July 30 Brazil’s government unveiled on Tuesday a 23 billion reais ($4.07 billion) proposal for an artificial intelligence (AI) investment plan aimed at developing sustainable and socially-oriented technologies. It will be disbursed from 2024 to 2028. The proposed investment plan foresees resources for “immediate impact initiatives” in sectors such as public health, agriculture, environment, business and…
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Brazilian Founders – leveraging AI in startups When: Aug 14th, 5:30pm-8:30pm Location: Coursera headquarters, Mountain View Format: happy hour followed by conversation with tech founders & jam session with American & Brazilian musicians AI-driven startups are reviving venture capital funding in the U.S. Quarterly data from PitchBook shows that VCs invested $55.6 billion in startups, a 47%…
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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…
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The devastating floods in southern Brazil have impacted 2.3 million people. Rains that started in late April swelled rivers and lakes causing the greatest devastation in Rio Grande do Sul in recent years. 169 people have died and 600.000 have been displaced. Floodwaters have receded but the situation remains challenging as last week’s rainfall caused…
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May 23 Tokenization pioneer Dynasty Global to become BrickMark Group’s payment token. In return, Dynasty will acquire a strategic stake in BrickMark. The investment of CHF 10 million will be part of BrickMark’s Series A financing and will be settled mainly with Dynasty’s payment token and cash. This collaboration aims to facilitate real estate transactions using D¥N,…
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April 26 QI Tech, a Brazilian fintech specialized in infrastructure for financial services, achieved unicorn status, reaching a market valuation above US$1 billion (R$5.1 billion) in its latest investment round. This milestone was reached after QI Tech received an additional contribution of US$50 million (R$256.3 million). This investment is an extension of the US$200 million (R$1…
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The rise of Artificial Intelligence In the wake of the stunning ChatGPT success in 2023, investments in generative AI have soared with some companies raking in billions. According to Crunchbase data, AI-related startups raised nearly $50 billion in 2023. Tech giants are spending unprecedented sums After the groundbreaking $10 billion to OpenAI last year, Microsoft has just…
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March 27 Techome, a smart home startup, raised R$35 million in a series A led by venture capital manager Astella, who was already an investor. The round was also joined by Endeavor Scale-Up Ventures and Endeavor Catalyst. The amount will be used mainly to execute the project for its own factory. March 27 Frete.com, an…
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Feb 27 Agtech Cromai received an additional investment and reached R$30 million in its series A funding. The new investment, of R$12 million, was led by iDEXO, a corporate venture of TOTVS managed by Citrino Ventures, and was accompanied by a follow-on from Baraúna Venture Capital and the family office Citrino Gestão. Feb 27 Neowrk,…
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Jan 31 Palo Alto-based Incognia, founded in Recife, raised a US$31 million Series B funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners. The startup offers geolocation identity solutions aimed at fraud prevention, it operates in over 25 countries. Jan 29 The Economist on Brazil’s tax reform overhaul: “Reform of the world’s most complicated tax system will cut…
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Dec 27 88% of SoftBank portfolio companies in Brazil are cash flow positive for other 12 months and most reached break even. Alex Szapiro, Managing Partner and Head of Brazil, details why he is optimist about 2024. Dec 22 C6 Bank, Caju, QI Tech. Here are some of the Brazilian startups that were in the spotlight and generated important…
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Nov 30 Mexican retail startup Zubale raises US$25 million to accelerate growth at home and in Brazil. The startup is a set of tools and services designed to empower the profitable expansion of retailers’ digital channels, secured an investment of USD$25 million in a round led by QED Investors, backed by NFX, Kevin Efrusy, and…
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