth potential.
- Mexico’s Opportunities: Emphasized Mexico’s growing attractiveness, akin to Brazil a few years ago, with increasing investor interest and expanding market opportunities.
ABVCAP VC Day
Panel 1: Investment Perspectives in Latin America
- Brazil stands out as a top destination for Growth Capital investments in Latin America, attracting more than India and China combined, with a 30% increase in capital allocation in the last year.
- Absence of IPO opportunities in the US market has boosted strategic investor exits in the region, with a 25% increase in such transactions over the past 2 years.
- Data from LAVCA underscored anomalies in the industry cycle during 2020/2021, with $948 billion allocated globally to VC, surpassing the entire decade’s investment in venture in just one year. In 2023, $4 billion was invested in 770 deals, reflecting the asset class’s significance, accounting for 26% of all private capital investments that year.
Panel 2: Role of Development Institutions in the Innovation Agenda
- Representatives discussed impact investments by major development institutions worldwide, focusing on climate impact, quality of life promotion, and innovative project categories.
- Mentioned challenges in funding First Time Managers based on manager history, fund size, and impact DPI success.
- Comparison highlighted that while BNDES invested $1 billion, UAE development agencies invested $3.7 billion, emphasizing differences in resource allocation.
Panel 3: The VC Asset Class Trajectory and 2024 Outlook
- Panelists emphasized the need for consistent allocation to VC despite economic crises, citing the resilience of the Brazilian market.
- China’s influence on global capital and Brazil’s regulatory advancements in the alternative investment sector. Several Chinese groups looking at the region for opportunities.
- There’s growing interest in exits to funds investing in later stages and secondary markets in Brazil, presenting viable alternatives.
- Anticipation of significant wealth transition in the next 10-15 years, driven by education opportunities and growing appetite for alternative assets.
Women Connection Happy Hour –Â The day concluded with a Women Connection happy hour, celebrating and empowering women in the private equity and venture capital industries. It was a successful event, demonstrating opportunities for women to thrive in these fields.
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Valor Summit Emerging Technologies Summit
The event gathered members from the ecosystem to discuss disruptive new technologies – such as Web3, tokenization, blockchain and financial infrastructure. Special highlight to Roberto Campos Neto’s (President of the Brazilian Central Bank) presentation. Couple of important points below:
- Pix Payment System
- Pix democratizes access to digital payments, fosters new business models, reduces costs, boosts competition, and enhances financial inclusion.
- As of April 2024, Pix handled 4.9 billion transactions, up 53% from May 2023, involving 150 million people and 14.5 million companies​​. Pix has 754 million active keys​​.
- Open Finance
- Benefits include greater efficiency, customized products, easier credit and salary portability, reduced interest payments, and more accessible financial services.
- Significant financial impacts include R$ 1 billion in credit via portability and R$ 700 million increase in customer credit limits for one institution​​.
- Digital Real (Drex)
- Drex focuses on the tokenization of the economy with a pilot project aimed at developing a platform for digital real transactions.
- Objectives include governance, privacy, inclusion of new assets, and expansion of the project with new participants by 2025​​.
- Financial Inclusion through Pix
- Pix has included 71.5 million new users who did not use traditional bank transfer methods (TED) prior to its launch​​.
- Pix’s new functionalities such as Pix Saque (withdrawal) and Pix Troco (change) enhance its utility and user experience​​.
- Challenges in International Payments
- Three main challenges: technology integration, settlement liquidity, and governance.
- Technology and settlement challenges are considered solved, but governance requires further advancement​​.
- Efficiency Gains
- Tokenization and digital payments are improving financial intermediation and contract registration processes.
- Open Finance has significantly reduced the time for account opening processes and increased the number of account opening requests by 34%​​.
FII Priority
- The global order is shifting, with BRICS nations representing approximately 40% of the global population and 25% of the global GDP.
- Brazil is leading the way in fintech innovation.
- BRICS+ countries are coming together! FII Institute strategic partners, THIQAH, launched their Certificate of Origin Platform in Brazil in partnership with CICIBAS on stage. The platform aims to strengthen trade links between the two countries, enabling local exporters and manufacturers in Brazil to issue and track the status of certificates of origin for manufactured products through a single digital platform, contributing to a fundamental transformation in the commercial and industrial sectors.
Empower Breakfast for Women (by Cubo Itau)
- AI is predicted to create $13 trillion in value worldwide by 2030, with significant growth expected in Latin American healthcare.
- The regulatory environment for AI in Brazil remains underdeveloped, causing uncertainty among stakeholders.
- There’s a call for a clear regulatory framework, potentially managed by an independent regulatory agency.
- The future of GenAI in Brazil depends on joint actions from the private sector, public sector, and educational institutions to address current challenges and leverage opportunities for innovation and growth.
