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Telefonica Open Innovation & Wayra Investment Highlights for 2019

February 14, 2020
wow wayra

Since the 2011 launch of Wayra and the Telefonica Innovation funds (Axon Partners in Colombia, InvestTech in Brazil, and Scale Capital in Chile), Telefonica has emerged as one of the most active investors in Latin American startups, with over €20 million invested over the past nine years, and €1.37m invested across 16 deals in 2019. (See below for a list of transactions.)

2019 marked a significant year for Telefonica’s evolution supporting Latin American startups. Responding to a maturing market, Telefonica re-launched the Wayra brand, focusing on larger tickets (up to US$250k) for more mature startups that align well with Telefonica’s business units. As an early indication of the traction of the new strategy, Wayra-backed startups generated over €17m in revenues for Telefonica’s operations in Latin America in 2019, in addition to over 100 pilot programs launched with its operators. 

In addition, Wayra’s presence consolidated into three principal hubs, run by Johanna Harker Garcia (Mexico, Colombia & Venezuela); Agustin Rotondo (Argentina, Peru, Chile, Uruguay); and Renato Valente (Brasil).  Guenia Gawendo continues leading Telefonica Ventures as well as the Telefonica Innovation Funds. 

Telefonica also created a separate business unit, Telefonica Tech, to support new business around IoT, big data, cloud and cybersecurity initiatives; Gonzalo Martín-Villa, former Chief Innovation Officer for the company, will now lead its IoT and big data initiatives. 

Other notable activity from 2019:

  • Wayra and TheVentureCity partnered to co-invest in deep tech startups in Latin America, including AI, ML, IoT, and cybersecurity.
  • Telefonica, Wayra, and CEmprende partnered on Colombia’s first IoT lab for entrepreneurs.
  • Wayra Brasil and Liga Ventures were chosen by BNDESPAR to run the inaugural Programa BNDES Garagem for entrepreneurs. The four-month acceleration program in Rio included separate tracks for MVP and established projects, and a demo day in October 2019.

HIGHLIGHTED TRANSACTIONS AND EXITS WITHIN LATIN AMERICA

🇧🇷 WAYRA BRASIL
  • Wayra Brasil made pre-seed investments in Arkhadia (AI/ML; formerly called Kamai) and Iotag (IoT); a seed investment in Ativa (IoT); a follow-on seed investment in Bem.Care (healthtech; formerly called Proradis); and a Series B investment in Docket (legaltech).
  • Wayra Brasil exited Teravoz, a Brazilian VoIP services provider to small businesses and call centers, through an acquisition by Twilio, providing a 30x return.
  • Wayra Brasil exited legaltech Mediaçao Online through a secondary sale. Mediaçao Online raised a US$3.5m investment from Redpoint eventures, Canary and others in 2019. Read LAVCA’s interview with co-founder and CEO Melissa Gava.
  • Wayra Brasil also exited insurtech Pier.
🇨🇴 WAYRA COLOMBIA
  • Wayra Colombia made a pre-seed investment in Espacios Digitales (IoT); a seed investment in Peiky (sales management SaaS); a Series A investment in Hybrico (AI); and a Series B investment in Addi (fintech).
🇲🇽 WAYRA MEXICO
  • Wayra Mexico made a follow-on investment in Atlantia Search (market intelligence) with participation from Redwood Ventures and GC Capital. Three of the company’s four founders are women.
🇵🇪 WAYRA PERU
  • Wayra Peru made a pre-seed investment in IMIX (Colombia-based fintech) and a follow-on Series A investment in Quantum Talent (SaaS).
  • Wayra Peru exited Culqi (fintech).
🇦🇷 WAYRA ARGENTINA
  • Wayra Argentina made a pre-seed investment in TuVideoCV (SaaS) and a seed investment in BotBit (SaaS).
  • Wayra Argentina exited adtech SocialTools via acquisition, and exited software platforms  Gear Translations and Conversalab via secondary sale.
🇨🇱 WAYRA CHILE
  • Wayra Chile made a seed investment in Colektia (fintech) and a pre-seed investment in GoQuantum (cybersecurity).
💡 TELEFONICA INNOVATION VENTURES
  • InvestTech made seed investments in Brazilian SaaS platforms ClipEscola, Skore and Dattos.
  • Axon Partners made a growth investment in Billpocket, a Mexican legaltech/financial services platform.

 

View a recap of Telefonica’s 2018 investment activity in Latin America here.

 

Telefonica Open Innovation & Wayra Investment Highlights for 2019 was last modified: April 13th, 2020 by Editor
Agustin RotondoAxon PartnersGonzalo Martín-VillaGuenia GawendoInvestTechJohanna Harker GarciaOPEN INNOVATIONRenato ValenteScale CapitalstartupsTelefonicaTelefonica TechVenture CapitalWayra
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  • This is not the first and will not be the last measure that we are going to take. We are serious about changing the rules and having a better environment for entrepreneurship to thrive…

    Telefonica Open Innovation & Wayra Investment Highlights for 2019 was last modified: April 13th, 2020 by Editor

    –Mariano Mayer
  • We are very careful about not overcapitalizing companies.

    Telefonica Open Innovation & Wayra Investment Highlights for 2019 was last modified: April 13th, 2020 by Editor

    –Alan Patricof
  • Making an investment decision comes down to the people.

    Telefonica Open Innovation & Wayra Investment Highlights for 2019 was last modified: April 13th, 2020 by Editor

    –Alex Rossi, Managing Partner, LIV Capital
  • We look at the longevity, the fit, deal attribution by team member. We look at their performance as well as how they focus and what their expertise is…What differentiates them from their peers?

    Telefonica Open Innovation & Wayra Investment Highlights for 2019 was last modified: April 13th, 2020 by Editor

    –Adam Ritter, Vice President, Harbourvest
  • The most helpful thing that an investor can do for an entrepreneur is connecting them to great people, and then taking them to experts and connecting them to early customers and partners.

    Telefonica Open Innovation & Wayra Investment Highlights for 2019 was last modified: April 13th, 2020 by Editor

    –Cyrus Massoumi
  • We never do a deal alone, never, not one single deal in our entire portfolio are we the only investor. We always have someone else.

    Telefonica Open Innovation & Wayra Investment Highlights for 2019 was last modified: April 13th, 2020 by Editor

    –Alan Patricof
  • Empathy is one of the things we value a lot.

    Telefonica Open Innovation & Wayra Investment Highlights for 2019 was last modified: April 13th, 2020 by Editor

    –Michael Nicklas, Partner, Valor Capital

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