Musings from Mexico City #4
Welcome to the fourth edition of Musings from Mexico City. A personal newsletter on tech, community, and happenings in Mexico City!
Mexico City’s tech ecosystem is officially no longer in stealth. The momentum and growth of the tech community here is unstoppable. Investors and founders are coming from around the world to be part of the ecosystem that is blossoming here.
What a month of events! FINNOSUMMIT had excellent speakers like Marcelo Lima from Monashees Capital, Gabriel Vasquez from a16z, and Mike Packer from QED Investors. Jeeves x CRV took over Toledo Rooftop and just about everyone in CDMX tech was in attendance. It was powerful to have so many funds, founders, and friends in town!
I have so much gratitude to everyone that came out to the Founders & Builders Mixer last week. A huge thank you to our sponsor: Amazon Web Services. We had over 450+ RSVPs that came out to kick off FINNOSUMMIT with us. We teamed up with the Pacto team to power our bar with digital ordering which resulted in excellent user testing for the team!
LatAm Stats
LatAm VC investment growth in the quarter was 67% YoY for Q1 '22. $2.8B invested across 190 transactions (more here)
Proptechs led in volume raised with $369 million in 12 rounds – this is the sector’s best result since March 2021 (more here)
Mexico is emerging as the top country for startup founders. Out of 271 companies, 145 moved to Mexico. Three main drivers were: access to capital, getting ready to reach the US Market, and hiring local talent. (more here)
Big News
Nowports becomes the next Mexican unicorn with a $1.1B valuation (more here)
Kolors, a mobility startup, raised a $20 million Series A led by UP.Partners, Toyota Ventures, Maniv Mobility, K5 Global, Mazapi (more here)
Mexico-City based Klar raises a $70M Series B led by General Atlantic round at a $500M valuation (more here)
Google announces commitment to the future of Latin America. Over the next five years, Google will invest $1.2B to drive digitization and entrepreneurship (more here)
Summer Events in CDMX
6/16: 2022 Climate Innovation Summit by Dalus Capital. Startups apply here
7/7: Y Combinator is coming to CDMX for YC Startup School. Sign up for Startup School to join here
8/19-8/21: ETH Mexico City. RSVP here
Startup Opportunities
Pomelo for startups is a program designed by founders for founders that shares resources for companies to launch their own financial products and rapidly scale. More here
Village Capital launched an accelerator for startups in Latin America working to improve economic mobility and create pathways to the middle class. Apply here
Amplifica Capital has Pitch Practice weekly for female entrepreneurs. During the sessions, founders will present their pitches and receive feedback from investors. To participate, send an e-mail to pitchpractice@amplifica.capital
What I’m Reading
Harlem Capital published a report on 2021 LatAm Women Founders by Gabby Cazeau (more here)
2021 Impact Report by Quona Capital (more here)
Financial inclusion levels in Mexico have worsened since 2018. Cash drives 90% of transactions under 500 Mexican pesos ($25), as well as 78.7% of payments or bills over 500 pesos (more here)
Fund News
Ignia Partner, a Mexico-based fund targeting the emerging middle class in Latin America announces a $150M Fund (more here)
Jimena Pardo joins ALLVP as the third Partner (more here)
NAZCA receives investment from IFC for their Fund III (more here)
What I’m Eating
Choza, open on Saturday & Sunday. An eclectic place with some of the best Asian fusion food in CDMX. Well worth the wait
Tacos los Alexis, located in Roma Norte. Taqueria inspired by Northern asada tacos & Chilean bull style
San Angel Inn, best time to go is for a brunch with friends located in a gorgeous garden
Gratitude 💜
The Khora community continues to grow and I learn more every day. Thank you to the many friends, peers, and mentors that have supported me in my Latam journey. This month I wanted to give a shout out to those have been exceptionally incredible: Andres Pontao, Gabriel Vasquez, Ana Carolina Mexia, Fabiola Quinzaños, Zalo Sanchez, Michael Sidgmore, Alfonso de los Rios, Shu Nyatta, Fran Garcia, Luisa Sucre, Anna Raptis, Hernan Fernandez Lamadrid, Rodolfo Gonzalez, Gabriel Estrada Escalante, Claire Diaz-Ortiz, and Eugenio Perea.
Dog of the Month
Woof! Woof! It’s Sansa. The pup of Carlos Torres from AMG Block
Abrazos,
Kate Kiewel
Great insights!