Investment roundup: Saudi seat in Telefónica, TIM's AI bet, startups, new Brazil datacenter, and more

Saudi telecoms group STC is claiming a seat on the Telefónica board after upping its stake in the Spanish telco to 9.97%, according to media in Spain.

STC was given the go-ahead for the investment by regulators last November. Now, the company is seeking its seat among the directors, to which there should be no obstacles, according to local reports.

The investment gives Saudi Telecoms Company an indirect “foothold” in the Latin American telecoms market, where Telefónica has a strong presence and operations in dozens of countries.

During 2024, the Spanish government also increased its stake in Telefónica to around 10%.

TIM reaps rewards from AI network move

In Brazil, TIM's investments in AI for its network operations have borne fruit, according to the operator.

In a statement, TIM said that it became the first local operator to use AI in network ops for predictive analysis. Initial results indicate that the AI-based prediction model is more than 85% accurate, helping it to avoid operational failures, reduce costs and improve service reliability, said TIM.

At present, 100% of TIM's access network infrastructure already has AI support for predicting maintenance actions, claims the telco, which said that the entire development of the cognitive engine algorithm was done internally by the company. 

US tops investments in LatAm startups

US was by far the country that invested most in Latin American startups in 2024, considering the markets of origin of dealmaking activity, according to TTR.

In 2024, 422 M&As, venture capital, private equity and asset acquisition transactions in Latin America were carried out by US companies, said TTR. Next was Europe with 353 and Asia with 91. 

The Internet, Software & IT Services sector accounted for the bulk of all deals in the region.

Brazil led the way in Latin America with 1,674 deals in 2024, down 21% in volume compared with 2023. Aggregate deal value was up 10% to US$47.9bn, based on 772 transactions with disclosed values.

Chile ranked second with 367 deals, down 10%, and US$13.3bn in value, down 9%. Mexico came third with 359 transactions (-7%) and a total deal value of US$17bn (up 22%).

Next was Colombia, with 281 deals, down 5%, although value was up 35% to US$6.7bn. Closing the ranking at fifth, Argentina saw 238 deals, an increase of 7%, while value reached US$8.8bn, a surge of 246%, based on 103 deals with disclosed considerations.

New datacenter investment

A company called RT-One is planning a 6bn-real (US$1bn) AI training datacenter with capacity of up 400MW, in the Brazilian city of Maringá, Paraná state.

The information was first disclosed by Maringá authorities. In Brazil, the project is being led by Fernando Palomone, who presents himself as the company’s managing partner. BNamericas is still confirming details of the project.

Through an expropriation decree signed by the local mayor, Maringá also announced the creation of an export processing zone (ZPE) to host the project. This is an area that provides tax breaks for the export of services and products.

Gringo acquired by Sem Parar

Brazilian e-tag company Sem Parar, controlled by US fund Corpay, acquired the Brazilian driver app Gringo. The value of the deal was not disclosed, but some media reports claim Corpay paid 1bn reais for the app.

As a result, Gringo owner VEF exited the company. 

Gringo serves drivers in Brazil with a suite of vehicle-related services, including payments, documentation, credit and insurance. 

The company is building a comprehensive ‘super-app’, streamlining the inefficiencies of existing analog and time-consuming processes. VEF led Gringo’s US$34mn Series B round in February 2022 with an initial investment of US$12.2mn.  In 2023, VEF invested an additional US$3mn as part of the company’s Series C fundraising efforts. 

Colombia’s FinMaq raises US$29mn

In Colombia, ALIVE Ventures led a US$29m investment round for FinMaq, a digital lending platform for machinery acquisitions by SMEs.

The fintech round included the participation of 30N Ventures, Accial Capital and Iris Bank. 

The proceeds are expected to help Finmaq accelerate its expansion and bridge the funding gap for sectors such as agriculture, healthcare and construction.

Riverwood pays big for Paytrack

Brazilian corporate travel platform Paytrack raised 240mn reais in a Series B round led by Riverwood Capital.

The investment will be used to expand the platform's business and develop new products, with a focus on integrating payment solutions, as well as on internationalizing operations.

The traveltech was founded in 2017. The company has recorded average annual growth of 80% over the past three years and has over 7,000 active customers.