VC Vision Breakfast (by Cubo Itau)
VC Vision gathered more than 150 Venture Capitalists, with 2 insightful panels and roundtable sessions between the participants. Key themes discussed were: the increase in the criteria for capital allocation in alternatives, DPI in LatAm, how is the exit landscape.
Power Women in Tech Happy Hour
After a week of male dominated events (with the exception of the gatherings only for women),I feel very grateful in being able to connect with these great women who are focused in changing gender disparity within the tech landscape. Want to be a part of this specific gathering? Just let us any of us know!
MondayÂ
General news:
- While SaaS and fintechs have been the focus in recent years, logtechs are emerging as a significant success story in Brazil. According to the Distrito LogTech Report, the sector is growing, with 283 companies and substantial investments totaling $1.3 billion since 2011. Experts predict Brazil’s logtech market will reach $5.5 billion in AI investments by 2027.
- Human Rights Watch reports unauthorized use of Brazilian children’s photos in AI training. Over 170 images and personal data were improperly collected for the LAION-5B database, risking exploitation. The database, used widely by tech startups, has now been disabled. The true extent of the data breach may be much larger.
- Scale-Up Ventures, a fund investing in companies from Endeavor’s acceleration program, has revamped its investment committee. Kaszek has joined the table with partner Mariana Donangelo. Anderson Thees, formerly of Redpoint, and Fabiana Fagundes, a lawyer and Endeavor mentor for over 20 years, have also been added to the committee.
- The debt level of Brazilian families reached 78.8% in May, the highest since November 2022. Credit card debt is the most common, affecting 86.9% of families. Despite rising debt, delinquency rates remain stable. CNC forecasts the debt level will rise to 80.4% by year-end, with a stable outlook for delinquency.
- Todas Group, a startup focused on corporate solutions to accelerate women’s careers, has announced the addition of three new executives to strengthen its product, content, and technology areas. Camila Etsumi, formerly with NotCo, brings international market experience from the US and Mexico and joins as Head of Product Scalability. Ysla Chagas, previously a Product Design Specialist at Tinder, is now the Product Designer, enhancing user experience. Talita Batista, with seven years at Rocket Content, becomes Head of Customer Success, aiming to boost customer satisfaction and retention.
- Announced a few weeks ago during Uber’s 10-year celebration event in Brazil, the new Uber Health category—exclusive to Uber for Business—has officially begun operations in the country. This innovative service allows healthcare companies to connect their patients and professionals to non-emergency medical transportation, marking the definitive entry of this solution into the Latin American market.
- Bossa Invest, a leader in early-stage startup investments, has announced plans to accelerate its angel investment initiatives by allocating at least 20% of its dry powder to startups at this stage. The company aims to invest R$ 5 million in these startups, with individual investments of approximately R$ 150,000.
Deals:
- Agro-focused fintechs A de Agro and Bart Digital have just merged to create Sette. Operating in over 1,200 Brazilian cities, the new company starts with more than 400 clients and has handled a total of R$ 27 billion in agricultural titles and guarantees.
- Litipay, a startup specializing in judicial credit anticipation for small claims and pensions, has achieved impressive growth in just over three years. Based in Salvador, Bahia, the platform has negotiated R$ 12 million across more than 400 cases. The business model is receiving a significant boost with a R$ 7.5 million investment from SRM Ventures, the venture capital arm of SRM Asset.
TuesdayÂ
General news:
- Woba’s Journey: From BeerOrCoffee to Latin America’s top flexible office network. With 2,000+ spaces in 300 cities, advanced tech, and flexible subscriptions, Woba leads the hybrid work revolution. Future plans: expand further into Latin America.
- Mastercard announced today a significant evolution in how online payments for products and services will be made with its cards, promising to enhance user experience and dramatically reduce fraud. The company has committed to tokenizing 100% of its cards in Europe by 2030.
Deals:
- Incode Technologies Inc., a San Francisco-based AI-powered identity verification and authentication platform, announced on Tuesday (10) the acquisition of MetaMap, a company in the same sector also located in Silicon Valley. With an office in SĂŁo Paulo since last October, along with other branches in Latin America and Europe, Incode aims to expand its global presence and leverage MetaMap’s infrastructure to achieve greater scale.
- BRX Finance, a joint venture formed by Transfero and Fuse Capital, has partnered with the startup Jobis to create a platform that allows freelancers to advance their earnings through blockchain-based credit. The aim is to streamline income management for these professionals who receive payments in a fragmented manner.
WednesdayÂ
General news:
- Smartphone sales in Brazil reached R$ 19.7 billion in 2022, driving 13.2% of e-commerce revenue.
