New Global Investors in LatAm Startups (2017)

February 26, 2018

There were 25 global investors making debut investments in Latin America in 2017, including notable deals by Softbank and Didi Chuxing, as well as new funds TheVentureCity and ONEVC.

New investors demonstrated an appetite for deals across sectors, stages (from seed to growth capital), and geographies, including Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, and Colombia.

VIEW GLOBAL INVESTOR MAPPING

 

NEW GLOBAL INVESTORS IN LATAM STARTUPS (2017):

Accel-KKR HackVC Struck Capital
Blocktower Capital Maple Ventures Telstra Ventures
Boost VC Meritech Capital Partners TheVentureCity
Castor Ventures NTT DoCoMo Ventures The Rise Fund
Didi Chuxing ONEVC Travel Capitalist Ventures
Digital Finance Group (Huiyin Blockchain) Point72 Ventures Greyhound Capital
Early Impact Ventures PointBreak Rethink Education
FBG Capital QMS Capital  
Green Visor Capital Softbank*  

*Softbank previously raised a US$100m LatAm VC fund in 2000.

HIGHLIGHTED INVESTMENT TRANSACTIONS (2017)

💸 Softbank, Didi Chuxing, and Riverwood Capital invested US$200m in Brazilian rideshare app 99 in 2017. Didi then acquired 99 in 2018. Other investors in 99 include monashees+, Qualcomm Ventures, and Tiger Global.

💸 China-based Digital Finance Group (Huiyin Blockchain Ventures) led a US$1.9m Series A in Ripio (formerly BitPagos), with participation from existing investors Digital Currency Group, Boost VC, and Draper VC. Medici Ventures also made an undisclosed investment in Ripio. Blocktower Capital, FBG Capital, and Maple Ventures also participated in Ripio’s US$37m token pre-sale.

💸 TPG’s The Rise Fund made its inaugural investment in Latin America in Digital House, an Argentina-based coding school, with participation from Endeavor Catalyst, Omidyar Network, and previous investor KaszeK Ventures. U2’s Bono also participated through his involvement in The Rise Fund.

💸 Accel-KKR made an undisclosed investment in Siigo, a Colombian enterprise software startup for SMEs. 

💸 TheVentureCity launched a US$100m global VC fund, and invested in a number of startups in Brazil and Colombia, including 1DOC3, Hogaru, Levee, and RecargaPay.

💸 Silicon Valley-based ONEVC debuted a seed fund with investments in Rappi, BXBlue, Pipefy, and Docket.

💸 Sallfort Privatbank, MIT Castor Ventures Fund, FJ Labs, Rocketship, and Mercado Libre Fund made a US$15m investment in Trocafone, a Brazil-based online marketplace for used electronics.

💸 QED Investors led a US$7m Series A in ComparaGuru, a Mexican financial management platform for insurance and banking products, with participation from Seaya Ventures, Struck Capital, Nova Founders Capital, and Peter Thiel.

💸 Green Visor Capital in Silicon Valley led a US$2.2m investment in Tpaga, a Colombia-based mobile payment platform from the founders of Tappsi. Y Combinator invested US$120k in Tpaga 2017.

💸 Rethink Education and existing investors made a US$900k investment in Crehana, an edtech platform for creative professionals that was accelerated at Wayra Perú.

💸 Qatar’s Travel Capitalist Ventures invested US$600k in Voopter, a Brazilian meta-search travel engine, to expand the company’s travel services. Voopter raised an undisclosed Series A from Global Founders Capital, an investment arm of Rocket Capital, in 2014.

💸 monashees+, Accel Partners, QMS Capital, and Pointbreak LLC made an undisclosed investment in Brazilian enterprise software platform Neoway, followed by an undisclosed Series C investment by Temasek.

💸 Billionaire George Soros made an undisclosed investment in Argentina’s mobile bank Ualá, with participation from Point72 Ventures, and Bessemer Venture Partners.

💸 Meritech Capital Partners led a US$30m Series C in Auth0, an identity verification platform, with participation from NTT DoCoMo Ventures, Telstra Ventures, and previous investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Trinity Ventures, and K9 Ventures.

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DATA METHODOLOGY

Investments took place during the period 2017 and include verified LAVCA Industry Data on fund manager transactions, as well as other investor types from public sources.

This information has been gathered from sources believed to be reliable and from secondary sources that were checked whenever possible, but its accuracy and completeness are not guaranteed. LAVCA shall not be responsible for any inaccuracy unintentionally included in this publication. Readers should consult and rely solely on their own advisers regarding all pertinent information, legal, and accounting issues.

*Investments include the following stages:

  • Seed/Incubator: Startup capital for companies to incubate an idea into a company or product.
  • Early Stage: Startup capital for companies.
  • Expansion Stage: Capital for companies that have reached a sustainable level of development and may be shipping products.
  • Growth Financing: Non-control equity investment in an existing company to finance growth strategy.
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MADE POSSIBLE WITH SUPPORT FROM

LAVCA’s gender diversity research is made possible with support from IDB LAB, Member of the IDB Group. Access information about WeXchange, a forum hosted by IDB LAB that connects high growth women entrepreneurs in LatAm with investors and mentors.

Methodology

This list includes 114 senior-level women investment professionals who are deploying capital in early and growth stage tech deals in Latin America, as well as notable women angels investing over USD50k across multiple deals in the region in the past two years. All investors were vetted for inclusion by LAVCA Research.

Every year since 2016, LAVCA solicits nominations of top women investors in tech from the investment community. The inaugural list included 37 investors; the 2017 list added eight new investors. In 2018, complementing the peer nomination process, LAVCA reviewed the investment teams of all active Latin American VC funds, producing a list of 82 senior-level and 47 mid- and junior-level investment professionals. In 2019, those numbers jumped to 88 and 87, respectively, and increased to 103 and 97 during 2020.

NOMINATE AN INVESTOR

This list is not exhaustive; if you know of a junior- or mid-level investment professional working on Latin American tech deals who should be on this list, contact [email protected].

TOP WOMEN INVESTING IN LATIN AMERICAN TECH

LAVCA’s companion list of Top Women Investors in Latin American Tech includes 114 senior-level women investment professionals who are deploying capital in early and growth stage tech deals.