Fintech

Distrito Ventures made an undisclosed investment in Ali Credito, a Brazilian consumer credit platform. (Distrito Ventures) Distrito Ventures made an undisclosed investment in Brazilian fintech Ali Credito – a master servicing platform for…

Elevar Equity led a US$5.25m investment in Uruguayan digital banking platform Bankingly, with participation from The Rise Fund and Endeavor Catalyst.

A presidential decree in Brazil will ease foreign investment into credit-related fintechs. Previously, financial services companies with foreign capital could only operate in Brazil by presidential decree. Now, for companies with foreign capital that are working on credit and lending, such a decree is no longer needed.

Social impact investor Oikocredit and the IDB Lab invested US$5.7m in Sempli, a Colombian fintech providing loans to SMEs. In 2017, Sempli raised a US$3.6m seed round from Velum Ventures, FOMIN, XTP1, Grupo Generaciones, and DGGF (Dutch Good Growth Fund).

Driven by new members and increased deals, LAVCA has been growing its footprint in impact investing, particularly where impact converges with traditional PE/VC. 

Visa made its first investment in Brazil in Conductor, a payments processing platform backed by Riverwood Capital.

Vector Inovação e Tecnologia (Vit) acquired a controlling stake in Brazilian fintech Beblue, a payments and loyalty platform for small merchants.

Stone Pagamentos IPO’d on the Nasdaq, raising US$1.1b for an initial market cap of almost US$6.6b. Investors include Ant Financial (Alibaba’s investment arm), Madrone Partners (Walton family), Berkshire Hathaway, Tiger Global, Actis, Gávea Investimentos, Valor Capital, and 3G Capital’s founders Jorge Paulo Lemann, Marcel Telles and Carlos Alberto Sicupira. 

The Colombian government published a bill that will allow financial institutions to invest directly in fintech companies.

Creation Investments Capital Management made a MX$250m investment in Pluscorp, a Mexican financial services company.