:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/bloomberglinea/MTMM7ZV32BEFXALBOSZBCYWMCQ.jpg "ZiYou and Z1 received investments this week, and Argentina's Globant invested in Fivvy")
Bloomberg Línea — Latin American startups raised $245 million in March, a 78% drop compared to the same month last year and the lowest value since July 2020. There were only 62 rounds in March, a 47% drop from the same month last year, and the second-lowest number since May 2020.
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Only February had a worse transaction performance, according to Sling Hub data. The Mindset Ventures report, based on data from CB Insights and PitchBook, reports that Brazil had 32 new venture capital fund operations in March, well below the 107 transactions in February, but above the 31 investments in January.
These are the Latin American startups that raised funds this week:
ZiYou
Brazilian company ZiYou, a platform for renting sports equipment and content, received an investment of 20 million reais ($3.96 million) from Bertha Capital, one of the investment fund managers that manages the Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) of the Multi Group.
Created in 2021 by Marcio Kumruian, co-founder and former CEO of Netshoes, the fitness startup offers online sales and rental of equipment such as treadmills, spinning bikes, ellipticals, rowing machines, and weight stations.
The startup also serves companies, condominiums, co-working spaces, and establishments interested in setting up fitness spaces on a subscription model. ZiYou claims to have over 14,000 subscribers in its base.
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Z1
Brazilian fintech Z1, a digital account for teenagers linked to a Mastercard prepaid card, received 54 million reais ($10.6 million) in a round with Homebrew, which led its 14-million-reais ($2.77 million) seed round in 2021,
Parade Ventures, Kindred Ventures, and other existing partners such as Y Combinator, MAYA Capital, Clocktower, Gaingels, and new ones like Costanoa, Newtopia, SquareOne, and The Fund also participated.
Z1 had also received a 55-million-real ($10.8 million) Series A round led by Kaszek in November 2021. The fintech’s idea is to help teenagers achieve financial independence to keep them as long-term customers. The fintech also plans to launch a credit solution.
Fivvy
Globant Ventures, the venture capital fund of Argentine company Globant, will invest $4 million over two years in Fivvy, a Software-as-a-Service platform that allows traditional and digital banking institutions to offer experiences to their customers through data modeling applications.
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