Dealflow.la #70 - Sheinbaum's race for president 🇲🇽, Simetrik 🇨🇴 raises a $55 M Series B, Nicaragua 🇳🇮 sues Germany 🇩🇪 at the World Court, & Uruguay 🇺🇾 seeks DEA 🇺🇸 assistance.

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Mar 06, 2024

Funding

Cogtive 🇧🇷 raised a $2 Million Seed round led by Indicator Capital 🇧🇷 to build MES and MOM software designed to provide a global factory overview. The company's platform is IoT and A.I.-based which collects data, processes it, and provides a clear digital view of the factory floor, enabling clients to reduce line stoppages, improve production rate, and make efficient use of labor.

Bioeutectics 🇦🇷 raised a $2.1 Million Seed round led by Fen Ventures 🇨🇱 and Atento Capital 🇺🇸 to build a natural solvents intended for industrial processes to become more sustainable. The company's solvent is made using proprietary technology which allows customizing products and adapting to industries such as food, pharma and personal care. enabling the creation of intelligent products that are non-toxic, biodegradable and sustainable.

Neowrk 🇧🇷 raised a $2 Million Seed round led by Indicator Capital 🇧🇷 to build a workplace management platform intended for managing employee journeys in the various workspaces of corporate offices. The company's platform combines advanced hardware, software and artificial intelligence to provide real information on how any workspace is used by identifying behaviors and whether the purpose of the space is being served, bringing visibility to the organization of the dynamics of people and teams, promoting agility and intelligence in operations and aligning the environment with the people management strategy, enabling corporate managers to optimize investments and increase speed of action and data security by keeping people as the main beneficiary.

Housi 🇧🇷 raised a $10 Million Venture round led by TM3 Capital 🇧🇷 and Redpoint eventures, with funding from Acolab Ventures 🇧🇷 to build an online housing marketplace intended to provide on-demand rental housing. The company's platform manages apartments and houses available for rental digitally without the need for a broker or guarantor, enabling users to eliminate the bureaucracy involved in renting a property and managing a property by the investor, thereby facilitating house searching.

YoFio 🇲🇽 raised a $10 Million Seed round led by Oikocredit International 🇳🇱, with funding from Innogen Venture Capital 🇸🇻, G2 Momentum Capital 🇲🇽, Cauris Finance 🇺🇸, and 500 Global 🇺🇸 to build a microcredit application designed for purchases at informal corner stores. The company's application scans QR codes to show the details of the products being bought and authorizes the purchase by notifying the store and provides credit facilities to corner stores through the app and in partnership with the store gives credit lines to the store customers, enabling customers to buy today and pay in a month.

Bold 🇨🇴 raised a $50 Million Series C led by General Atlantic 🇺🇸, with funding from InQlab 🇨🇴, Amador Holdings 🇵🇦, and International Finance Corporation 🇺🇸 to build a fintech company intended to focus on small to medium-sized enterprises. The company offers a card payment system that allows small merchants to accept digital payments through credit and debit cards, national and international for both contactless and chip transactions, and shows the details, and processing costs along with sales reports through its application, enabling businesses to use an alternative payment method that helps to increase revenue.

Simetrik 🇨🇴 raised a $55 Million Series B led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management 🇺🇸, with funding from Moore Strategic Ventures 🇺🇸, Mercado Libre Fund 🇦🇷, FinTech Collective 🇺🇸, Falabella Ventures 🇨🇱, Endeavor Catalyst 🇺🇸, Cometa 🇲🇽, Actyus 🇦🇩 to build a data reconciliation platform designed to gain control and provide visibility to companies. The company's platform reconciles many sources of information regardless of their origin, type, format, or form of extraction, enabling businesses to control the economic movements of the company and receive the results without errors or fraud at a lower cost.

Vemo 🇲🇽 raised a $60 Million Debt Financing from OIC 🇺🇸 to build a cleantech company intended to accelerate the adoption of clean mobility technologies through an innovative and integrated business model. The company offers services that focus on large addressable markets with high utilization transportation methods where clean mobility can be competitive in terms of total cost of ownership since day one, with the added benefit of generating very synergistic, high utilization within its charging network, enabling the users to improve the quality of urban life, preserving the environment, and creating purposeful employment aligns with its mission of accelerating a transformational move towards a more sustainable future.

Baubap 🇲🇽 raised a $120 Million Debt Financing from SixPoint Capital Management 🇺🇸 to build a microlending financial platform intended to offer personal loans. The company's platform offers instant loans to customers through its application without the need for documents or convoluted processes, enabling users to apply for a loan anytime and anywhere without any hassle.

Sociopolitical News

🇦🇷 Argentina

David Cameron, the UK's former Prime Minister and current Foreign Secretary, made a landmark visit to the Falkland Islands, reasserting the UK's commitment to the Islanders' self-determination amid Argentine sovereignty claims. His trip, the first by a UK Foreign Secretary in 30 years, included a tour of significant locations and emphasized that the Falklands' status as a British Overseas Territory is non-negotiable, highlighting the islands' historical and emotional significance to the UK. The visit precedes his attendance at the G20 Foreign Ministers meeting in Brazil. (Al Jazeera)
Argentina's poverty rate soared to 57.4% in January, the highest in 20 years, affecting 27 million people, with 15% in destitution. The Catholic University of Argentina's study sparked political debate, highlighting the impact of recent economic policies and inflation on poverty levels. (AP)

