São Paulo, Brazil – The board of directors for the Brazilian Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) voted unanimously on April 19 to maintain a ban on the sale of electronic cigarettes, known as e-cigarettes, vaporizers or “vapes.” Manufacturing, selling, importing and advertising vapes has been banned in the country since 2009, but even so, e-cigarettes are easily found in small shops and online stores across Brazil. And consumption, especially among young people, is on the rise.  According to a survey by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), a federal government agen ..read more

São Paulo, Brazil – Deforestation identified in Indigenous Lands located in the Brazilian Amazon has seen a 42% decrease between August 2023 and March 2024, dropping from 125km² of devastation to 73km². This marks the lowest level of destruction detected in the region since 2018. The data was released on Wednesday (17) by the Institute of Man and the Environment of the Amazon (Imazon), which monitors and analyzes the main human activities causing degradation in the Amazon using satellite imagery and information databases. According to the report, the Apyterewa Indigenous land, located in the ..read more

São Paulo, Brazil – Between April 15 and 18, Rio de Janeiro hosted the second edition of the Web Summit, one of the largest innovation and technology events in the world. Web Summit Rio gathered more than 34,000 people, including 500 speakers and more than 1,000 startups, to discuss the future of technology. One of the event’s main goals is to create software that improves conferences and enables meaningful connections between the CEOs, founders, investors, politicians, cultural figureheads and members of the media who are reshaping the world. With many speakers eager to share expertise, the ..read more

HLB HAMT, a member of HLB International, which hosted its regional Latin American and Caribbean Conference in Miami last year, announced this month a new partnership with Credibl. HLB International’s conference, which took place from May 17-20, served as a platform for the exchange of best practices, enriching debates, and networking opportunities. Attendees established strategic contacts and strengthened professional relationships. HLB HAMT and Credibl, the AI-powered sustainability platform, are partnering to see the ESG startup’s platform deployed globally across HLB HAMT professional servi ..read more

Unfortunately, even today up to half of women in Latin America are not part of the work force. Many of those who are work do so in low-skilled, informal employment, often with low salaries and in precarious conditions. These individuals represent an immense source of talent that is not being utilized for the development of the region. There are a number of barriers prevent women from recognizing their potential. According to the Inter-American Development Bank, software development will be the fastest growing career in Latin America over the next decade, with 1.2 million professionals needed ..read more

AI has arrived in Argentina, even though many still haven’t realize it yet. In the final weeks of campaigning, Argentina’s President Javier Milei published a fabricated image depicting his rival as a communist in military garb. The AI-generated image drew some 3 million views when Milei posted it on a social media account, highlighting how the rival campaign teams used AI technology to catch voters’ attention. To this day, many in the country have not realized AI was used. This isn’t just in elections. In fact, a survey by HubSpot in 2021 revealed that 63% of respondents were unawar ..read more

Brad Zions, who helped to launch AOL Europe and is an active investor in Los Angeles, announced the close of his Pitbull Ventures $5M Fund I this week to support vertical SAAS entrepreneurs. According to the company, the fund is looking for back founders building AI-enabled vertical SAAS companies across a range of industries, and that have promising early traction. Founder and Managing Partner at Pitbull Ventures, Brad Zions, said, “The launch of our new fund’s closing is thanks to the unwavering dedication of our investment team and the support of our amazing LPs. Now, we’re eager ..read more

Techstars Startup Weekend, the three-day immersive program where entrepreneurs experience building minimum viable products in just 54 hours, has announced its 2024 Colombia Roadshow. The Roadshow will visit Santander on May 3-5 and the city of Cali on May 24 to 26, followed by Manizales in August and Bogotá in October. In Colombia Techstars Startup Weekend has been present for more than a decade, with more than 20 editions held across the country. Julian Arango (Photo Credit: LinkedIn) Said Julián Arango, Organizer and facilitator of Techstars Startup Weekend, “This is a commitment that seeks ..read more

The Bitcoin Company announced this month the launch of its new Remittances API, enabling individuals and institutions to send instant payments to bank accounts in Mexico. The API marks the company’s expansion into international remittances, with the company planning to extend services to the United States and Europe. Said Ben Price, Founder and CEO of The Bitcoin Company, “Disrupting the remittance market is a key milestone in our roadmap to provide easy to use Bitcoin-native financial services and has always been a compelling application for the Bitcoin network. With Bitcoin, payments ca ..read more

São Paulo, Brazil – A woman in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday took the corpse of an elderly man into a bank to try to take out a loan of R$17,000 (USD $3,400), local Brazil media reported.  Suspicious bank employees filmed the incident and called the police. The woman was reportedly taken into custody, and the bizarre video soon went viral on social media.  The story was first reported by TV Globo, the largest news broadcaster in Brazil, which shared a blurred version of the video.  In it, a woman, identified as Érika de Souza Vieira Nunes, is standing next to a pale, elderly man in ..read more