Hello there,
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 🌍
If you haven't subscribed yet, now's the perfect time. Don't miss the opportunity to supercharge your understanding and stay ahead in this dynamic world.
📰 Important News
- Btrust received CMF approval to operate an alternative transaction system, enabling real-time digital invoice auctions for large payers in Chile.
- Clara renewed a $150 million Goldman Sachs credit line and appointed Travis Foxhall as CFO and Jorge de Lara as President for Mexico operations.
- Pitz launched an AI-powered auto parts marketplace in Brazil to connect workshops with suppliers and improve efficiency.
- Spedy hired Caique Barbosa as Head of Marketing to drive expansion across e-commerce and SaaS markets.
- AWS partners Numen and CloudDog formed an alliance to simplify cloud migration through a unified service offering.
💸 Top Funding Rounds
- Argentinian fintech Tapi raised a $27 million Series B round led by Kaszek to strengthen its payments and collections infrastructure across LatAm.
- Brazilian AI edtech BeConfident secured a $17 million Series A funding round led by Prosus, valuing the company at $100 million.
- Colombian anti-counterfeit startup Signa attracted a $1 million seed round from investors including Fen Ventures to scale its AI platform.
- Pix Mídia secured $550,000 from DOMO.VC and Bossa Invest to fuel its national expansion and strengthen its cross-channel platform.
- Colombian fintech Quipu landed $300,000 in a bridge round led by Impacta VC to expand its AI-based alternative credit scoring model.
💰️ IPO and M&A Watch
- Evertec acquired Brazilian fintech Dimensa for about $181 million to expand its portfolio and strengthen long-term growth in the local market.
- Asaas acquired digital insurance broker Mutuus to enter the insurance market and expand financial services for over 240,000 SMEs.
- Vida Veg acquired foodtech Plant Choice to expand its plant-based protein portfolio and scale national distribution across Brazil.
- Vela LatAm acquired environmental licensing tech Onegreen to strengthen ESG legal compliance solutions within its Ius Natura unit.
- Quantum Rise merged with Brazilian data firm Dhauz to form a 100-person global AI, data, and automation company.
🏦 About Investors
- Taram Capital has structured its second $45 million venture capital fund, Taram II, to invest in 15 to 20 B2B technology and software companies.
- Hiker Ventures is preparing to launch a new $15.2 million fund in 2026, having nearly finalized investments for its initial $9.5 million fund.
- Caja Los Andes launched its new corporate venture capital arm, Leap, with a $9 million fund and made its first investment of $325,000 in Soyio.
- Soros Economic Development Fund invested $8 million in SP Ventures’ AgVentures Fund III to back climate-resilient and low-carbon agriculture across LatAm.
🚀 Startup of the Week
Introducing our Startup of the Week 🏆
Tapi
Tapi, founded in 2022 in Argentina by Tomás Mindlin, is building one of Latin America’s largest payment infrastructure networks, connecting businesses to digital and physical payment rails at scale. The company enables bill payments, collections, and recurring transactions through a unified platform serving sectors like education, insurance, and financial services. Tapi recently closed a $27 million Series B led by KASZEK, with participation from Endeavor Catalyst and Latitud, taking total funding past $60 million. Now profitable and processing 250 million+ transactions annually, Tapi has made Mexico its core market and strengthened its stack through the acquisition of Arcus assets from Mastercard. Its mission is to modernize payments, automate collections, and drive financial inclusion across Latin America.
💼 Investor of the Week
Introducing our Investor of the Week 🏆
Taram Capital
Taram Capital is a Chile-based venture capital firm focused on scaling B2B software startups across Latin America. Founded in the late 2010s and backed by Corfo, Taram invests in companies with proven product-market-fit and clear regional expansion potential. Its latest move, the launch of Taram II, a $45 million second fund, doubles down on this strategy while introducing a founder-centric investment model that brings experienced operators directly into the investment committee. Led by co-founder Felipe Camposano, the firm targets 15–20 startups, writing $1–3 million checks with follow-ons, and prioritizes capital efficiency and AI-driven vertical SaaS. Taram positions itself as a hands-on, long-term partner helping Latin American founders build resilient, scalable businesses.
🤑 Opportunities Expiring Soon
Y Combinator — Spring 2026 Batch
- 📢 Organizer: Y Combinator
- 🗂️ Category: Accelerator, Funding
- 🪜 Target Stages: Pre-seed, Seed
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Sector Agnostic
- 📅 Application Deadline: February 10, 2026
xG-Incubator
- 📢 Organizer: xG-Incubator
- 🗂️ Category: Incubator, Funding
- 🪜 Target Stages: Pre-seed, Seed
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Connectivity & Networks, DeepTech
- 📅 Application Deadline: February 9, 2026
Programa de Aceleração de Startups do Grupo Boticário (GB Ventures)
- 📢 Organizer: GB Ventures (Grupo Boticário)
- 🗂️ Category: Accelerator
- 🪜 Target Stages: Revenue-generating, Seed, Pre-Series A
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Retail & Consumer, Health & Life Sciences, Finance & Insurance
- 📅 Application Deadline: February 11, 2026
Scale Your Impact with Start it @KBC
- 📢 Organizer: KBC Group
- 🗂️ Category: Accelerator
- 🪜 Target Stages: Stage Agnostic
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Sector Agnostic
- 📅 Application Deadline: February 16, 2026
Thank you for joining us this week! We trust you found value in our latest edition. 🚀
Your feedback is invaluable to us, so please don't hesitate to share your thoughts. We're committed to continuously improving and delivering content tailored to your interests and needs 📩
Looking forward to staying connected and bringing you more exciting content next time!