Here are the highlights on Brazil’s tech and business scene in May:
May 30
“More people opening Crypto trading accounts in Brazil than traditional securities”
May 24
Banrisul will have a corporate venture fund focused on fintechs based on an agreement with Gama Investimentos. Banrisul will contribute R$ 25 million and will seek, with Gama, other R$ 25 million from private investors.
May 23
Monsanto Growth Ventures announced its first investment to a Brazilian startup, Grão Direto, a digital platform for buying and selling grains. Currently, most of these deals are by phone or WhatsApp. The startup will receive R$2.3 million in the initial round – the largest amount of US$330 thousand will be from Monsanto. The round also includes Canary investment fund and the creators of OpenVC.
May 18
iMedicina, a startup that sells management software for clinics, has just sold about 25% of the company to VC fund Cedro Capital for US$2.5 million.
May 15
Wevo, cloud platform provider for systems integration used in e-commerce operations, received an investment of undisclosed value in Round A Series.
May 14
Morgan Stanley, following Goldman Sachs, is lending to Brazil’s booming fintech industry in search of higher yields. Morgan Stanley bought about U$14 million in local subordinated bonds from Geru, an online lender to individuals.
May 10
Vicente Silveira, BayBrazil Board Member, was interviewed by business magazine Época NEGÓCIOS. He talked about artificial intelligence and its impact on business.
May 9
Brazilian startups are back on the radar of American VCs and investment funds. Andy Tsao, Managing Director of Silicon Valley Bank & Board Member BayBrazil, talked to business magazine Época NEGÓCIOS on the renewed interest of US investors in Brazil, his perspective on the market and expectations for Brazilian startups in the next 5 years.
May 8
Fast-growth Brazilian startups going global. Gympass, Hotmart, Mosyle Manager, Movile, PagSeguro, Pipefy, PSafe are in the TechCrunch article by Manoel Lemos, Redpoint eventures Managing Partner
May 8
Startup Altave, specialized in balloons for monitoring large territories, has just attracted an investment of R$ 16 million from the funds Aerotec and Criatec II. Altave participated in BayBrazil-Googles’s startup workshop in 2017.
May 4
Redpoint eventures has set out to raise a $130 million venture-capital fund, according to a filing with the SEC.
May 3
Fintech-focused Propel joined Brazil’s Monashees and Quona Capital in the U$22 million Series A financing of Neon, a Sao Paulo-based digital bank startup. Omidyar Network, Tera, and Yellow Ventures also participated in the funding round. But following the investment, Brazil’s central bank suspended Neon’s operations because of legal and regulatory issues with its partner banking institution Banco Neon SA.
May 2
Mandaê, startup that applies technology on freight and logistics for companies, received $ 7.1 million. The B-series round was led by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation and was supported by FJ Labs, MercadoFund, Tekton Ventures and UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund. The existing investors Performa Investments, Qualcomm Ventures, Monashees and Icon Holding Company also joined the investment.
