The monthly Venture Capital report produced by Distrito, a platform specialized in AI implementation projects for corporations in Latin America, recorded 42 investment rounds, totaling US$ 555.4 million, the highest volume of the year. October's result was driven by the fundraising of the Brazilian fintech Asaas.
Last month's result represented a 27% increase over the same period in 2023, when startups raised US$ 437.2 million in 70 deals, according to Distrito. Alone, the Brazilian Asaas, which focuses on offering complete digital accounts, raised US$ 150 million, almost a quarter of the total volume collected. The round was led by Bond, with investors Softbank and 23S Capital.
Another highlight of the month was Brazil, which had been losing ground to markets like Mexico and Colombia. Investments in Brazil totaled US$ 355.1 million across 25 funding rounds mapped in October, representing 59.5% of the rounds and 63.9% of the invested volume in the region.
The Asaas funding is the largest carried out this year in Latin America. Although this volume slightly distorts the overall data, the round shows that there is investor appetite to disburse larger checks in stories that make sense in the region. This investment also demonstrates the strength of the fintech segment in the region," explains Gustavo Gierun, co-founder and CEO of Distrito.
During the month, Pre-Seed recorded 26deals with US$ 26.9 million, and Early Stage (Seed and Series A) had 12 rounds and US$ 73.7 million. Late-Stage has already completed 4 funding rounds and raised US$ 280 million. Private equity participated in only one round of US$ 150 million. Regarding the average ticket size of the startups, the highest concentration is in Late-Stage with US$ 70 million; followed by Early-Stage with US$ 6.1 million; and finally, Pre-Seed with US$ 1 million.
Main sectors in Latin America
The startup sectors with the highest funding levels were fintechs with $399.7 million, maintaining performance in Latin America through Brazil and the growing presence of Mexico in the finance sector. Next, the agribusiness segment reached US$ 53 million. Finally, the foodtechs, with US$ 51 million, surpassed traditional areas of greater investment, such as healthtechs, for the second consecutive month.
An example of this is Justo, a Mexican foodtech company that raised US$ 50 million in October in a Series C investment round led by General Atlantic, in addition to another US$ 20 million in debt financing with HSBC. A startup demonstrates the trend in Latin America of investments directed toward marketplace platforms and digital services.
M&As in Latin America
The District study also highlights merger and acquisition activities, which reported 13 M&As carried out in the Latin American startup ecosystem, including 10 acquisitions and one merger. The value is similar to the number of M&As in October 2023, which also recorded 13 transactions, and is also below the average monthly of 2024, which is 16 M&As.
The acquisitions were mainly of fintechs (5) and deeptechs (2). Deeptechs have been appearing repeatedly as one of the most acquired sectors of the year due to the boost of artificial intelligence.
