Every fortnight we compile a list of important news updates and events covering the Americas FINTECH, MFGTECH, CLNTECH, and AGRTECH sectors.

For a downloadable copy of America’s Issue #32

FINTECH

Brazilian fintech RecargaPay raises $70M Series C round
RecargaPay, Brazil’s largest payments and mobile money ecosystem, has raised $70 million to further enhance its all-inclusive payment platform, democratizing access to digital financial services for millions of new users. Currently EBITDA positive and with a revenue run rate of over USD$50 million, RecargaPay has raised over $100 million to date.
Rodrigo Teijeiro is the Founder & CEO at RecargaPay

Veriff expands to Latin American market and partners with Kueski
Veriff, a global identity verification provider is partnering with Kueski, one of the fastest-growing fintech platforms in Latin America. With this partnership, Veriff expands its business in the Latin American market by helping Kueski’s clients to have safe and smooth access to financial services.
JanerGorohhov is the CPO & Co-Founder at Veriff

Stori raises $32.5M series B for Mexico credit card
Stori, a Mexican neobank, raised a $32.5M Series B funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. Existing investors Vision Plus Capital, BAI Capital, and Source Code Capital also contributed to the round.
Bin Chen is the CEO & Co-Founder at Stori Card

Colektia raises $4.2M for Latin America expansion
Colektia, a Chilean fintech, raised a $4.2M Series A funding round led by Angel Ventures together with Mountain Nazca, Kayak Ventures, Fen Ventures, and Devlabs. Colektia is the first Latin American digital collections platform using AI that helps financial institutions create new billing and collection models.
Gabriel Monroy is the CEO at Colektia

Mundi raises $7.8M Seed round
Mundi, a Mexican fintech, raised a $7.8M seed funding round led by Base10. FJ Labs and various angel investors also participated in the round. Mundi is a digital credit platform for international commerce SMEs. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic mean that many SMEs need additional financial support to continue competing in the global markets.
Martin Pustilnick is the Co-Founder & CEO at Mundi

Bitso acquires European Bitcoin platform Quedex
Bitso, the leading cryptocurrency platform in Mexico, announced the acquisition of Quedex, a European Bitcoin exchange platform. Bitso is an online platform for selling and purchasing Bitcoin. The startup raised $62M in funding last year, placing them in a strong position to start their plans for regional and global expansion.
Daniel Vogel is the CEO & Founder at Bitso

CLNTECH

Aggreko, EVA Energia sign seven-year contract for landfill gas project
Aggreko has signed a seven-year contract with Brazilian energy firm EVA Energia for a 10 MW renewable power solution using landfill gas. Aggreko will deliver a complete system, producing power from biogas derived from two locations; Seropédica (Rio de Janeiro State), the largest landfill site in Latin America, and Mauá (São Paulo State).
Chris Weston is the CEO at Aggreko

Panama receives US$350mn digital transformation loan
The Latin American Development Bank (CAF) has approved a US$350mn loan for digital transformation in Panama. The country is implementing a program to eliminate the digital divide and transform the public and private sectors. Measures to be financed include the implementation of norms, plans and investment agreements for five key pillars: digital economy, digital transformation of the state, industries, digital transformation for productivity, and connectivity infrastructure.

Telefonica sells European and Latin American tower assets
Telefonica has become the latest European telco to take advantage of third-party interest for mobile infrastructure and agreed a deal to sell its European and Latin American masts to the American Tower Company (ATC). The €7.7 billion sale of its Telxius subsidiary includes 30,772 masts across Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Germany, Peru and Spain but not the UK where O2’s masts are shared with O2 as part of the Cornerstone joint-venture
José María Álvarez-Pallete is the Chairman and CEO at Telefónica

Chile Sells Biggest Latin American Sovereign Sustainability Bond
Chile raised a total of about $4.25 billion in euro and U.S. dollar markets Tuesday amid strong investor demand, including the biggest sustainability bond issued by a Latin American sovereign in foreign debt markets. The nation borrowed $2.25 billion in a two-part dollar-denominated sale that included $1.5 billion of sustainability bonds, the biggest from the region.

Elon Musk’s project to bring satellite internet to Latin America
he Starlink project , developed by Elon Musk , aims to bring satellite internet to Latin America . In fact, on the same day it received a license from the National Communications Agency (Enacom) to begin operations in Argentina . This was determined in the legislation already announced in the official gazette in December 2020.
Elon Musk is the Founder and CEO of SpaceX

AGRTECH

Smart Agro”, technology at the service of agriculture in Latin America
The “Smart Agro” initiative, by Telefónica Movistar and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), seeks to promote the use of technologies for the development of “sustainable agriculture” in countries such as Colombia and El Salvador.

Experts call for technologies adapted to agriculture in Latin America
A group of experts agreed on the need for technological solutions adapted to agriculture to be promoted in America and the Caribbean in order to promote the development of rural areas.

Agricultural machinery: create the first laboratory to certify international standards
The National Institute of Industrial Technology (INTI) and the National University of Rosario (UNR) in Argentina a signed an agreement to create laboratory for testing and technological development of agricultural machinery.  The new enclosure will be located in the annex building of the Institute of Applied Mechanics and Structures (IMAE) of the Faculty of Exact Sciences, Engineering and Surveying of the UNR.

Corteva Agriscience Selects SimbioseAgro for First Biologicals Collaboration in Brazil
Corteva Agriscience and Simbiose Agro, the largest producer of microbiological technologies in Brazil, announced today a multi-year collaboration benefiting Brazilian farmers. Working closely together, the two companies will commercialize and develop Simbiose’s portfolio and pipeline of biostimulants and biological control solutions for crops such as sugarcane, soybeans, corn and other specialties.
Jim Collins is the CEO at Corteva Agriscience

Superfüds raises $3.3M Series A
Superfüds, a Colombian health food store, raised a $3.3M Series A funding round led by Alere Advisors. The total funding for the startup now amounts to $5.1M. Superfüds is the Whole Foods of Latin America, providing health food products to customers and retailers alike in a market where these products are more difficult to come by. The platform also aims to serve SMEs who are otherwise overlooked by traditional distributors.
Sebastián Hernandez Dugand is the Chairman & CEO at Superfüds