LatAm Tech Weekly
236: Mother's Day, Itau Week in New York, deals of the week... and much more!
Weekly writing about what is happening in LatAm tech. By day, I am part of the corporate development team at Itau Unibanco. By night, I am reading and learning about technology in general (now, with a focus on AI). During the weekends, I’m writing the LatAm Tech Weekly. And obviously, always running!
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Happy Mother’s Day Sunday!
This one hit differently. For the first time, I received an official Mother’s Day gift from my stepdaughter. I’m not sure how to explain what that moment felt like… A reminder that family is built as much as it is born. And if you know me well, you know this isn’t just something I believe — it’s something I live in my own life since a very young age.
This day carries a lot for me. Five years ago, I lost my mother, and for a while, Mother’s Day was simply hard. But grief is a strange and patient teacher — over time, it softens without disappearing. Now when I think of her, and I think of her all day on a day like today, it’s with warmth and gratitude rather than sadness. She and I were very different people in many ways, but she gave me something no one else could: a foundation. The values and convictions I stand on, the way I try to show up in a room, the small things — how to treat people, how to carry yourself with integrity, how to be present. Those were hers first, and now they’re mine to pass on.
If you are a reader and a mother - in any sense of the word - happy mother’s day!
On a completely different note — I’m keeping the intro section short this week because I’m already in New York for Itaú Week!
Starting Monday, Itaú BBA will host a series of high-profile events across finance, technology, and sports — and I’m proud to be part of the organizing team. We open with the Itaú BBA Next 100 Years event (the lineup is exceptional — see below), followed by our flagship CEO Conference, our Tech Summit, and — new to the agenda this year — a Sports Summit.
It’s going to be a big week!!!! I’ll have a full recap for you next Sunday.
In the meantime, don’t skip the news section. Since I kept the intro lean, I put extra care into making the coverage as thorough as possible this week. Plenty to dig into.
General news:
• TIM Brasil and PicPay announced a partnership to integrate telecom and financial services across a combined base of more than 120M users. The agreement enables cross-distribution of products and leverages shared data to improve engagement, retention and credit offerings. 🇧🇷
Deals:
• Bionexo completed the €161M acquisition of Tasy from Philips, creating a broader healthcare technology platform operating across seven Latin American countries. The combined company serves over 11,000 clients and processes around R$45B annually, strengthening consolidation in regional healthtech infrastructure and expanding AI capabilities. 🇧🇷
• Benup raised a $3.5M seed round led by Pátria Investimentos to expand its enterprise SaaS platform for corporate benefits management. The company already connects around 1M employees and plans to scale its marketplace for insurance, credit and financial products. 🇧🇷
General news:
• Itaú Unibanco reported recurring net income of R$12.3B in Q1 2026, up 10.4% YoY, with ROE reaching 24.8%, its highest level since 2015. Analysts highlighted disciplined risk management and strong credit quality despite a more uncertain macro environment. 🇧🇷
• Andreessen Horowitz launched Crypto Fund 5 with $2.2B focused on blockchain and crypto startups. The fund will target stablecoins, tokenized assets and onchain financial infrastructure as institutional adoption accelerates. 🇺🇸
• OM30 is expanding its AI strategy in the public sector with the launch of Mentor Público, a platform for municipal management and public administration analytics. The govtech is embedding AI across healthcare, document management and operational workflows to modernize municipalities. 🇧🇷
• RappiPay launched a digital lending product for merchants in Colombia, using transactional and sales data to provide pre-approved loans with instant disbursement. The move expands the company beyond payments into SME credit infrastructure. 🇨🇴
Deals:
• Enter became Latin America’s first AI unicorn after raising a R$500M Series B led by Founders Fund at a $1.2B valuation. The legaltech automates corporate litigation workflows with generative AI and already processes more than 300,000 cases annually. 🇧🇷
