Special Edition: One Year of LatAm Tech Weekly
#52 - Mercado Libre, Omie, NG Cash, Nasdaq rally....and much more!
Happy Sunday!
Last time I checked, one year has 52 weeks - so yes, my newsletter is now one year old! Time is really flying by - and what started as a project from my personal e-mail to 50 contacts that I knew would be interested in technology, now became a true newsletter with +1700 subscribers across the globe and a weekly opening rate of +50%. I confess I am quite surprised by this outcome based only in word of mouth and my constant posts in LinkedIn and Instagram! But, also really happy and hoping it is only the beginning.
Since there are many new readers every week, I will take the opportunity of the anniversary to tell you a bit about me and why I decided to start this project. As always, questions and feedbacks are more than welcome!!!!
Julia: Tech enthusiast, economist, runner, yellow lover and extremely curious. Originally from Rio de Janeiro, but living in São Paulo for 4 years, with family across the globe. I have been working in finance for 11 years now – out of which 5+ years directly with tech.
I decided to start this newsletter due to the simple fact that I truly believe “that knowledge shared is knowledge squared”. Why not share with interested parties everything I read during my week? Even though it is very time consuming to put this together, I learn and absorb better the information when I am writing to you. So, I guess it is a mutual benefit. My goal is to be a “one-stop shop” for people who don’t have enough time to read multiple sources, but want to know the basics in a straight forward manner of everything that has happened in LatAm Tech during the week.
Lastly, it is exciting to see how the tech environment in LatAm is maturing with time. But, no single individual or institution can drive this innovation alone, it’s all about the community and its network effect. Sharing relevant information and making the right connections are key drivers for innovation – and you can count on me to do both! LatAm Tech Weekly is simply put a reflection of my weekly contribution to the ecosystem.
Views expressed in this newsletter belongs to me, and not to any organization, affiliates, or employees.
At this point in 2022 there is no question that we are in an investment downturn in tech. Venture funding declined in Q2 with amounts down by 25% and deal counts also trending downward. Only eight unicorns emerged in July, the lowest number of new since June 2020. This slowdown is also reflected in valuations: the combined valuation for new unicorns created in July was $9.8 billion, the smallest total monthly valuation since March 2017.
As the optimist you all know I am, despite the negative data and according to Crunchbase, the most active venture investors haven’t slowed down by much. In the first half of 2022, the main VC firms invested actively in new portfolio companies on par with 2021. Looking at follow on fundings, or investments in existing portfolio companies, the figure is down compared to 2021. If we look at the data by stage, round sizes at Series A have not come down. For Series C stage investments and later, averages were down with fewer fundings above the $100 million mark.
On the public market side, over the last ~6 weeks the WCLD ETF ( for those who don’t know, this index provides exposure to cloud computing stocks which includes those involved with servers, storage, databases, networking software, analytics, and intelligence) is up ~25% and Nasdaq is up ~20%. It is still not clear if this is a bear market rally or a sustainable movement, we will need to wait and see. But, this still represents signs that things might be getting better…
Thank you for all the responses on my Lisbon Web Summit poll. For those who are curious, based on my readers, a small number of VC funds are attending, as for LatAm tech startups – the ones that are indeed going, will be represented by their CTOs or tech teams. The attendance was also shy based on my poll, as companies tend to be 100% focused on their respective operations. Curiously, I got more responses from individuals that have jobs related to tech, but not attending through their companies, but on the personal side.
I am doing a new poll this week - please respond to the email or click below :)
Follow me on LinkedIn , Instagram or Twitter for daily updates!
Conta Simples, Brazilian fintech that raised BRL 121mm on December 2021 announced the acquisition of Hackr Ads, software that helps companies manage its Facebook and Instagram ads with an algorithm that optimizes the campaigns and improves its results.
Mercado Pago will offer pre-approved credit to companies and employees associated with its corporate benefits program. The program allows the receipt of employee benefits on the same card, which is already linked to a digital account. For employees, credit cards and personal loans will now also be offered, both with pre-approved amounts ranging from BRL500- BRL8,000. For companies, the credit will range from BRL15,000 -BRL 500,000. The loan payment term will be up to 12 months for individuals and up to 24 months for legal entities.
Dr. Consulta, Brazilian Health Tech raises BRL 170mm led by Kamaroopin.
Brazilian fintech NG Cash announced its seed round of USD10 mm (yes, you read correctly) led by A16z.
Tul, Colombian e-commerce platform for building materials, initiates its operation in Brazil after closing down Equador. The app for the construction industry, valued at $800 million, has Colombia and Mexico as its main markets
Omie, Brazilian ERP, acquires credit startup ErgonCredit. It is the sixth M&A done by the Company since its BRL580mm check from Softbank in 2021. ErgonCredit will be plugged to Omie’s platform and serve as its credit motor to cater the SMBs that already use their ERP.
Y Combinator slashes startup accelerator class size by 40%.
Opportunity: Microcredit has grown 53.1% since February 2020 and, for the first time, surpassed the BRL 10 bn mark - even so, it is equivalent to only 0.2% of total credit in the system. Suprisingly, the biggest banks are not that active in the segment - the largest operator is Banco do Nordeste (BNB), with BRL 7.3 bn, followed by Santander with BRL 2.2 bn.
Geopagos, Argentine startup that develops a digital payment solutions for large companies that want to set up or scale their business - including PSP tools, payment terminals, a payment gateway, tap-to-phone technology, and more, raised USD 35mm from Riverwood and Endeavor.
Mercado Libre reported positive figures for 2Q22, with solid growth in both the commerce and fintech divisions. The main highlight was the profitability, yielding a 9.6% EBIT margin. Credit quality deterioration was a topic of discussion (NPL ratio up 3.8 pp QoQ), but the pricing policy seemed appealing (IMAL ratio up 9.2 pp QoQ). Nominal GMV at an all-time high, up 22% YoY. Ad revenues continued to contribute to the monetization of the platform, with solid KPIs (~50% YoY growth in total ad clicks). Overall, results were very strong. The Company also announced its new sortation center, increasing the positive momentum for the stock.
After 10 months, Locaweb announced a new acquisition: Sintese Soluções, omnichannel platform focused on the retail sector, for BRL 35.2mm – reinforcing its commerce business line that already represents 58% of the Company’s net revenue.
What did I learn from readers?
I recieved an interesting part of a pdf on the discount in startup shares based on the offerings of secondary shares advisory firm Setter Capital. The firm’s proposed discounts range from 35% to 85%. As an example, Revolut shares is being offered at a 50% discount. I am still looking for the complete pdf - if you have it, send it over please!
What am I reading?
Harvard Business Review: Is Corporate Venture Capital Right for Your Startup?
Tech Crunch: How fintech startups are navigating the extension-round rush
What did I listen/watch?
JOB POSTS
Customer Success – Brazil
Research Engineer – Brazil
Data Engineer – Brazil
Education Journey is hiring: Back-end developer
Here is what other top tech companies are looking for…
Head of Credit & Collection - Clubbi
Tech Content Analyst - Undisclosed firm (reply to this e-mail)
Banking Analyst: Nomad
Head of Sales - Rural
*respond to this newsletter if you want to post a job or if you have interest on the openings above*
Quote of the week:
"Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied." Robert Noyce, Intel Co-Founder
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