Here are the highlights on Brazil’s tech and business scene in March:
March 30
Startup Hotmart, an online courses platform, announced round of R$ 735 million raised last year, and it’s now in Brazil’s unicorn list.
March 25
Seven startups participated in the BayBrazil Impact program March 25th pitch session.
The program aims to support social enterprises that are creating products/solutions to help reduce inequalities in Brazil.
Here are the startups selected by our judges: Clubinho Preto; Edupass; Incentiv.me; Plataforma Impact.
March 23
Real estate platform Loft closed on US$425 million in Series D funding led by New York-based D1 Capital Partners, at a US$2.2 billion valuation. A mix of new and existing investors also participated in the round, including Advent, Altimeter, DST, Silver Lake Waterman, Soros, Tarsadia Capital, Tiger Global, Andreessen Horowitz, Caffeinated, Fifth Wall, Monashees, QED and Vulcan, among others.
March 23
Fintech Vórtx received R$ 190 million in investments from the private equity fund FTV Capital. The startup is responsible for the back office services of investment managers, banks and other fintechs.
March 22
São Paulo-based Nuvemshop raised US$90M in Accel-led Series D. ThornTree Capital and returning backers Kaszek, Qualcomm Ventures and others also joined the round.
March 20
UOL EdTech, a Brazilian technology platform for education, announced the acquisition of Passei Direto, an online study platform, after SoftBank’s round.
March 10
Software giant TOTVS acquired RD Station – Resultados Digitais, the largest player in the marketing automation space, for R$ 1,86 billion. It is Brazil’s largest software M&A deal.
March 10
In the VC scene, São Paulo-based Volpe Capital announced its US$80 million fund targeting growth tech investments in Latin America. The founding partners plan to invest in about 15 companies over a two and half year time.
March 9
5 Brazilian companies are in the 2021 top 10 Fast Company’s list of Latin American innovators: Sustainable sneaker maker CARIUMA; Fintech Zoop; Green chemistry company SUNEW; online education platform Descomplica Vestibulares, and management consultancy Mandalah .
March 4
UOL EdTech, a Brazilian technology platform for education, announced a round led by SoftBank Latin America Fund. The funding amount was not disclosed.
March 4
Flourish raises $U$1.5 million in a round led by Brazilian venture capital firm Canary.
The Berkeley-based fintech, co-founded by Brazilian Pedro Moura, offer a solution for banks, fintechs to help them engage and retain clients.
March 3
Magazine Luiza completed the acquisition of VipCommerce, a technology startup in the Software as a Service (SaaS) model, according to a statement to the retailer’s market, which did not disclosure values.