• TOHKN raised over $8.5M through tokenized real estate offerings, enabling retail investors to access fractional ownership in a residential project in El Salvador. The startup is leveraging blockchain infrastructure to democratize alternative investments across Latin America. 🇸🇻
• UY3 is raising R$3B through FIDC structures to finance Brazil’s expanding private payroll loan market. The fintech aims to scale monthly originations from R$300M to R$1B by the end of 2026. 🇧🇷
General news:
• Visa launched Visa Commercial Pay in Brazil to expand into corporate payments and cash-flow management. The platform integrates virtual credentials, tokenized workflows and digital wallets while reinforcing Visa’s strategy around embedded finance, stablecoins and AI agents. 🇧🇷
• Littio surpassed $1B in processed volume and reached 375,000 users by positioning stablecoins as infrastructure for cross-border financial access in Latin America. Built on USDC, the platform enables users to hold multiple currencies and access yield products while betting on stablecoins as a foundation for AI-driven commerce. 🌎
• São Paulo began studies for a R$3B AI-focused supercomputer through a public-private partnership model. The infrastructure is expected to support sectors such as agribusiness, finance and energy while enabling applications in climate forecasting, drug discovery and industrial simulations. 🇧🇷
• Fiserv inaugurated its first manufacturing facility outside Asia in Brazil as part of a $100M expansion plan focused on Clover payment terminals. The company aims to strengthen its position in Brazil’s digital payments market and scale Pix QR Code transactions. 🇧🇷
• Condor Instruments had its ActLumus device selected for NASA’s Artemis II mission, marking a milestone for the Brazilian startup in circadian and sleep-monitoring technology. The company already generates nearly 90% of revenue abroad through clients including Harvard, NIH and FedEx. 🇧🇷
• Totvs reported Q1 2026 adjusted net income of R$252M, up 17% YoY, with revenue reaching R$1.6B. Growth was driven by expansion across software and business solutions operations. 🇧🇷
• Nvidia shares are under pressure despite continued AI growth as investors monitor rising competition from hyperscalers and rival chipmakers developing proprietary AI hardware. The market is increasingly questioning the sustainability of Nvidia’s long-term pricing power and dominance. 🇺🇸
Deals:
• Udora raised $10M to accelerate global expansion, with Brazil emerging as one of its key growth markets. The marketplace connects consumers with local merchants across 50+ countries and uses AI-driven recommendations to scale demand generation. 🌎
• KPTL exited its stake in Lamiecco for R$42M, generating a 360% return through its climate-focused FIMA fund. The transaction highlights growing investor appetite for industrial climate-tech companies with scalable manufacturing models. 🇧🇷
• DeepSeek is seeking a new funding round at a potential $50B valuation as China strengthens efforts to build domestic AI champions. Government-backed investors are evaluating participation to accelerate technological self-sufficiency. 🇨🇳
General news:
• Itaú Asset Management opened registrations for Desafio Quant AI 2026, a competition focused on applying AI to quantitative investing strategies. The initiative aims to broaden access to the investment industry by engaging undergraduate students in the development of trading bots and AI-driven financial models. 🇧🇷
• Creditas reported record Q1 2026 loan originations of R$1.1B, up 29.2% YoY, while gross margin reached 40% for the first time. The fintech is leveraging AI agents across collections and operations as it moves toward operational breakeven. 🇧🇷
• AMD partnered with OpenAI, Broadcom, Intel and Microsoft to develop the MRC protocol for large-scale AI clusters. The initiative focuses on improving communication efficiency, congestion management and fault tolerance across hyperscale AI infrastructure. 🇺🇸
• Bitcoin retreated to around $80.4K after a recent rally as investors took profits following strong gains in crypto markets. Despite the pullback, analysts remain constructive on risk assets supported by AI-driven market optimism and softer macro conditions. 🌎
Deals:
• Beepay raised a R$2M seed round led by Comunitá to scale its autonomous checkout platform for physical retail. The startup combines payments, product scanning and customer identification into a frictionless in-store experience powered by AI and real-time data. 🇧🇷
