LAVCA’s seventh annual Latin American Startup Directory profiles 523 startups that raised USD1m+ in venture funding in 2021 and 1H 2022, during a time of record venture investment in the region.
This year’s directory includes details of each company’s disclosed investors, sector, stage and headquarters. Building on historic metrics, the 2022 directory includes a measure for the increasing flow of capital to women-led startups, an analysis of funding for repeat founders and the participation of corporate investors in startup funding rounds.
GENDER DIVERSITY
Nearly one third of VC investment in Latin America went towards women-led startups in 1H 2022, a new record since LAVCA started tracking this metric in 2019.
This year’s directory profiles 97 women-led startups that raised ~USD5.8b over 118 disclosed rounds in 2021 + 1H 2022. Women-led startups that raised rounds over USD100m include Nubank, Kavak, Keo World, Loft, Habi, PetLove, Stori, Pismo, OpenCo, Solides and Kushki.
CVC PARTICIPATION
LAVCA recorded 125 corporates investing in disclosed rounds above USD1m in 2022 and 1H 2021, participating in 22% and 27% of those rounds in 2021 and H1 2022, respectively.
While a significant share of these corporates were headquartered in the US, Mexico and Brazil, corporate investors in China and the United Kingdom were among the most active.
VENTURE DEBT
Venture debt activity continued to grow in 2022reaching nearly USD700m in 1H 2022, compared to USD826m in the entirety of 2021 and USD110m in 2020, according to LAVCA data. Notable startups raising venture debt financing above USD50m in 2021 and 1H 2022 included Keo World, Xepelin, ADDI, Kueski, Merama, Habi, Marco Financial, Kocomo and La Haus.
A RECORD YEAR FOR REPEAT FOUNDERS
In turbulent times, VCs opted to deploy more capital into experienced founders. According to LAVCA Research, repeat founders raised a record 43% of VC dollars invested in 1H 2022, compared to 24% in 2021 and 27% in 2020.
LAVCA 2022 STARTUP DIRECTORY – MEMBER ACCESS
LAVCA members can download LAVCA’s 2022 Startup Directory including a full list of disclosed startup investments over USD1m for 2021 and 1H 2022, with additional details including each startup’s founders, as well as a full list of women-led startups (with names and titles), repeat founders, rounds with CVC participation and more.
Non-members can purchase access to the data.
METHODOLOGY
FINANCING
LAVCA’s 2021 Latin American Startup Directory includes startups that raised at least USD1m in disclosed private capital financing in 2021 or 1H 2022, as verified by LAVCA Research. 1H 2021 analysis was based on preliminary LAVCA data.
GEOGRAPHY
Startups with headquarters in Latin America and operations in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. Startups headquartered in the US or outside Latin America were included if they were founded by a Latin American, had significant operations in the region and served a Latin American market.
INVESTORS
Investors included VC firms as well as corporates, PE firms, family offices and other private capital investors, based in Latin America as well as globally.
STAGE
LAVCA identifies investment stages as follows. Seed: Startup capital to incubate an idea or product. Early-Stage: Series A and B. Late Stage: Series C, D and beyond.
WOMEN-LED STARTUPS
A women-led startup is either led by a woman CEO or has at least one woman co-founder.
REPEAT FOUNDERS
A repeat founder is an operator who was previously CEO at a former company or startup.
Does your startup qualify for this list? Contact LAVCA’s Director of Venture Capital Carlos Ramos de la Vega (cramos@lavca.org).
