Musings from Mexico City #13
Welcome to the thirteenth edition of Musings from Mexico City. A personal newsletter on tech, community, and happenings in Mexico City & Latin America!
I hope everyone has had a great summer and is staying cool after a big heat wave in Mexico. While this year has been an adjustment in startup activity, there are notable highlights on both the VC fund and startup side. Y Combinator also published the # of startups they invested in per Latin American country. Congratulations to Mexico for coming in #1 with the most companies invested in by YC!
Congratulations to my friends at Bicycle Capital for announcing their premiere Latin America growth fund. Bicycle Capital is led by Shu Nyatta and Marcelo Claure (more details below!)
A ton of exciting events and gatherings are coming up this summer and in the fall. Be sure to check out This Week in Fintech’s Summer Social later on July 26th at Casa Prunes (RSVP here)
💸 Fundraising News
Nuvocargo, an all-in-one digital platform for cross-border trade between USA and Mexico, raised a $36.5M Series B led by QED Investor (more here)
Scape, a Mexico-based wellness on-demand startup raises a $1.3M seed round with participation (more here)
VIOO, a marketplace for professional content creation services, raised a $1M seed round led Wollef with participation from Kima Ventures, 500 Latam, and Colectivo Jaguara (more here)
Hackmetrix, a cybersecurity startup, closed $1.3M funding round to expand to Colombia (more here)
Spakio, a startup solving storage, raises a $2M seed round led by Variv, Cracks Fund, Xochi Ventures, CISA Ventures, and Liverpool’s investment fund (more here)
🔼 Promotions & Movement @ Latam VC Funds
Shu Nyatta & Marcelo Claure launched Bicycle Capital, a $500M target Latin America Growth Fund anchored by Claure Group & Mubadala (more here)
Stella (Jeehyon) Yoh joined SOSV as a Principal from IFC. Stella will lead efforts in growing the Korean ecosystem, while also kicking off Orbit's Latin America focus (more here)
Gabby Cazeau was promoted to Partner at Harlem Capital (more here)
QED Investors closed $925M for their early-stage and growth fund (more here)
ALLVP announced a new $150M fund for AI startups (more here)
📅 Upcoming Events…
7/23: Seedstars’ 10 Year Anniversary Celebration (RSVP here)
7/26: This Week in Fintech Mexico City Summer Social (RSVP here)
8/03: Drinks & Networking Powered by Pomelo (RSVP by emailing mauricio.tellez@pomelo.la)
9/05-9/06: Endeavor Day (RSVP here)
9/26-9/27: FINNOSUMMIT use code FSKHORA for a discount! (RSVP here)
9/30-10/2: Volcano Summit in Antigua (RSVP here)
10/02-10/06: Mexico City Tech Week (more info coming soon!)
10/04-10/06: North Capital Forum (RSVP here)
10/10-10/13: LAVCA Week in New York City (RSVP here)
11/03: AI & Crypto Futures 2023 - A Próspera Builders’ Summit (RSVP here)
🚀 Startup Opportunities
H20 Capital Innovation Launchpad Program for B2B Fintech Founders (apply & more details here)
Platanus Ventures is accepting applications for their new cohort until July 9th, 2023 (apply & more details here)
2023 Startup Avenue Competition at Volcano Summit (apply & more details here)
Yayem has opened up their Y Casita in Juarez. An international community of the globally mobile and the ever-curious, Yayem connects members to magical spaces, curated experiences, and an international network. They are welcoming just 100 premium members in Mexico City, with 20 of them set aside for Khora members. Apply at join.yayem.co and be sure to list Khora as your promo code
📚 What I’m Reading…
2023 Venture Capital & Growth Equity Ecosystem in Latin America by Endeavor & Glisco Partners (read here)
How to Be Successful by Sam Altman (read here)
How to Blow Up a Timeline by Eugene Wei (more here)
🎙️ What I’m Listening to…
David Velez, Nubank’s CEO explains what the US could learn from LatAm fintech (listen here)
Perspectives on What's Ahead: A Conversation with Kenneth C. Griffin Founder, CEO Citadel (listen here)
H20 Capital Innovation Launchpad Program for B2B Fintech Founders (Apply & more details here)
👩💻 VC Firms & Startups Hiring
Investor Relations Analyst @ DILA Capital (apply here)
Product Ops Associate @ Amela (apple here)
🧘🏻♀️ Wellness Favorites
Huberman Lab: Dr. Immordino-Yang: How Emotions & Social Factors Impact Learning (more here)
The Making of a Corporate Athlete (more here)
Nervous System Reset: Guided Breathwork (more here)
🇧🇷 Brazil Highlights
Brazil at Silicon Valley by Luisa Sucre (read here)
A Market Map of Brazil’s Credit Landscape by a16z (read here)
10 Fintech Trends in Brazil by Point72 (read here)
2023 Vamos Latam Summit on September 28th & 29th(RSVP here)
🐶 Dog of the Month: Cora!
Congratulations to sweet Bernadoodle, Cora, for winning Dog of the Month! Puppers of Alejandra Martinez of Foundation Capital. Find more Cora content on her Instagram @cora_thebernadoodle!
💜 Gratitude
Thank you to the many friends, peers, and mentors that have supported me in my Latam journey. A special shout-out to Alex Santana, Natalia Gonzelez-Vela, Rodolfo Gonzalez, Magdalena Jensen, Delma Betancourt, Jan Heinvirta, Heston Berkman, Itzel Revuelta, Arnaud Thevenet, Christine Change, Sara H. Van Velkinburgh, Natalia Quintero, Karen Rios, and Jorge Setoain.
Abrazos,
Kate Kiewel