- The corporate innovation manager The Bakery has formed a joint venture with global manager Staged Ventures and Pipe Ventures to enter the corporate venture capital (CVC) segment. This move follows the acquisition of the company’s London-based parent operations by its Brazilian subsidiary, announced in September of last year. I
- “Generative AI is just the tip of the iceberg,” says Jomar Silva, Nvidia’s developer relations manager for Latin America. While the current buzz around generative AI is justified, Silva emphasizes that we are only beginning to explore its vast potential.
- Nearly 50% of Brazilians fear being replaced by AI at work, according to the 2024 AI Monitor by Ipsos. This is above the global average of 36% and places Brazil in the top 10 countries, behind Thailand (69%), Indonesia (66%), and Turkey (63%). Over 60% of Brazilians believe AI will significantly change their jobs in the next five years. While 56% see more benefits than drawbacks from AI, 47% feel nervous about its use. The study, conducted in urban areas, shows six in ten Brazilians.
- Applications for the 100 Startups to Watch 2024 are now open until July 15. Organized by Pequenas Empresas & Grandes NegĂłcios and Época NEGĂ“CIOS, in partnership with EloGroup and Innovc, this annual event highlights Brazil’s most promising startups.
- Digital scams involving Pix transactions have surged 400% in Brazil over the past six months. Most victims are social program beneficiaries. To protect yourself, never share sensitive info via phone, SMS, or WhatsApp.
- Pioneering climate and bioeconomy investments in the country, KPTL is launching a new fund anchored by BIDLab, with committed capital from the Green Climate Fund and Natural Capital Lab. This 11th vehicle of the asset manager will invest in initiatives related to the Amazon rainforest across seven South American countries.
Thursday
General news:
- After reaching cash flow positive and proving its business model, Buser is in the market for a equity round, to fund further organic growth and M&A.
- Brex restructures leadership as it eyes IPO. Co-founder Pedro Franceschi becomes sole CEO, while Henrique Dubugras transitions to chairman of the board. This change aims to streamline decision-making as the company scales and prepares for a potential IPO.
- PUC-SP students and alumni launch PUC Angels plan to invest R$ 1 million in five startups this year, with profits funding scholarships. The network aims to bridge the gap between academia and the market, providing mentorship and networking opportunities. The initiative is supported by Fundação São Paulo and focuses on B2B and B2B2C models with existing revenue.
- Pluggy, a fintech specializing in Open Finance solutions, has received authorization from the Central Bank of Brazil to operate as a payment institution in the payment initiation service (PIS) category. This approval marks a crucial first step for the company to launch its payment initiation service.
- Brazilian company Sooper and the Colombian company Tul have announced a merger of their businesses. According to the startups, the union aims to innovate a sector that still operates in an analog manner, with inefficiencies throughout the entire logistics chain and a lack of transparency in pricing.
- Brazilian startup Mombak, which trades carbon credits from projects in the Amazon, is about to make its first debt financing with support from the World Bank.Â
Friday
General news:
- Unico, the digital identity unicorn, has achieved its first-ever quarterly profit, posting a bottom line of R$ 14 million from January to March. CEO Sergio Chaia stated that the numbers are expected to improve throughout the year.
- The Brazilian Central Bank and the Brazilian Federation of Banks (Febraban) are overhauling the Pix refund system to improve its effectiveness. Currently, 91% of refund requests are denied due to insufficient funds in fraudsters’ accounts. The proposed MED 2.0 system aims to allow blocking funds in subsequent accounts used by criminals, increasing recovery chances. This new system is expected to launch by late 2025.
- Brazilian cybersecurity executives are the world’s most optimistic about cyberattack risks, with only 45% believing their organizations are at risk in the next 12 months, according to Proofpoint’s “Voice of the Ciso 2024.”
- Accesstage is betting on payment initiation to grow in the B2B sector. Specializing in B2B payments and financial management, the company aims to become the largest non-bank Open Finance provider. Currently, Accesstage connects over 120,000 companies with more than 110 banks and financial institutions.
- Primefy aims to become the leading payment solution for startups in Brazil, growing up to 10x annually in processed volume and revenue. With 3,500 active clients, the fintech has launched a new program targeting startups.
- AI is driving a new wave of emerging technologies in Latin America, with 1,005 startups leveraging AI solutions. According to the Emerging Tech Report 2024 by Distrito, AI startups raised $2.07 billion across 477 deals from 2018 to 2024.
- Bionexo, a leading company in digital solutions for healthcare management, announces the appointment of Carlos Eduardo Baron as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
- Brazilian-founded Startup in the US Eases Pet Adoption Process. Adopets has already facilitated the adoption of 500,000 animals and partnered with a major pet shop chain in North America.
