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Welcome to another edition of 🔍 Startup Researcher - Latin America, your essential digest delivering the latest news and premium insights on startups and venture capital across the region 🌏️
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📰 Important News
- Mambu expanded its Payments Hub to Mexico, enabling banks and fintechs to manage core banking and payment flows.
- The IFC launched a regional initiative with BlackForest Solutions and ABIPLAST to identify and accelerate investment in plastic circularity.
- Prudential do Brasil and fintech RecargaPay partnered to offer digital insurance products, starting with loan protection.
- O Iniciador, a Brazilian Open Finance leader, appointed Ranieri Mazili as Head of Regulatory Relations and Open Finance Innovation.
- Influencer and entrepreneur Toguro took on the role of Vice President of Communications at Rappi Brazil.
💸 Top Funding Rounds
- Ualá secured a $195 million investment led by Allianz X, reaching a $3.2 billion valuation and accelerating its expansion.
- ARQ, formerly DolarApp, raised $70 million from Sequoia Capital and Founders Fund to expand its financial services platform.
- Eden attracted $22 million to strategically expand its AI-powered, cloud-native radiology platform in Brazil.
- Zapia landed $7 million from Prosus Ventures to enhance its proprietary app and launch Zapia Max.
- Propi, a Salvadoran proptech, raised $4.2 million to expand its real estate digitization platform across Latin America.
💰️ IPO and M&A Watch
- Pagsmile acquired a 49% stake in Brazilian credit fintech A55, pending Central Bank approval to obtain full control, to expand its financial services and credit products across Latin America.
- Banco Serfinanza acquired a 30% stake in fintech Tpaga in a strategic alliance to accelerate its digital transformation.
- Brazilian B2B sales platform Nuvia acquired DataSaga.ai to expand its AI agent capabilities and launch a new line of strategic execution services.
- Colombian AI-powered logistics company Carryt acquired Chilean e-commerce logistics platform Paket to accelerate its expansion in Chile.
🏦 About Investors
- ALIVE Ventures closed its second impact fund, ALEG II, at $55 million, becoming the largest impact venture capital manager in the Andean region.
- Volpe Capital secured a $50 million first close for its second fund, anchored by BTG Pactual, to invest in early-growth startups across Brazil and Latin America with a core focus on artificial intelligence.
🚀 Startup of the Week
Introducing our Startup of the Week 🏆
Ualá
Founded in 2017 in Buenos Aires by Pierpaolo Barbieri, Ualá has rapidly emerged as one of Latin America’s leading digital financial platforms, offering mobile banking, payments, lending, investments, and insurance through a single app. The company secured $195 million in funding led by Allianz X, bringing its valuation to $3.2 billion and strengthening its partnership with Allianz Group. With more than 11 million users and accelerating growth in Mexico following the acquisition of its banking license, Ualá is expanding its integrated financial ecosystem, including embedded insurance, while pursuing its mission to democratize access to modern financial services across Latin America.
💼 Investor of the Week
Introducing our Investor of the Week 🏆
Volpe Capital
Founded in 2018 in Brazil, Volpe Capital is a venture capital investor focused on early-growth technology startups across Latin America, typically backing companies at Series A and Series B stages. The firm recently completed the first closing of its second fund with $50 million in commitments, targeting a $100 million hard cap, with anchor backing from BTG Pactual and support from Desenvolve SP. Led by partners André Maciel, Gregory Reider, and Gabriel Marcassa, Volpe has built a reputation for disciplined investing, with portfolio companies including Caju and VTEX. With its new fund emphasizing AI-driven startups and regional expansion, Volpe aims to back the next generation of Latin American tech leaders.
🤑 Opportunities Expiring Soon
UNICEF Innovation Fund 2026 for Blockchain Solutions
- 📢 Organizer: UNICEF Venture Fund
- 🗂️ Category: Funding
- 🪜 Target Stages: Pre-seed, Seed
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Web3 & Blockchain, Social & Governance, Finance & Insurance
- 📅 Application Deadline: March 10, 2026
IDRIS Open Hackathon 2026
- 📢 Organizer: NVIDIA
- 🗂️ Category: Hackathon, Event
- 🪜 Target Stages: Ideation
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: AI & Data, DeepTech
- 📅 Application Deadline: March 10, 2026
FoundersBoost 2026 SoCal B2B Accelerator
- 📢 Organizer: FoundersBoost
- 🗂️ Category: Accelerator, Training & Learning
- 🪜 Target Stages: Pre-seed, Seed
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Sector Agnostic
- 📅 Application Deadline: March 11, 2026
WMF Startup Competition 2026
- 📢 Organizer: We Make Future (WMF)
- 🗂️ Category: Award/Prize, Funding, Competition/Challenge
- 🪜 Target Stages: Pre-seed, Seed
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Sector Agnostic
- 📅 Application Deadline: March 12, 2026
Climate Solutions Accelerator
- 📢 Organizer: EnergyLab
- 🗂️ Category: Accelerator, Funding, Training & Learning
- 🪜 Target Stages: Stage Agnostic
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Energy & Environment
- 📅 Application Deadline: March 15, 2026
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