Financing roundup: LatAm H1 dealmaking, fintech rounds, Wayra edge investment, and more

Dealmaking in Latin America fell 26% by volume and 16% by value year-on-year in January-June, according to TTR Data. 

That represents 1,242 transactions with US$33.5bn in disclosed value, including M&As, venture capital investments, private equity and asset acquisitions. 

Over 630 of the transactions in Latin America were M&As and 314 were venture capital deals, mostly involving startups. According to TTR, private equity deals fell 8% year-on-year to 85, while venture capital deals were down 37%.

Brazil led the region both by deal volume and by aggregate value, according to the platform. In volume terms, Mexico was second and Chile third, followed by Colombia, Argentina and Peru. 

Brazil saw 747 deals, down 27% in volume compared with the same period of 2023. Aggregate deal value was also down 3% to US$19.9bn, based on 365 transactions with disclosed consideration year-to-June. 

Mexico reported 162 deals in H1, down 14%. The 77 deals with disclosed values totalled US$5.8bn, representing a 42% drop in aggregate value.

Lavca: Deals down, values up 

Meanwhile, Latin American private equity and venture capital association Lavca tracked over US$1.7bn in VC and equity during H1, invested across 217 deals.

In Q2 alone, Lavca said it mapped US$956mn invested through 98 deals across the region, compared with US$900mn in 202 transactions in the same quarter of 2023.

Fintechs keep flying high

Fintechs continue to shine brightest among Latin American startups, according to a new multi-year analysis by the Distrito platform.

They raised US$15.6bn via 1,658 rounds between 2014 and the first half of 2024, according to Distrito’s FinTech Report 2024. Brazilian fintechs accounted for 66.7% of the total with 1,034 deals.

Looking at the first half of 2024 alone, investments in fintechs rose 75% year-on-year.

The year with the biggest investment in the sector was 2021, when there was US$5.7bn in funding in 363 rounds, whereas the year with the highest number of startups founded was 2019, with 298 fintechs created.

According to Distrito, there are 2,712 active fintechs in the region, with Brazil accounting for 58.7% of them.

US Caliza to expand in LatAm

US fintech Caliza closed a pre-Series A investment round of US$8.5mn to grow in Brazil and launch in Mexico.

The round was led by Initialized Capital with the participation of New Form Capital, Abstract Ventures, Class 5 Global, Quona, Kraynos Capital, Digital Currency Group, as well as angel investors such as Doug Scherrer, CFO of Nubank, and Lucas Lima and Alex Liuzzi, founders of Remessa Online.

Caliza offers a solution for the instant settlement of international transactions and digital accounts in dollars. With the proceeds, it plans to double its workforce in Brazil, obtain other regulatory licenses for its local operations, and boost the development of financial products.

The company's growth plan includes expanding to Mexico by the end of 2025, offering the same services currently available in Brazil.

TecnoSpeed buys Decision IT for tax solutions

Brazil’s TecnoSpeed bought local firm Decision IT for an undisclosed sum to grow its offering of tax solutions to large corporations.

Founded 25 years ago, Decision IT provides solutions aimed at cutting costs and ensuring fiscal security and compliance for companies. Its main product is a solution for SPED (public digital book-keeping system), which now complements TecnoSpeed's portfolio of legal and tax services.

Created 18 years ago, TecnoSpeed claims to serve more than 2,500 Brazilian software houses with tax solutions. For the acquisition, the company was advised by law firm Roveda & Marcelino Sociedade de Advogados.

CH Master Data and Astrein merge

Rio de Janeiro-based IT firm CH Master Data and São Paulo’s Astrein merged their operations through a share swap.

Both operate in the standardization and governance of records for supply chains. The combination of their operations was rebranded as CH Master Data / Astrein.

Founded in 1996, CH Master Data manages the registration of materials, services, suppliers and tax classification. Astrein operates in software development, training and services in the field of registration centers.

Telefónica’s Wayra contributes to edge startup Series A

Wayra, Telefónica's corporate venture capital unit, invested in Nearby Computing, a startup focused on orchestration and automation of edge computing.

The investment is part of a US$7mn Series A round conducted by Nearby to fund its expansion and consolidate its market position, Telefónica said.

Nearby is already integrated into CAMARA, an open-source project on which Open Gateway, a global initiative for the telco sector led by the GSMA is developed.

CTA Smart raises funds with Indicator, Invisto

Indicator Capital, a VC manager in Latin America specializing in IoT and deep tech, together with Invisto, a VC manager in Southern Brazil, allotted 16mn reais (US$2.2mn) to local startup CTA Smart.

CTA developed a platform for automation and supply control systems for fuel distribution. The round was led by Invisto with 10mn reais, while Indicator contributed 6mn reais. 

The startup had previously received 5.5mn reais from Indicator Capital in October 2021.

Vammo accelerates funding

Brazil’s e-motorcycle rental startup Vammo raised 30mn reais from EXT Capital in a mixed equity and debt investment format. The transaction was structured by Solis Investimentos. 

With the investment, Vammo intends to increase its Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) by a factor of 20 times and expand its rental points.

EXT expects the amount invested to grow to 120mn reais by the end of 2025.