Financing roundup: Telefónica backs fintech, Mexico's Skydropx enters Brazil and more

Brazilian fintech Klubi raised 45mn reais (US$7.45mn) in a series A round co-led by L4 Venture Builder and Telefônica Brasil’s corporate venture capital arm Vivo Ventures.

Vivo Ventures is already an investor in the company, having led a 30mn-real round in Klubi last year.

With the new round, Klubi said it will accelerate growth, expanding its product portfolio and partnerships and developing new technologies tailored to the consortium financing segment.

The startup claims to be the only fintech authorized by Brazil's central bank to operate in the local consortium market in the country. The company reports a portfolio of 500mn reais in credits.

Corporate venture capital

Argentina is second in Latin America, behind only Brazil, in the number of corporate venture capital (CVC) operations.

That's according to the Corporate Venturing Latam 2024 study produced by Wayra Hispam, the CVC and open innovation area of Telefónica Movistar, in alliance with Global Corporate Venturing.

Argentina leads Spanish-speaking LatAm with 25% of total CVCs mapped by the report. Chile comes third together with Mexico, with around 21% of the total, says the Telefónica study.

The report states that 80% of CVCs in Hispanic America are concentrated in the four Latin American countries and that the number of active corporate funds doubled between 2020 and 2023.

Details of the study can be found here.

Brazil’s CloudWalk creates new FIDC

Brazilian fintech unicorn CloudWalk created a new 2.7bn-real (US$447mn) credit rights investment fund, FIDC, to finance its loan operations. 

The fundraising had the participation of 16 institutions, with Itaú BBA as the lead coordinator. Bradesco BBI, BTG Pactual, BB-Banco de Investimentos and Banco Safra also participated.

CloudWalk raised 1.6bn reais through another FIDC operation in May. 

In November 2021, the Coatue fund led a US$150m series C for CloudWalk, after investing US$190m in May that year in a series B round.

Mexican logtech Skydropx enters Brazil

Mexican logistics startup Skydropx is entering Brazil with the acquisition of local logtech Frenet.

Founded in 2015, Frenet was acquired in 2021 by Sequoia Capital for 35mn reais. According to market reports, Skydropx is paying 31.5mn reais for Frenet.

Skydropx was created in 2014 and claims to be responsible for handling over 3mn monthly shipments in Mexico. 

In 2021, the company launched operations in Colombia following a US$20mn series A co-led by Base10 Partners, Cometa and 645 Ventures. Skydropx's clients include Claro, MercadoLibre and Cemex.

Colombia’s Addi secures credit facility

Colombia's buy now, pay later solutions provider Addi secured a US$100mn credit facility from Victory Park Capital, a global alternative investment firm specializing in private credit.

Founded in 2018, Addi became a leading player in Colombia’s fintech market by providing shopping and payment solutions to 2mn customers and over 18,000 merchants.

In April, the company raised US$36mn in a round led by Singapore’s sovereign fund GIC, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz and Union Square Ventures, and US$50mn in debt financing From Goldman Sachs.

In 2021, during the startup financing boom, Addi raised US$200mn led by GIC.

US firm Avalara acquires Brazil's Oobj

Seattle-based tax solutions provider Avalara acquired Brazil's Oobj, a provider of electronic invoicing software, to expand in Latin America.

The transaction value and details were not disclosed.

"Avalara will benefit from Oobj's e-invoicing expertise to complement its global e-invoicing solution endpoints in Brazil and enable its expansion into six additional Latin American countries: Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Argentina and Costa Rica," Avalara said in a statement.

The US company reports 41,000 corporate and government customers in more than 75 countries. According to Avalara, its tax compliance automation software solutions have more than 1,200 certified partner integrations with leading ERP platforms.