🇧🇴 Bolivia

Torrential rains in Bolivia have led to 33 deaths since November, with landslides and floods putting hundreds of towns on alert. The situation is exacerbated by climate change, making extreme weather more frequent and severe, as officials monitor at-risk dams and provide aid to affected areas. (BBC)
Bolivia announced a package of measures to boost investment and exports to address a critical dollar shortage, affecting imports and payments. The plan includes easing export procedures, promoting grains production, facilitating diesel imports, and allowing larger trucks, aiming to attract up to $5 billion in investments. (Reuters)

🇧🇷 Brazil

Brazil accuses Israel of using President Lula's Holocaust comparison to distract from the Gaza "massacre," intensifying a diplomatic rift amid G-20 disagreements on global conflicts. (Bloomberg)
Brazil is launching a $2 billion FX hedging program to encourage foreign green investments, using derivatives from the IDB to mitigate currency risks and support sustainable development initiatives. (Reuters/Yahoo)

🇨🇱 Chile

Chile's environmental court demands Google revise its data center permit in Santiago, emphasizing the need for enhanced environmental evaluations concerning climate change impacts, especially on local water resources amidst a long-term drought. (Reuters)

🇨🇴 Colombia

Efforts to curb Darién Gap migration by arresting boat captains have stranded over 3,000 people in remote Caribbean towns, raising concerns of a potential public health crisis. The blockade disrupts a vital route for migrants heading to the U.S., highlighting the escalating challenges and dangers faced by those fleeing hardship. (The Guardian)
Colombia's main airport has become a crucial hub for African migrants aiming for the U.S., with hundreds arriving daily. Stranded for weeks or turned back, these migrants face a complex journey, including stops in multiple countries, aiming to bypass dangerous routes like the Darién Gap. (The New York Times)

🇪🇨 Ecuador

Five suspects, including a gang leader accused of orchestrating from jail, will stand trial for the assassination of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, highlighting the country's crime surge and political violence. (AP)
Ecuador's extensive crackdown on gangs, resulting in over 10,000 arrests and significant cocaine seizures, raises sustainability concerns among experts, despite initial success. The effort faces challenges like enduring cocaine demand abroad and the economic strain of security operations, potentially impacting Ecuadorians financially and altering public sentiment. (Axios)
In Ecuador's Latacunga prison, now strictly managed by 1,500 soldiers, luxury amenities for drug lords like jacuzzis and nightclubs have been removed. This crackdown, part of a broader fight against gang dominance in prisons, has led to increased discipline but also highlighted ongoing security challenges, including a recent inmate escape. (France 24)
Ecuador seeks Mexico's approval to arrest former Vice President Jorge Glas, convicted of corruption and seeking asylum, from the Mexican Embassy in Quito. (Reuters)

🇸🇻 El Salvador

El Salvador's Bitcoin investment gains exceed 40%, with President Bukele highlighting a potential $41.6 million profit and the country's bonds rising above 80 cents on the dollar, reflecting positive financial developments. (Coin Desk)

🇲🇽 Mexico

Two mayoral candidates in Maravatío, Mexico, were fatally shot hours apart, signaling a potentially violent June 2 national election amid escalating cartel control. The unprecedented violence underscores the challenges facing candidates in regions embroiled in gang turf wars. (AP)
Claudia Sheinbaum, a physicist and protégée of Mexico's current president, holds a significant lead in the presidential race but remains somewhat unknown to many voters. Despite her disciplined campaign and close alignment with the popular outgoing president's policies, questions about her personal governance style and potential differences in policy remain. (New York Times)
Mexico City faces a severe water crisis, with over 21 million residents experiencing shortages and rationing due to drought and low rainfall, leading to historic low reservoir levels. (NBC)

🇳🇮 Nicaragua

Nicaragua sues Germany at the World Court, alleging violations of international law by providing military aid to Israel and defunding UNRWA, seeking emergency measures to halt the aid. (Reuters)
U.N. experts allege Nicaragua's government commits abuses equating to crimes against humanity, targeting opposition and consolidating power under President Ortega. (AP)

🇵🇦 Panama

Ricardo Martinelli, Panama's ex-president convicted of money laundering and facing a 10-year prison sentence, has sought asylum in Nicaragua's embassy in Panama City. Despite legal challenges, he plans to continue his presidential campaign from the embassy, amidst controversies and claims of political persecution affecting his eligibility for the upcoming election. (The New York Times)

🇵🇾 Paraguay

Paraguay's central bank reduces its benchmark interest rate to 6.25%, marking the seventh cut since August, as inflation cools to 3.4% in January. (Bloomberg)

🇵🇪 Peru

Peru declares a health emergency due to an imminent dengue outbreak, with 32 deaths and 31,300 cases reported amid a heat wave and heavy rains affecting 20 regions. (Reuters)
Peru's economy contracted by 0.6% in 2023, marking its second-worst decline in 33 years due to political turmoil and extreme weather, with a slight recovery expected in 2024. (Bloomberg)

🇺🇾 Uruguay

Amid surging cocaine violence, Uruguay seeks DEA assistance as cocaine shipments to Europe increase, pushing the nation into a battle against drug smuggling gangs with high murder rates and a plea for international collaboration to counteract the crisis. (Reuters)

🇻🇪 Venezuela

ExxonMobil plans to explore for oil and gas in the disputed Essequibo region between Guyana and Venezuela, potentially escalating tensions despite Guyana's awarded exploration license. (AP)
Venezuela's policy reversal and crackdown on dissent are likely due to dwindling support for Maduro, with actions aimed at intimidating activists and barring opposition to maintain power amidst falling popularity. (Reuters)
A poll suggests a political shift towards the opposition in Venezuela could motivate migrants in the US to return home, with economic stabilization alone deemed insufficient. (Bloomberg)

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