Bloomberg Línea — Early-stage investment represented 92% of the total invested in Latin America in 2022, an historic high and a 49% year-on-year increase. Seed-stage investment grew 100% compared with 2021, while Series A investment fell by 30%, according to the study Insights: Venture Capital and Growth Equity Ecosystem in Latin America, by Endeavor and Glisco Partners.
This year could also set a record for seed-stage investments, as observed in the first two months of the year, where Series B and later rounds were scarce.
This week, two Brazilian automation startups received early-stage investments at a time when venture capitalists are increasingly seeking out machine-learning and AI companies. Igah Ventures, acquired by Pátria Investimentos, and the corporate venture capital arm of Bradesco bank led the rounds.
In Spanish-speaking Latin America, another early-stage machine-learning company applied to healthcare received investment, as well as a round for a startup with a blockchain-based business model.
These are the startups that raised funds this week:
Dattos
Brazilian financial analytics platform Dattos has received a 20-million-real ($3.8 million) Series A from Igah Ventures with participation from ABSeed, Investtech and GR8 Ventures.
The company, founded in 2019, automates accounting and taxation processes. The company says its solution is able to avoid financial losses caused by fraud or fines. Dattos serves large companies such as Bayer, Natura, Cofco, iFood, as well as 80 other clients that are currently in its portfolio.
4intelligence
Bradesco’s corporate venture arm, Inovabra, has invested 10 million reais ($1.9 million) in the predictive model automation platform 4intelligence.
The Brazilian startup serves clients such as Coca-Cola, Volvo, Hering and M Dias Branco and said it enjoyed 220% growth last year, raking in 14 million reais in revenues. For this year, the projection is 113% growth, with revenues of 29.8 million reais.
The platform helps companies create models that predict demand and optimize inventory management.
VivaWell
VivaWell closed a $1.6-million Seed round raised by family offices with investments in insurtechs (insurance startups) and health techs (health startups), and by entrepreneurs in the health sector.
The capital injected will be used to expand operations in Mexico, and hire and develop new technologies and solutions for users.
Founded in 2020, the startup acts as an aggregator of health and wellness services, using artificial intelligence and machine learning to provide its services.
The company operates in Argentina and Mexico.
Wbuild
Nine months after its inception, Wbuild has closed a $1.2-million funding round led by Amarena and Colombian real estate and finance conglomerate VC Condor Ventures.
Wbuild is a proptech that uses blockchain technology (tokenization) to divide a property into fractions, reduce transaction costs and simplify processes. It thus allows people to invest from $50 to own a portion of the property and get a share of the income and capital gains.
With the investment, the Chilean startup seeks to consolidate its technological development and grow in strategic countries in the region such as Colombia, Uruguay, Peru and Mexico.
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