Here are the highlights on Brazil’s tech and business scene in January:
Jan 30
The Y Combinator-backed Grin merged its electric scooter business with Yellow, the bike-share startup based in Brazil. Both Grin and Yellow raised large funds few months ago. Grin had also merged with Brazil-based Ride in October.
Jan 28
Elephant and Peak Ventures led a US$16m Series A investment in Mosyle, a Brazilian MDM (Mobile Device Management) software company for Apple devices.
Jan 28
Banco Votorantim, along with Monashees and Mindset Ventures, announce a US$ 6 million investment round in WEEL, an online cash flow management platform.
Jan 25
Softbank will lead a new round of investments in the Brazilian company Gympass. The first tranche will be US$ 190 million and should be followed by two more, made in conjunction with more investors. The total investment can exceed US$ 500 million. The transaction is evaluating Gympass at US $ 1.1 billion, which makes the company the new Brazilian unicorn.
Jan 24
Gupy, a Brazilian artificial intelligence startup applied to recruitment, received an R$ 11,5 million investment from Valor Capital e Maya Capital.
Jan 23
The investments in fintechs increased more than sevenfold between 2016 and 2018 in Brazil. The data is part of a study conducted by boostLAB, BTG Pactual’s startups enhancement program, conducted in partnership with the accelerator ACE Cortex.
Jan 23
According to Romero Rodrigues of Redpoint Eventures, Brazil’s tech startup ecosystem will be delivering more good news in 2019 following the major successes of local tech companies seen last year. He believes this is the year local exit deals will start coming thick and fast.
Jan 15
Online tax filing and accounting service Contabilizei has raised US$20 million in a new round of financing led by Point72 Ventures. The new investment provides even more firepower to the thesis that Brazil’s startup ecosystem is on the move.
Jan 7
Finep to invest up to R$ 30 million in startups. The investment can reach up to R$ 1 million in each of the selected companies, which may still receive a new round of up to R$ 1 million in the future, according to the evolution of the business plan.
