Neon

Welcome to our new The Exclusive deep dive content about our Latin American ecosystem. We’re giving our registered newsletter users a sneak-peek of these soon-to-be paid for articles. Contxto—Politics, football, and Tesla’s current stock price all have one thing in common with SoftBank—Latin America’s largest foreign investor—; you should never mention them in conversation unless […]

Contxto – Some might think that the story of fintech in Latin America is that of an underdog: A rebellious bunch of disruptors playing by their own rules and trying to conquer a game as old as time. However, the most recent strategy adopted by challenger banks doesn’t portray them as dissidents – in fact, […]

Contxto – We already talked about the hottest startups among LinkedIn users in Mexico this week. Now, it’s Brazil’s turn. Remember that, when it comes to its top startup rankings, the social network for professionals factors in variables like employee growth, jobseeker interest rates, as well as engagement levels between startups and their employees. And […]

Contxto – Brazil continues to be a hotbed of investments in investment startups. Today (21), Ideal, a brokerage platform announced it closed R$100 million (~US$18.4 million) in a Series A led by Kaszek Ventures.  It will use the funds to scale and connect its products with retailers. [wd_hustle id=”InArticleOptin” type=”embedded”/] Ideal tailwinds Ideal isn’t a […]

Contxto – Freshly funded with an alleged US$300 million, Brazilian Nubank is reaching into new fintech verticals. Today (11), the unicorn announced its acquisition of São Paulo-based Easynvest, a brokerage platform with 1.5 million customers and a reported R$20 billion (~US$ 3.8 billion) in assets under management. The deal consisted in a part cash, part shares […]

Contxto – Big growth plans means big funds are needed and Neon recently banked just that. Today (2) the fintech announced it closed US$300 million for its Series C. General Atlantic returned as the round ringleader. Newcomers BlackRock, PayPal Ventures, Vulcan Capital, and Endeavor Catalyst joined the table. Meanwhile previous investors Monashees, Flourish Ventures, and […]

Contxto – Sometimes, to launch a new product that offers insightful features means building it from scratch. Or, in fintech Neon’s case, by acquiring a securities broker and just absorbing that knowledge. Yesterday (16) news broke that Neon bought Magliano Invest—one of the oldest brokerage firms in Brazil—for an undisclosed amount. Correspondingly, Magliano’s small team […]

Contxto — The private equity sector has been progressing rapidly in Brazil. With economic stability firmly established, dropping interest rates, and low country risk, the local market is already an attractive option for venture capital in Brazil. However, storm clouds gather ahead. Brazil was going through rough economic waters even before the Covid-crisis. We shan’t […]

Contxto – Funding may be tight within the current Covid-19 context, but some startups are still closing equity deals. This is fintech ADDI’s case. Yesterday (21), the loaning startup announced it received a capital injection for US$15 million in an investment round led by Quona Capital. Other contributors include Foundation Capital, S7 Ventures, as well […]

[wd_hustle id=”InArticleOptin” type=”embedded”/] Contxto – Not even fintechs are immune to coronavirus (Covid-19). In recent weeks, three startups, Créditas, Neon, and C6 Bank from Brazil, as well as Kueski from Mexico announced layoffs. Interestingly, many of these startups claimed it was unrelated to Covid-19. But there are grounds to think otherwise… “It wasn’t Covid-19, I […]