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 #34

FINTECH

Mastercard accelerates deployment of digital first solutions in Latin America and the Caribbean
Mastercard is expanding its Engage platform in Latin America and the Caribbean to offer customers easy access to a growing network of qualified technology and fintech partners that can quickly deploy Mastercard Digital First solutions.
Carlo Enrico is the President for Latin America and the Caribbean at Mastercard

Nuvemshop Raises $90M As It Catalyzes E-Commerce And Entrepreneurship Across Latin America
Nuvemshop, the leading e-commerce platform in Latin America, announced a $90M Series D investment led by Accel
| with participation from ThornTree Capital and existing investors Kaszek, Qualcomm Ventures LLC and others. The company, also known as Tiendanube in Spanish speaking countries, is the dominant e-commerce platform in Latin America, empowering entrepreneurs to build and grow thriving online businesses.
Santiago Sosa is the Co-founder & CEO at Nuvemshop

Kredi, a mortgage credit platform, raises $2M for Mexico expansion
Kredi, a credit platform, raised a $2M funding round led by Liquid2 Ventures and Emles Venture Partners to expand its operations in Mexico. Kredi operates as a marketplace for Mexicans looking for credit loans to assist with home buying and mortgages. The platform presents clients with a range of credit offers.
Javier Aldape is the Co-founder & CEO at Kredi

B2B payments platform Higo raises $3.3M
Higo, a B2B payments platform, raised a $3.3M funding round led by Homebrew. Susa Ventures, Haystack, and J Ventures also participated in the round. Higo is a digital payments automation platform for SMBs in Latin America. The platform aims to make small business payments more efficient and visible with its automated processes and digital solution.
Rodolfo Corcuera Meier is the Founder & CEO at Higo

Mexican fintech Baubap raises $3M for credit loans
Baubap, a Mexican fintech, raised a $3M funding round led by Alfin. Baubap is a micro-financing platform that offers small credit loans via its online app. The platform has seen increased demand for microcredit loans in the last year due to the financial difficulties posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Roberto Salcedo is the Co-founder & CEO at Baubap

Argentina’s Digital House raises over $50M to help solve LatAm’s tech talent shortage
Digital House, a Buenos Aires-based edtech focused on developing tech talent through immersive remote courses, announced today it has raised more than $50 million in new funding. Notably, two of the main investors are not venture capital firms but instead are two large tech companies: Latin American e-commerce giant Mercado Libre and San Francisco-based software developer Globant
Nelson Duboscq is the Founder & CEO at Digital House

iFood and Domicilios integration approved by Colombia’s Superintendency of Industry and Commerce
iFood, the food delivery super app, and Domicilios.com from Delivery Hero, will join forces after Colombia’s Superintendency of Industry and Commerce approved the move. The decision has been almost an entire year in the pipeline. With the partnership approved, iFood and Domicilios can now move forward with their business negotiations. iFood will have a majority hold in the company at 51%.
Fabricio Bloisi is the CEO at iFood

AGRTECH

This Latin American tech giant wants to restore nearly 7,500 acres of rainforest
Latin America’s largest e-commerce marketplace — Mercado Libre, a company with roughly twice the market capitalization of eBay at $78 billion — is putting part of the proceeds from its $400 million sustainability bond toward two forest restoration projects in the remnants of the Atlantic Forest, which once covered 15% of Brazil.
Marcos Galperin is the CEO of Mercado Libre

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

MFGTECH

Why Chilean firms increasingly opt to outsource tech infrastructure
More and more Chilean companies are turning to outsourcing technology, particularly hardware and devices, as opposed to the direct acquisition of equipment and solutions. As a result, companies are able to reduce costs, focus on their core services and enjoy better management of their technology assets

Ericcson Inaugurates the First 5g Production Line in Latin America, at its Factory in São José Dos Campos, Brazil
Investing in the next generation of connectivity in Latin America, on Friday, March 19, Ericsson inaugurated the first line in Latin America dedicated exclusively to the production of 5G technology at its São José dos Campos factory, in the interior of São Paulo.
Arun Bansal is the President of Europe and Latin America at Ericsson