Dealflow.la #71 - Protests in Cuba 🇨🇺 amid blackouts, Colombian 🇨🇴 VC funding is BOOMING, Bolsonaro 🇧🇷 indicted, & CDMX 🇲🇽 in water crisis.
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Funding
Keirón 🇨🇱 raised a $1.7 Million Seed round led by Taram Capital 🇨🇱, with funding from Nakama Ventures 🇨🇱, LarrainVial Asset Management 🇨🇱, and Consorcio 🇨🇱 to build a healthcare technology platform intended to offer healthcare services for all stages of the patient journey. The company offers services like online clinic check-in, medical product pickup and delivery and doctor appointment booking, enabling people to get the required treatment as per their needs and timing.
Visio.ai 🇧🇷 raised a $2.4 Million Seed round led by DGF Investimentos 🇧🇷, with funding from Scale-Up Ventures 🇧🇷 and Alexia Ventures 🇧🇷 to build an AI powered retail manager designed to help improve store operations, driving scalability and profitability. The company's platform uses computer vision and machine learning to create a co-pilot for retail operations, enabling business owners and managers to get assistance with their day to day operations.
Darwin AI 🇧🇷 raised a $2.5 Million Seed round led by Canary 🇧🇷, with funding from Latitud 🇧🇷, H2O Capital 🇺🇸, FJ Labs 🇺🇸, and Dalus Capital 🇲🇽 to an AI assistant intended to automate customer conversations. The company's chatbot features natural language processing, human-like interactions, continuous learning and brand customization, enabling businesses to reduce conversation volume, improve customer satisfaction and amplify their team's impact.
Niko Energy 🇲🇽 raised a $3.3 Million Seed round led by Picus Capital 🇩🇪 and 468 Capital 🇩🇪, with funding from Adapt Ventures 🇺🇸 to build solar panels intended to save electricity bill. The company helps to install the panels and provide accurate design of solar system without a site visit, enabling clients to save costs.
Grupago 🇲🇽 raised a $4.3 Million Seed round led by Deciens Capital 🇺🇸, with funding from Twine Ventures 🇺🇸, Precursor Ventures 🇺🇸, Clocktower Technology Ventures 🇺🇸, Zac Bookman, Paul Sawaya, Oso Trava, and Jose Shabot Cherem to build a payment orchestration platform intended to increase merchants' payment acceptance rates and reduce their processing costs. The company's platform offers artificial intelligence to automatically retry transactions through multiple payment providers, and ensure that always get paid, enabling merchants to accept payments from a wider range of customers at a lower cost.
Sostengo 🇸🇻 raised a $4.8 Million Seed round led by PeopleFund 🇺🇸 to build a financial platform designed to digitalize traditional insurance services and accelerate sustainable growth and resilience. The company's application offers vehicle insurance which offers damage coverage, road assistance, legal service, theft coverage, international protection, and assured mobility in the case of a breakdown, enabling customers to have modern car insurance that is customizable according to the plans they choose and adapts to their needs.
Nextron Energia 🇧🇷 raised a $5.2 Million Series A led by Vox Capital 🇧🇷, with funding from Valor Capital Group 🇺🇸, Scale-Up Ventures 🇧🇷, and Barn Investments 🇧🇷 to build a a clean-tech platform designed to simplify access to renewable energy. The company connects residential electricity consumption to renewable energy plants to facilitate access to clean energy through smart technology, creating simple and safe value-added products, enabling customers and clients to use clean and renewable energy and reduce electricity bills.
Pular 🇲🇽 raised an $8 Million Series A led by Cometa 🇲🇽, with funding from Seaya Cathay Latam 🇲🇽, Kayyak Ventures 🇨🇱, AC Ventures 🇲🇽 to build their Internet of Things-based sensor technology designed to improve the operational efficiency of the factory. The company's technology collects data through sensors connected to the cloud allows users to visualize the performance of the entire factory in real-time and historically, by grouping the machines in a global indicator using machine learning, enabling factory owners and manufacturers to analyze historical performance, monitor machine uptime in real-time and receive customized alerts to detect and solve problems immediately.
Housi 🇧🇷 raised a $10 Million Venture round led by TM3 Capital 🇧🇷 and Redpoint eventures 🇧🇷, with funding from Acolab Ventures 🇧🇷 to build their 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.
