June 28
Former CEO of retail giant Americanas was arrested in Madrid.
Miguel Gutierrez is part of an investigation into a $4.5 billion alleged accounting fraud.
June 27
Giftback and advertising services CRMBonus raised an additional R$55 million in its Series B round bringing its valuation to R$2.2 billion.
Vivo Ventures and Industry Ventures participated in the investment, dividing the contribution equally. Vivo, which was already a client of the startup, plans to expand its partnership, exploring products such as Vale Bônus and CRM Ads. CRMBonus’ objective is to double its revenue to R$240 million this year.
June 26
Digital banking platform Nubank has acquired data intelligence startup Hyperplane, founded by Brazilian entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. The acquisition aims to enhance Nubank’s AI capabilities, allowing it to offer hyper-personalized financial services to its 100 million customers across Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia. The specific acquisition amount remains undisclosed .
June 24
Fintech Transfero invested in Notus Labs, a startup focused on developing on-chain solutions that bridge the gap between traditional financial systems (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi). The investment is part of a pre-seed round of R$1,250,000 and aims to boost Notus’s development of products that encourage blockchain and DeFi adoption in both B2B and B2C markets.
June 18
Celcoin, a leader in the BaaS (banking as a service) technology infrastructure, announced a US$125 million investment led by global growth equity investor Summit Partners. Existing investor Innova Capital is also participating in the round. The new funding will support Celcoin’s expansion plans as the company works to continue delivering innovative products to strengthen its leadership position in the BaaS and embedded finance market.
June 18
Credit granted by Brazilian fintech companies increased by 52%.
The research was conducted by PwC and the Brazilian Digital Credit Association (ABCD) shows that, despite a volatile macroeconomic environment, these companies expanded and reached 53.6 million customers.
June 16
Franco-Brazilian startup Morfo, a reforestation company using artificial intelligence and drones, concluded its R$64 million seed round with a R$23 million extension.
The new investment was led by the Teampact Ventures fund, with participation from RAISE Seed for Good, Demeter and AFI Ventures.
The capital will be invested in strengthening the company’s R&D area, with the construction of a new laboratory in Rio de Janeiro.
June 18
Nomad acquired Melhor Câmbio, Brazil’s main tourism exchange marketplace with around 1 million unique users and more than 4 million pageviews per month. Notably, this acquisition marks Nomad’s second strategic purchase, following its acquisition of Husky in 2022.
June 17
“Brazil joins race to loosen China’s grip on rare earths industry”.
Rare earth metals are used in a variety of products, from personal devices, to wind turbines, missiles and more.
June 12
VC firm KPTL launched its first international venture capital fund to invest in startups focused on bioeconomy in the Amazon region, spanning seven countries: Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Guyana, and Suriname. The fund starts with an initial investment of $11 million, anchored by the BID Lab and supported by the Green Climate Fund and the Natural Capital Lab. Its goal is to raise up to $30 million within the next 18 months, enabling investments in early-stage companies that address bioeconomic challenges in the region. KPTL and Denis Benchimol Minev, from the family that controls the Bemol retail chain, also invested in the fund.
June 11
“Brazil’s government hires OpenAI to cut costs on court battles”.
The goal is to expedite analysis of lawsuits using AI and try to “avoid costly court losses that have weighed on the federal budget”.
June 9
São Paulo-based Tech4Humans launched AI as a Service platform in the U.S.
The company invested R$50 million in the platform to offer API-based features for creating generative AI solutions, including document classification and data extraction. The platform integrates techniques like Large Language Models (LLMs), Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), Fine Tuning, and continuous model evaluation through the Watchtower system. Tech4Humans plans to expand its team and enhance operational efficiency for businesses by leveraging AI.
June 6
Fintech Kanastra, which provides back-office tech for asset-backed securities, raised U$21 million in a Series A round aiming to transform Brazil’s debt market.
Kanastra previously secured $13 million in a seed round led by Valor Capital, Quona Capital, and QED Investors.
June 5
Online lender bank Inter & Co is expanding in Florida.
It’s just launched a lounge for clients in Orlando, “the most Brazilian city outside Brazil”, according to CEO Joao Vitor Menin.
The SoftBank-backed company plans to first target Brazilians traveling to or living in the U.S., then expanding to other American clients who want to hold a U.S. dollar account.
Earlier this year, Inter bought the naming rights to Orlando’s soccer stadium.
News gathering by Thais Chertman