• Forlex signed a $32M agreement with AWS to expand its AI infrastructure and secure NVIDIA B200 GPUs for large-scale legal AI workloads. The partnership reinforces Forlex’s strategy around vertical AI models and international expansion. 🇧🇷
• Addi partnered with Credibanco to expand BNPL and digital payments across more than 221,000 POS terminals in Colombia. The integration significantly increases Addi’s acceptance network while broadening access to embedded credit solutions. 🇨🇴
General news:
• Mother Ventures raised a $10M fund focused exclusively on mothers as consumers, targeting sectors such as family health, commerce and consumer products. The thesis reflects a broader VC trend toward specialized funds focused on economically significant but historically overlooked demographics. 🇺🇸
• 99Food was ordered by a São Paulo court to halt advertising campaigns against iFood after the court ruled that the ads used misleading comparisons and unfair references to the rival platform. The decision reinforces increasing judicial scrutiny over aggressive competitive tactics in Brazil’s digital commerce market. 🇧🇷
• SoftBank and Nvidia are discussing a partnership to manufacture AI servers in Japan, potentially establishing production in Osaka by the end of the decade. The initiative reflects rising demand for regional AI infrastructure and localized supply chains. 🇯🇵
• Fintoc received authorization from Chile’s CMF to operate as a non-bank payment card issuer with stored funds. The approval strengthens its strategy to become a payment operating system for companies across Latin America. 🇨🇱
Deals:
• Serasa Experian acquired idwall for around R$450M to strengthen its authentication and antifraud capabilities. The transaction reinforces consolidation in Brazil’s regtech and digital identity infrastructure market. 🇧🇷
• Brinta was acquired by Vertex just three years after its founding, marking one of the fastest fintech exits in Latin America. The startup built tax infrastructure solutions focused on the region’s complex compliance environment. 🌎
• Anthropic is evaluating a new funding round of up to $50B that could value the company near $1T. The momentum reflects strong enterprise demand for Claude and growing investor competition ahead of a potential IPO. 🇺🇸
• Anthropic reportedly committed to spending more than $200B over five years on Google Cloud infrastructure and custom AI chips, in what could become one of the largest cloud-computing agreements in history. The deal alone may represent more than 40% of Google Cloud’s revenue backlog and highlights how frontier AI labs are now effectively becoming “infrastructure-scale” companies.
• At the same time, both OpenAI and Anthropic were reported to be partnering with private equity firms to acquire AI services and implementation companies. The move signals a major strategic shift: frontier labs are realizing that enterprise adoption requires not just models, but armies of consultants, engineers, and deployment specialists to integrate AI into real-world corporate workflows.
• On the product side, OpenAI continued its rapid release cadence following GPT-5.4 with broader GPT-5.5 rollout initiatives, reinforcing the sense that the competitive cycle between OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and others is accelerating dramatically.
ITAU WEEK IN NEW YORK! Invite only! (May 11-May 14)
RIO2C 2026
Date: May 26–June 1, 2026
Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Description: A creativity-driven event connecting technology, media, audiovisual, music, sustainability, and entrepreneurship.
More infoSouth Summit Madrid 2026
Date: June 3–5, 2026
Location: Madrid, Spain
Description: A global innovation conference connecting startups seeking scale with investors and corporations looking for new opportunities.
More infoWeb Summit Rio 2026
Date: June 8–11, 2026
Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Description: Part of the Web Summit global series, the event connects startups, investors, and tech leaders across Latin America.
More infoFebraban Tech 2026
Date: June 24–26, 2026
Location: São Paulo, Brazil
Description: One of the main financial technology and innovation events for the banking and financial services sector in Latin America.
More info
“Motherhood has a very humanizing effect. Everything gets reduced to essentials.” — Meryl Streep