Deals:
- Paysecure invests in Brazilian fintech a55, aiming to expand in Latin America. The undisclosed investment marks Paysecure’s strategy to enhance services in Brazil, Mexico, and beyond.
- Since its IPO on the Nasdaq in July 2019, when it raised approximately R$ 1 billion, Afya has completed 21 acquisitions. Beyond this “M&A machine,” another inorganic growth strategy is gaining momentum within the company. Structured just over a year ago, Afya’s corporate venture capital (CVC) has recently signed a R$ 2 million check for Caveo.Â
All events held in the calendar year of 2024
- World Agri-Tech South America Summit
Dates: June 18-19
Location: Sao Paulo
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- Fin4She
Date: June 18
Location: Sao Paulo
Description: Focuses on promoting gender diversity and inclusion in the financial sector. It will feature discussions, panels, and networking opportunities aimed at empowering women in finance and fostering a more inclusive industry.
- MIT Technology Review: EmTech Energy Brasil & Energy Summit
Date: June 17-19
Location: Rio de Janeiro
Description: Global event focused on the future of energy transition and sustainability. It features discussions, masterclasses, and networking opportunities with top industry leaders, aiming to explore and promote innovative solutions in the energy sector.
- Tech Trends Sao Paulo 2024
Dates: June 25-26
Location: Expo Center Norte – SĂŁo Paulo-SP
Description:Â The Tech Trends SĂŁo Paulo 2024 is the meeting point for those looking to turn ideas into actions through technology and innovation. The event integrates the entire innovation ecosystem, bringing together government, market, startups, investors, and academia. Connections, business opportunities, and high-quality content all in one place! Learn more:
- Febraban Tech
Date: June 25-26
Location: SĂŁo Paulo
Description: FEBRABAN Tech is a premier event focused on the intersection of technology and the financial sector. It serves as a critical meeting point for professionals and innovators in banking and finance. The event showcases the latest advancements, trends, and solutions in financial technology, providing a platform for networking, knowledge sharing, and collaboration.
- LAVCA Tech Brasil 2024
Date: August 21
Location: Google HQ na Faria Lima
Description: LAVCA Tech Brasil is an annual meeting of LAVCA’s network of Brazil-focused VCs and tech investors in SĂŁo Paulo. This year’s meeting will include keynote fireside chats, breakout sessions and networking opportunities designed to build meaningful relationships amongst investors active in the region.
- Brazil Tech Summit:
Date: August 9
Location: SĂŁo Paulo
Description: This international summit features 100 global speakers and focuses on catalyzing entrepreneurial and business ecosystems in emerging markets. It includes panels on trends and opportunities in Brazil, industries of disruption, and the role of technologies like AI and blockchain.
- Digitalks Expo:
Date: August 23-24
Location: SĂŁo Paulo
Description: A major event that brings together professionals from various tech sectors to discuss digital transformation, innovation, and technology trends.
- Colombia Tech Week:
Dates: August 26 – September 3
Location: Bogotá and Cali
Overview: Colombia Tech Week 2024 is set to be a major event in the Latin American tech scene, bringing together startups, venture capitalists (VCs), accelerators, corporates, and international tech communities. The event aims to position Colombia as a hub for investment and innovation, with a focus on fostering connections and creating business opportunities across the region.
- Sao Paulo Tech Week
Dates: Sept 16-22
Location: SĂŁo Paulo
Description: Several events focused in LatAm Tech taking place in the city.
- Bossa Summit 2024
Dates: Sept 25-26
Location: SĂŁo Paulo
Description: his event is a major gathering for the Venture Capital market, featuring over 400 speakers, extensive networking opportunities, and a range of workshops and mentoring sessions. It’s designed to bring together more than 10,000 attendees, offering around 200 hours of content on business and innovation.
- LAVCA Week 2024
Date: 8-11 de Outubro
Location: Conrad NY Downtown
Description: LAVCA Week convenes leading private capital investors from Latin America and around the globe each year for a series of meaningful discussions and private meetings covering the latest trends in private equity, venture capital and other private capital strategies. Participation at LAVCA Week is carefully curated and capped. LAVCA Members, non-member private capital investors and qualified institutional investors are invited to attend. LAVCA Members have access to special early bird rates through 29 August 2024.
- #fswk24 – O Momento Atual dos VCs na SaĂşde
Date: November 6
Location: Rio de Janeiro
Description: This event focuses on the current landscape and opportunities for venture capital investments in the healthcare sector. Attendees will gain insights into the latest trends, challenges, and strategies for investing in health tech startups and innovative healthcare solutions.
Other events:
PS: If you want to be featured here, please send me an e-mail with your event following the format above: title, date, location, description, link for more info.