Skyone 🇧🇷 raised a $12 Million Series B led by Bewater 🇧🇷 to continue building their cloud computing platform designed to facilitate the use and migration of ERP solutions for the cloud. The company's platform offers tools with security, flexibility, and high performance to benefit companies that embrace the new environment as well as simplify the migration of complex systems, enabling IT companies to overcome the obstacles encountered in the transition process to the cloud and save their cost.
Yuno 🇨🇴 raised a $25 Million Series A round led by DST Global 🇬🇧, with funding from Tiger Global Management 🇺🇸, Monashees 🇧🇷, Kaszek 🇧🇷, Andreessen Horowitz 🇺🇸 to build payment infrastructure technology designed to integrate the business into the payment and fraud ecosystem. The company's technology offers checkout, routing, and reconciliations, increases revenues by routing transactions to the best processor and retrying declined transactions, and provides the UI to handle all the payment methods while also allowing transaction orchestration and reconciliation, enabling enterprises to manage all payment methods and fraud providers through a single integration.
Addi 🇨🇴 raised $50 Million in Debt Financing from Goldman Sachs 🇺🇸 and $36 Million in Equity from Union Square Ventures 🇺🇸, Quona Capital 🇺🇸, Monashees 🇧🇷, Greycroft 🇺🇸, GIC 🇸🇬, Citius 🇱🇺, Andreessen Horowitz 🇺🇸 to build their point-of-sale lending and consumer finance application designed to promote digital commerce with a buy now pay later facility. The company's application lets the users apply for credit at the moment of purchase in the stores of their allied business partners with interest-free installment payments, enabling borrowers to get fast and affordable loans for their shopping needs.
Sociopolitical News
🇦🇷 Argentina
Javier Milei, Argentina's President, has faced significant challenges implementing his drastic economic reforms, including austerity measures, in his first 100 days. Despite some early successes, he struggles against opposition in Congress amidst rising social tensions and fears that his policies could exacerbate unemployment and economic instability. (Al Jazeera)
In President Javier Milei's first 100 days, Argentina has seen poverty rise sharply amid slowing inflation, creating a mix of hope and concern. With significant societal tensions, the nation stands at a pivotal point, facing challenges in implementing needed reforms due to legislative opposition and questioning the sustainability of Milei's austerity measures. (DW)
In Buenos Aires, police engaged with demonstrators protesting President Javier Milei's austerity policies, marking contentious responses to his economic strategy 100 days into his term. The protests reflect divisions on the impact of Milei's measures aimed at addressing Argentina's financial challenges. (DW)
🇧🇴 Bolivia
Bolivia executed its second-largest drug bust, seizing 7.2 tons of cocaine worth $450 million hidden in trucks transporting scrap iron to Europe, underscoring a major hit to drug trafficking operations. (Reuters)
🇧🇷 Brazil
Former President Jair Bolsonaro, under investigation for allegedly plotting a coup to unseat successor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, chose silence during a police meeting in Brazil, amid scrutiny over a never-issued decree that could have challenged the election results. (AP)
Jair Bolsonaro, former President of Brazil, has been barred from running for office until 2030 by a judicial panel for abusing power and casting doubts on the electronic voting system, affecting his political future significantly. (AP)
Supporters of Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro gathered in Sao Paulo to protest against investigations threatening his freedom, showcasing a significant rally in his defense amid accusations and legal challenges. (AP)
Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro has been indicted for allegedly falsifying COVID-19 vaccination data, involving himself and his daughter, in a case that also implicates one of his aides and 15 others. (CNN)
🇨🇱 Chile
Chile faces a severe drought that has lasted 15 years, depleting reservoirs like the Cogoti in Coquimbo, threatening drinking water access, and affecting agriculture and mining, with warnings of a national water crisis by 2040. (Reuters)
Chile's peso remains volatile as inconsistent interest rate cuts by the central bank contrast with global FX market calm, making it the worst-performing major currency this year amid policy uncertainty. (Bloomberg)
Thales will open the world's first fully solar-powered air traffic control station in Chile's Atacama desert, showcasing renewable energy use in aviation and potential for similar projects globally. (Reuters)
🇨🇴 Colombia
Colombia's largest criminal group, the Gulf Clan, has agreed to President Gustavo Petro's offer for peace negotiations, although the process for these talks remains undefined amidst challenges posed by the group's activities. (FOX)
Colombian police confiscated over 7 million gallons of crude oil from illegal refineries in Norte de Santander, targeting the illicit fuel production linked to cocaine manufacturing and illegal mining activities. (Reuters)
