Roundup: Tech deals on the rise, Totvs acquisition, new VC funding and more

Tech Deals

IT and internet companies spearheaded merger and acquisition operations in Brazil in the first nine months of 2024, according to a KPMG report on the local transactional market.

In total, 1,196 operations were carried out year-to-September across 43 sectors of the Brazilian economy, an increase of 5% compared to the same period in 2023, according to the consultancy.

Of the total, 355 deals involved IT companies, 199 internet companies and 68 from the financial segment.

“Information technology companies continued to be the main sector in terms of number of operations, strongly driven by venture capital and private equity funds, which accounted for more than 65% of the sector's transactions,” wrote KPMG partner Paulo Guilherme Coimbra in the study.

Totvs acquires retail software firm

Amid talks on the acquisition of rival Linx, Brazilian software giant Totvs announced the purchase of VarejOnline to strengthen its portfolio of technologies for the retail sector.

The amount to be paid for the entire share capital of the software firm is 49mn reais (US$8.49mn).

Founded in 2016 in Santa Catarina state by former executives of Microvix (a company acquired by Linx in 2011), VarejOnline reports over 100 professionals, more than 450 clients and around 3,000 point-of-sale (POS) deployments throughout the country.

Totvs reported net profit of 226mn reais in Q3, up 55% year-over-year, and 1.4bn reais net revenue, up 15.2%.

Atlântico AI funding

Brazilian R&D group Instituto Atlântico received a 13mn-real investment from the government to expand its AI laboratory, part of a projects selection call.

Resources will be used to modernize the facility's structure with high-capacity servers and GPUs, aiming at more complex AI research. Atlântico provides services to Dell, HP and Siemens, among others. It has recently acquired an H100 GPU from Nvidia. With the new funding, the goal is to have 10 GPUs by the end of 2025.

The investment from the ministry of science, technology and innovation comes from financing research entity Finep and is supported by the FNDCT fund.

CXC series A

Mexican private lender and services platform for structured financing facilities CXC closed a US$32.6mn series A round led by Kaszek, with participation from Quona Capital, MercadoLibre, Daedalus Ventures, Saison Capital and Actyus.

Resources will be used to further expand across Latin America and venture into the US market. The company has operations in Colombia, Peru, Chile, Costa Rica and Panama, in addition to Mexico.

CXC manages around US$9bn in assets in Mexico and US$1.5bn in Colombia, aiming to reach US$11bn in assets under management by year-end. Among its clients are MercadoLibre, Bancolombia, Credicorp and BTG Pactual.

Avedian pre-series A

Argentine healthtech Avedian, previously accelerated in ScaleUp by Endeavor, announced the closing of a US$1mn pre-series A round.

Led by Meet Capital and with the participation of Gabriel Allasia, former VP of Globant, the investment is expected to support the company’s expansion in Latin America.

Founded in 2018, Avedian's platforms combine big data analysis and predictive models to optimize hospital care and improve health outcomes.

Tuna catches Seed cheque

Brazilian fintech and payments orchestrator Tuna Pagamentos received a US$2mn investment led by ABSeed, one of the leading local investment houses focused on early-stage startups.

The investment will be used to expand Tuna's team and for operational purposes, with a focus on preparing for the next fundraising round. Tuna said that the cheque paves the way for a series A investment.

The fintech joins other startups supported by ABSeed, such as Asksuite, Swap and Uncover. The current investment is part of the VC's second fund, launched in 2022.

Lerian raises funds for core banking

Brazil's Lerian, focused on core banking and open banking solutions, raised 18mn reais in a round led by Maya Capital, with participation from Quartz, Supera Capital, Norte Ventures and Crivo Ventures, as well as angel investors.

The capital will be used to grow the technology team, accelerate product development and expand internationally.

Lerian's founder Fred Amaral is also co-founder of unicorn Dock, a banking-as-a-service startup.

Chile’s Capta Hydro lands in Peru

Chilean climatech Capta Hydro, a startup specialized in technology for efficient water management, expanded to Peru.

The company deployed its Tnano equipment and Amaru platform in northern Lambayeque province. The Peruvian launch follows its entry into the Mexican market at the end of 2023. The company is now planning to arrive in the US in 2025.

The solutions implemented for the Lambayeque water users commission include a surface water telemetry device and the Amaru data management software. 

The former is patented in more than 50 countries and has the capacity to integrate various sensors and energy sources, according to the company.

Across Capital launches LatAm tech fund

Reaching 670mn reais (US$116mn) growth equity fund Across Capital closed a new fund focused on emerging tech companies in the US and Latin America.

Across is looking for companies with a strong software component in their core business, “managed by entrepreneurs interested in smart money.” Investments range from US$5mn to US$25mn.

The recently raised fund has resources from three large international institutional investors, in addition to the largest family office in Chile and more than five large family offices in Brazil and the US, according to the group. The pool also includes investors and entrepreneurs, including partners of large US funds.

Founded in 2022, Across is the result of a spin-off from Vulcan Capital, the investment area and family office of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Across Capital has invested in four companies to date: QI Tech, Slope, Zig and Akad Seguros.