Latest from Marcella McCarthy
Gympass, the exercise and corporate wellness unicorn that originated in Brazil, today announced a $220 million Series E. The company has seen tremendous growth in the last few months, as…
Ran Korber and his asthmatic and pregnant wife were looking to buy a house in Israel. As an environmental engineer, he knows that air pollution is the leading environmental cause…
Like other financial sectors in Latin America, the retail investing space is getting a facelift by local tech startups that are cashing in on the untapped potential for democratizing asset…
Featured Article
The Nubank EC-1
Brazil is a country riven with economic contradictions. It has one of the largest and most profitable banking industries in Latin America, and is among the world’s most developed financial markets.
Featured Article
How contrarian hires and a pitch deck started Nubank’s $30 billion fintech empire
For most startups, the hardest early challenge is identifying a market and a product to serve it. That wasn’t the case for Nubank CEO David Velez, who knew the potential for success in Brazil.
Featured Article
One woman’s drive to make a neobank as magical as Disney
David Velez needed to fill two key co-founding roles to begin building Nubank — he needed a CTO to lead the engineering side of the business, as Velez didn’t have an engineering background.
Featured Article
How Nubank’s CX strategy made it one of the most loved digital banks
It’s easy to assume the name Nubank refers to “new bank,” but that’s not what the founders were going for. The word “nu” in Portuguese means “naked,” and Velez wanted the name to reflect his vision.
Featured Article
Which Nubank will own the financial revolution?
Nubank’s first office, on California Street in the Brooklin neighborhood of São Paulo, makes for a great beginning to the company’s story.
In 2013, Colombian businessman David Velez decided to reinvent the Brazilian banking system. He didn’t speak Portuguese, nor was he an engineer or a banker, but he did have the…
In 2014 Alexis Patjane was at a local hookah bar in Mexico City with some friends and the bar ran out of tobacco. They thought maybe they could buy some…
Media & Entertainment
Kushki, an Ecuador-based fintech, raises $86M to build financial infrastructure in LatAm
Just about every week there’s a blockbuster round coming out of South America, but in certain countries such as Ecuador, things have been more hush-hush. However, Kushki, a Quito-based fintech,…
Telemedicine has faced an uphill battle to become more relevant in the U.S., with challenges like meeting HIPPA compliance requirements and insurance companies unwilling to pay for virtual visits.
In the last few months, we’ve seen an explosion in funding for consumer banking startups in Latin America, all eager to reinvent traditional banking in the region. However, the business…
Media & Entertainment
Upstream, a Miami-based professional networking platform, raises a $2.75M seed round
If you’re reading this, there’s a pretty good chance you have a LinkedIn profile with your digital resume and hundreds — if not thousands — of professional connections. But how…
As a longtime real estate developer based in Chile, Benjamin Labra was able to spot gaps in the buying and renting markets in Latin America. To meet demands, he started…
It looks like everyone and their mother is trying to reinvent the Brazilian banking system. Earlier this year we wrote about Nubank’s $400 million Series G, last month there was…
Brazilian mobile payments app PicPay filed on Wednesday an F-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an IPO valued at up to $100 million. The company plans to…
The pandemic has made telemedicine video visits in the U.S. almost commonplace, but in Latin America, where broadband isn’t widely available, 1Doc3 is using text and chat to provide access…
Security
Medtronic partners with cybersecurity startup Sternum to protect its pacemakers from hackers
If you think cyberattacks are scary, what if those attacks were directed at your cardiac pacemaker? Medtronic, a medical device company, has been in hot water over the last couple…
If you or a loved one has ever undergone a tumor removal as part of cancer treatment, you’re likely familiar with the period of uncertainty and fear that follows. Will…
When you’re not feeling well and your doctor asks you to get labs drawn, you know that can increase the time between a diagnosis and care. But Getlabs, a company…
Papa, the elder tech company that offers care and companionship to seniors, today announced a $60 million Series C led by Tiger Global Management, bringing its total raised to date…
Omada Health, one of the U.S.’s original virtual healthcare providers, today announced the creation of the Omada Insights Lab. “The Insights Lab is an approach to product development that leverages…
Canvas Medical, an electronic health records (EHR) startup, today announced their $17 million Series A and a new partnership with Anthem, one of the biggest health insurance companies in the…
Kavak, the Mexican startup that’s disrupted the used car market in Mexico and Argentina, today announced its Series D of $485 million, which now values the company at $4 billion.…
FinanZero, a Brazilian online credit marketplace, announced today that it has closed a $7 million round of funding — its fourth since it launched in 2016. It has raised a…
Vibrant, a medical technology company that’s developed a disposable vibrating pill to treat chronic constipation, today announced its Series E for $7.5 million. The company is based in Tel Aviv…
Asteya, a Miami-based disability insurance startup that is geared toward small business owners and gig workers, launched today with a seed round of $10 million. Co-founder and CEO Alex Williamson,…
Miami-based cybersecurity startup Lumu today announced the closing of its $7.5 million Series A. The round was co-led by SoftBank Group Corp.’s SB Opportunity Fund and Panoramic Ventures. Lumu, co-founded…
RecargaPay, a Brazil-based fintech that allows users to top off their prepaid cell phones online, announced this morning that they’ve closed their $70 million Series C. The company, which operates…
