Startups and VCs see opportunities in open banking, finance and insurance Brazilian instant payment system Pix ended 2021 having powered more than 8 billion transactions, according to statistics from the country’s Central Bank. This is quite an impressive figure for an offering only launched in November 2020 and goes to show how ubiquitous Pix has become in the country. You could describe Pix as “a government-built version of Venmo,” as João Pedro Thompson, founder of fintech Z1, told TechCrunch. However, the analogy doesn’t fully capture the fact that Pix appeals to m ..read more

Born as a financial application to facilitate banking transactions, PicPay is becoming a “super app”, a solution that integrates several services in one place. According to Luiz Fernando Diniz, head of Social at the startup, the company wants to embrace more and more functions, especially from social networks, and be the home of interactions on other platforms, such as WhatsApp. In an interview with TecMundo, the company executive made it clear that it aims to be a “Brazilian WeChat”. The Chinese app is known for encompassing payment services, marketplace, and social functions, all in just one ..read more

For all the startup markets in the world, fintech in Latin America is one of the hottest. Capital is flowing into the region’s financial technology companies at a slicing pace, leading to a wave of startups that are building private-market value at a simply astounding rate. The sheer volume of capital flowing into LatAm fintech startups may appear overheated, but several reasons explain why the flood makes sense. This isn’t to say that every deal and every resulting valuation markup is logical. But there are several factors in play that make the booming venture capital totals these compan ..read more

Justos, a startup that says it will be the first insurance company in Brazil to use data when determining rates, has raised a $35.8 million Series A round of funding led by Ribbit Capital. SoftBank’s Latin American Fund and GGV participated as new investors, in addition to existing backers Kaszek, BigBets, Nubank CEO David Velez and Kavak CEO Carlos Garcia Ottati. In May, Justos had announced a $2.8 million seed raise that included participation from Kaszek, one of the largest and most active VC firms in Latin America, and the CEOs of several unicorns including Assaf Wand, CEO and co ..read more

Brazilian planemaker Embraer SA (EMBR3.SA) said on Thursday its subsidiary Eve has signed a memorandum of understanding to sell up to 100 electric aircraft to lessor Bristow Group (VTOL.N), sending Embraer shares higher, in the latest sign of dealmaking in the nascent “flying taxis” sector. Brazil-listed Embraer shares, which were also boosted by an upgrade to “buy” from “neutral” by analysts at Goldman Sachs, jumped 11.75% to 23.80 reais in early trading in Sao Paulo. Embraer said in a securities filing that Eve will deliver the first vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircra ..read more

Brazilian miner Vale SA said on Thursday it had begun using self-driving trucks for the first time at its Carajas complex, its largest iron ore mining operation, as it continues to expand its use of the driverless technology. Vale expects to boost productivity and safety by using the trucks to haul iron ore, said Pedro Bemfica, the executive heading the autonomous technology program. The miner’s six self-driving vehicles at Carajas are nearly twice as tall and more than three times as wide as a conventional trucks and capable of holding 320 tonnes of iron ore. By Marta Nogueira via Reuters. Re ..read more

Petlove&Co, a São Paulo-based digital platform for products and services for the pet market, announced today that it has raised about $150 million (R$750 million) in a funding round led by Riverwood Capital. The round is nearly double that of what Petlove has raised in its history. The company started its life as PetSuperMarket when it was founded in 1999 in the early days of the internet. Today, the company continues to operate an online store offering a wide range of pet products and services. By Mary Ann Azevedo via Tech Crunch Read full article here The post Brazil’s Petlove raises $15 ..read more

After months of negotiations with the authorities, WhatsApp has committed to adjust its privacy policy in Brazil with transparency practices rolled out in line with the rules in place in the European Union. The commitment from the messaging app follows cross-government efforts led by the National Data Protection Authority (ANPD), the antitrust watchdog Cade, national consumer body Senacon and the Federal Prosecution Service. The authorities had been engaging with the platform to ensure data protection and consumer rights are observed in Brazil, in the context of the app’s updated privacy rules ..read more

Cora, a Brazilian digital lender to small-and-medium-sized businesses, has raised $116 million in a Series B round led by Greenoaks Capital. This is a large Series B by any standards, but particularly so for a Latin American startup. It’s also notable that São Paulo-based Cora only raised its $26.7 million Series A round — led by Silicon Valley VC firm Ribbit Capital — in early April. The startup has now raised a total of $152.7 million since its 2019 inception.   By Mary Ann Azevedo via Tech Crunch   Read full article here The post Brazilian Fintech Cora raises $116M Series B as Tig ..read more

We sometimes take for granted that most anyone who wishes to become say, an Uber driver, can do so. But that assumption is a narrow view considering there are many people who would love to earn income in that way but can’t because of lack of car ownership (and all that goes with it) — especially in countries outside of the United States. In an attempt to remedy that problem, São Paulo-based Kovi was founded in 2018 to give those people access to those opportunities.   By Mary Ann Azevedo via Tech Crunch   Read full article here The post Brazil’s Kovi closes $104M Series B to mak ..read more