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 online cargo transportation platform, will invest R$70 million in startups that use innovative AI-based methods to detect and prevent cargo theft – a major problem in the road transport sector in Brazil. The company is looking for early-stage companies with DNA in AI and will invest between R$1 million and R$10 million per company.
March 26
Startup umgrauemeio, which developed an algorithm capable of identifying fires in three seconds, raised R$18.7 million led by Baraúna Investimentos.
VC firms Indicator Capital, The Yield Lab Latam and Rural Ventures also participated in the round.
March 25
Banco Itaú plans to place two names from the innovation tech world on its board of directors.
The article points out that Fabricio Bloisi, founder of Movile, the parent company of iFood, and Paulo Veras, co-founder of the mobility app 99, will be new board members.
March 25
The new round was raised with the same investors who had contributed R$22.5 million to the startup in July 2021 – Edenred Capital Partners Fund, Corrêa da Silva and Stumpf families, and Christiano Galló, co-founder of Quartz Investimentos.
March 24
Plataforma Impact, a tech education company for low-income communities, has benefited 330 young students in these past three years working in favela Rocinha and other Rio de Janeiro regions. After taking computer programming and software development classes, students have increased their income fivefold or more.
The company participated in BayBrazil impact program 2021 batch.
March 21
A historic medical breakthrough led by a Brazilian doctor in the U.S.
Dr. Leonardo Riella MD PhD, Director of Kidney Transplantation at the Massachusetts General Hospital, performed the world’s first successful transplant of a genetically modified kidney from a pig.
The patient, a 62-year-old man, is doing well and off dialysis.
Dr. Riella received his MD degree from the Universidade Federal do Paraná and his PhD from Universidade de São Paulo.
March 20
Late stage startups suffered most in the so-called “startup winter”.
According to Carta, series D funding fell 53% globally in 2023. In series E, the drop was 72% in investments raised. However, according to executives responsible for managing some of the largest fortunes in the world, this could be a sign that it’s time to invest.
March 19
Open education startup DIO and Squadio, a global technology talent recruitment and selection company, will offer 10 thousand scholarships in Python and Data Science.
The objective of the program is to provide access to education and offer opportunities for technology professionals
March 15
Turn2C, a fintech specialized in the consortium market, raised R$25 million with VC firm Headline.
The new investment comes almost two years after the R$8.5 million seed round with B3 and the Honey Island by 4UM fund.
March 14
BayBrazil partner Silicon Valley Bank released its State of the Markets H1 2024 report on emerging trends shaping the innovation economy.
It offer insights on recent macroeconomic and investment developments.
“two years into the most significant contraction since the dot-com crash, signs of normalization — and even recovery — are emerging”
Here is an article on the report co-authored by Andy Tsao, Managing Director of SVB and BayBrazil board member
March 11
Nayax, a payments and loyalty platform from Israel that aims to facilitate commerce and help merchants scale their businesses, has acquired VMtecnologia, a technology company for the self-service sector in Brazil. This strategic acquisition marks a significant step in Nayax’s expansion in the Brazilian market, strengthening its global presence. The acquisition price is equivalent to an Enterprise Value (EV) of approximately R$110 million.
March 6
Nextron, a São Paulo startup that bridges solar energy generating plants and consumers with a subscription solar energy offering model, has just raised a R$26 million series A round.
The investment is a partnership between the impact fund Vox Capital and Copel Ventures, Copel’s Corporate Venture Capital, managed by Vox itself.
News gathering by Thais Chertman