Colombian fintech Addi raised $86 million from investors like Goldman Sachs and Singapore’s Sovereign Wealth Fund, adjusting its valuation to half its prior $700m amidst expansion plans. (Bloomberg)
President Gustavo Petro's unpredictable policies have led to a sharp decline in investment in Colombia, affecting economic growth and investor confidence across various sectors, with significant repercussions for the nation's development and fiscal stability. (Reuters)
🇨🇺 Cuba
Hundreds of Cubans protest in Santiago de Cuba and nearby towns over severe food and electricity shortages, marking the biggest anti-government demonstrations since 2021 amid the country's worst economic crisis in decades. (NPR)
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel criticizes the U.S. for "interventionist" policies and blames the 65-year embargo for recent protests over shortages, asserting Cuba's sovereignty and the revolution's resilience amidst economic hardship. (NBC)
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
As Haiti descends into chaos, the Dominican Republic faces increased migrant arrivals and tension, despite briefly opening the border for Haitians to access essentials amid escalating violence and humanitarian concerns. (NBC)
🇪🇨 Ecuador
Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa has extended the state of emergency for 30 more days to combat rising violence from drug trafficking gangs, maintaining military patrols and aiming to reduce homicides. (NBC)
🇸🇻 El Salvador
El Salvador's legislature has approved the 24th extension of the state of emergency for another 30 days, continuing President Nayib Bukele's efforts to combat organized crime and improve national security despite criticisms of human rights violations. (Jurist)
🇬🇹 Guatemala
The US supports Guatemala's new President Bernardo Arévalo in promoting economic growth, with a focus on governance, anti-corruption, agriculture, renewable energy, and leveraging remittances, highlighting a strengthened bilateral relationship. (El Pais)
🇭🇳 Honduras
Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez was convicted in New York for aiding drug traffickers and conspiring to import cocaine into the U.S., facing a minimum of 40 years to life in prison. (AP)
🇲🇽 Mexico
Mexico City, with nearly 22 million residents, faces critical water shortages, edging towards a "day zero" scenario due to prolonged drought, poor water management, and high temperatures, impacting daily life and economic activities. (CBS)
As Mexico gears up for its largest elections, organized crime's attacks on local candidates across cartel-dominated areas raise fears of potentially the most violent electoral season ever, impacting the political landscape and candidate safety. (AP)
Protesters demanding justice for the missing 43 student teachers from Ayotzinapa used a truck to ram down a door of Mexico's presidential palace during a demonstration, highlighting ongoing tensions and the government's response to the 2014 disappearance. (Al Jazeera)
Mexico rejects Texas' Senate Bill 4, allowing the state to arrest unauthorized migrants, stating it will not accept deportations under the law, emphasizing immigration as a federal matter and voicing concerns over human rights violations and family separations. (New York Times)
The 2024 Mexican elections focus on migration, drug trafficking, economic policies, a potential shift towards a new Latin populism, and the durability of Mexican democracy amid concerns over centralizing power and the influence of organized crime. (AP)
🇳🇮 Nicaragua
The U.S. sanctions Nicaragua's Attorney General Wendy Carolina Morales Urbina for her role in suppressing dissent and unjustly persecuting political prisoners, as part of the Ortega government's broader crackdown on opposition. (Al Jazeera)
🇵🇦 Panama
Despite a decrease in ship traffic caused by water shortages, the Panama Canal's revenue increased 15% to $5 billion. This financial resilience resulted from significant toll hikes and lucrative auction fees for limited crossing slots, highlighting the canal's strategic adaptation to environmental challenges and its crucial role in global trade. (New York Times)
🇵🇾 Paraguay
Paraguay's central bank cuts key interest rate by 25 basis points to 6%, marking the eighth reduction since August, as inflation slows to 2.9%, signaling potential for further easing. (Bloomberg)
🇵🇷 Puerto Rico
Vice President Kamala Harris visits Puerto Rico, marking her first trip to the island, as Democrats initiate early outreach to Latino voters ahead of the 2024 election, amidst declining Hispanic support for President Biden. (CBS)
🇻🇪 Venezuela
Mexico signs an agreement with Venezuela to deport migrants and arranges employment for them with companies in both countries amidst rising concerns over migration to the U.S. (Reuters)
Venezuela arrests opposition candidate María Corina Machado's campaign staff, accusing them of a violent anti-government plot. The U.S. condemns the move as inconsistent with democratic commitments. (AP)
India's Jindal Steel takes over Venezuela’s largest iron-ore mill, plans to invest $800,000 in upgrades, and aims for a monthly output of 600,000 metric tons by 2024. (Bloomberg)
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