IDB nears US$1bn in active ICT financing

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is nearing US$1bn in financing related to science, tech, innovation and telecoms projects in Latin America.

The amount includes IDB’s active portfolio of projects in non-reimbursable lines and sovereign-guaranteed financing.

Of the total, US$909mn refers to the latter for 14 projects and US$58.7mn in non-reimbursable funding for 95 projects.

The multilateral has a further US$208mn in its current pipeline, of which US$205mn is sovereign-guaranteed covering three projects and US$3mn in non-reimbursable lines for four projects.

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Brazilian fintech Conta Simples raised US$41.5mn in a series B round led by Base10 Partners, with contributions from Valor Capital, Jam Fund, Y Combinator, Big Bets, Broadhaven and DOMO.

The investment is nearly twice the amount received in the 2021 series A of 121mn reais (currently US$25mn), said Conta Simples. In December, Conta Simples obtained a permit from the central bank to offer payments and digital wallet services.

The fintech focuses on expenses and corporate card management and reports having over 30,000 active users and 500,000 credit cards issued. The latter has helped the company achieve a transaction processing volume of 5bn reais in physical and digital cards up to the end of 2023, it said in a release. 

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Montevideo-based open banking/financing platform Prometeo secured US$13mn in a series A round led by Antler Elevate with new investors such as PayPal Ventures, Samsung Next and partners from DN Capital.

The round also saw the participation of existing investors such as Cometa and Magma Partners.

The company plans to use the funds to expand its banking data access and transfer payment offerings in the region.

Prometeo’s integrated banking software platform allows for automated and real-time access to banking information and payments. It covers 283 financial institutions in 10 countries in the region through a single API, according to the company.

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Argentina’s Agrotoken, a startup focused on the tokenization of agricultural commodities, received US$12.5mn in a pre-series A round led by Bunge and Visa. 

The amount raised “will be directed to strengthen our commitment to rural producers, aiming to connect their productions to end consumers. Additionally, we will use these resources to drive sustainability and innovation across all links in the value chain,” the company said in a social media post.

In December, another Argentine agtech, Deep Agro, which is focused on AI, big data and analytics, secured US$2mn in a round led by Draco Capital and followed by Grupo Dacus, BYX Ventures, Innventure and Pampa Start.

Deep Agro plans to launch in Brazil in February and in the US later this year.

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Internet, software & IT services led dealmaking in Brazil in 2023, according to a market breakdown provided by TTR Data.

The sector registered 377 transactions, including M&As, VC investments, private equity and asset acquisitions, down 23% on 2022.

Overall, the Brazilian market saw 2,008 transactions last year involving a total disclosed value of 216bn reais (US$44.4bn), TTR said. The figures are down 22% and 29%, respectively, over 2022. Brazil led Latin America in values and deals.

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VC manager MSW Capital, through its investment fund MultiCorp 2, allotted 8mn reais to Lina Infratech, a Brazilian startup that aims to be the open finance arm of financial institutions and insurers.

The investment will be used to expand Lina’s team, develop new features and increase the startup's presence in the local and international markets, MSW said in a release.

The startup lists in its portfolio partnerships with B3, TecBan and RTM, among others.

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Uruguayan development agency Ande will train and finance digitization initiatives aimed at MSMEs in a new edition of its Modo Digital program.

Projects can be submitted via three calls, with closing dates in February, May and August.

Details of the initiative can be found here.

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Along the same lines, Costa Rica aims to train 200 startups and SMEs in digital transformation and new technologies this year in a program in partnership with HP.

The public-private initiative is led by HP and Fundación Aliarse and has the participation of the science, innovation, technology and telecoms ministry (MICITT), Instituto Mixto de Ayuda Social and the ministry of economy, industry and commerce.

Some 1,150 SMEs have taken part in the program, which has been carried out through the HP LIFE platform since its launch in 2019, MICITT said. A new selection call is open through January 26. Details can be found here.

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Timenow, one of Brazil’s largest consultancy engineering companies, earmarked 5mn reais for new investments in startups in the area of remote project management for this year.

These will be concentrated in computer vision, generative AI, big data, machine learning and predictive analysis, with a focus on asset management and maintenance, the company said in a statement.

Created in 2020, Timenow’s corporate venture capital program Timenow Ventures has to date invested over 10mn reais in dozens of early-stage tech firms. Currently, Timenow reports six startups in its active portfolio.

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Brazilian hyperautomation and process integration startup Fluna raised 2.5mn reais in a seed round led by Hiker Ventures, a venture capital fund operated by asset manager AF Invest.

Founded in 2020 in Belo Horizonte, Fluna currently reports more than 30 customers and 24,000 users of its systems.

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JumpCorp, a Brazilian AIoT company focused on asset monitoring and control, will launch a development facility at Mescla, PUC-Campinas university’s tech innovation hub.

Called AIoT Lab Brasil, it seeks to boost the development of internet of things and artificial intelligence technologies, generate new communication solutions between devices and train professionals for the Brazilian market, JumpCorp said in a release.

The launch of the lab is scheduled for February 19.