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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
- Asaas secured Banco Central approval as a full SCFI institution, expanding SME funding, credit structuring, and regulated financial services in Brazil.
- Stone named CFO Mateus Scherer as CEO from March 2026 as Pedro Zinner stepped down to become board chairman, ensuring continuity and execution.
- Prometeo joined FDATA, strengthening its role in open finance policy and secure data access across the Americas.
- Clara appointed former American Express executive Jorge de Lara as Mexico President to accelerate growth following more than $150 million raised.
- Loggi named Viviane Sales as CEO, succeeding Thibaud Lecuyer, to expand SME focus and innovate logistics for Brazil’s e-commerce market.
💸 Top Funding Rounds
- Frete.com raised $28 million in a fund structured by XP to scale its credit program and increase working capital access for transport companies.
- Chilean fintech Xepelin secured a $20 million bridge round led by Nazca Ventures to expand in Mexico and pursue a Sofipo license.
- Horizon obtained $3.5 million to scale its AI platform, cutting complex enterprise processes from months to minutes and expanding in the United States.
- Enerlink landed $3.1 million from investors to accelerate its international expansion and develop new charging technologies in Latin America.
- Chilean startup eGenya secured a $600,000 investment from Invexor Venture Partners to accelerate the expansion of its platform.
💰️ IPO and M&A Watch
- Brazilian fintech PicPay filed for a Nasdaq IPO (PICS) signaling a reopening of the U.S. market for LatAm fintechs, with Bicycle Capital as anchor, showing strong financials and user growth.
- LG lugar de gente acquired Moavi, a specialist in AI-powered workforce management, in a strategic move to consolidate its one-stop-shop HR platform and enhance intelligent schedule management.
🏦 About Investors
- André Amorim's Rural Ventures is raising around $10 million for agtech investments, uniquely engaging investors as technical validators to boost market relevance and accelerate portfolio growth.
- Following Upload Ventures’ split, Carlos Simonsen is launching Upstream, a new firm focused on growth-stage companies with a hybrid model that combines equity and credit instruments.
🚀 Startup of the Week
Introducing our Startup of the Week 🏆
Frete.com
Frete.com was founded in 2012 in São Paulo and has grown into Latin America’s largest digital freight marketplace, connecting shippers, transport companies, and independent truck drivers through data-driven logistics and financial services. The platform combines freight matching, payments, credit, and market intelligence, processing tens of billions of reais in transactions annually. Backed by major financial partners, Frete.com recently secured $28 million via a receivables fund structured by XP to scale its credit arm, expanding working capital access for transport companies and drivers. Led by founder and CEO Federico Vega, the company’s mission is to digitize road freight, unlock financing, and make logistics across Brazil more efficient, resilient, and inclusive.
💼 Investor of the Week
Introducing our Investor of the Week 🏆
Rural Ventures
Rural Ventures was founded in 2021 in Brazil by André Amorim, a former XP executive, as a specialist investor backing agtech startups with a hands-on, field-tested approach. Structured as a venture capital fund, the firm is finalizing a ≈$10 million fund after two years of investing its own capital, focusing exclusively on technologies validated directly with farmers and agribusiness operators. Led by Amorim alongside a network of agro leaders such as Fábio Barbosa, Daniel Randon, and André Perrone, Rural Ventures differentiates through deep sector access and technical validation rather than pitch-driven investing. Its mission is to bridge real agriculture and technology, accelerating scalable innovation across Brazil’s agri ecosystem.
🤑 Opportunities Expiring Soon
Scale Your High-Tech Vision with ExciteLab
- 📢 Organizer: ExciteLab
- 🗂️ Category: Award/Prize, Funding, Accelerator
- 🪜 Target Stages: Pre-seed, Seed
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: DeepTech
- 📅 Application Deadline: January 13, 2026
RIOT Startup Accelerator
- 📢 Organizer: RIOT
- 🗂️ Category: Accelerator
- 🪜 Target Stages: Stage Agnostic
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Sector Agnostic
- 📅 Application Deadline: January 16, 2026
LACI Startup Programs
- 📢 Organizer: Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI)
- 🗂️ Category: Incubator, Funding
- 🪜 Target Stages: Pre-seed, Seed
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Energy & Environment
- 📅 Application Deadline: January 16, 2026
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