Hash raises $40M series C
Brazilian payment infrastructure fintech, Hash, announced a $40 million Series C round co-led by QED Investors and Kaszek. The raise arrives six months after its $15 million Series B bringing total financing to nearly $59 million since its 2017 inception.
As reported by TechCrunch, Hash offers “end-to-end” payment infrastructure for non-financial B2B companies looking to offer banking services — from point-of-sale (POS) software and mobile applications to dashboards and payments. Its white-label software builds customized payment services, focusing on B2B companies with large customer chains and partners.
Engineer João Miranda, founder and CEO of Hash, said that since the company’s last raise, it has grown its number of transactions by “6x” while doubling its client base to 16. Over the past year, Hash has seen 10x growth in POS transactions, and some anticipate it will top $275 million in total payment volume by year’s end.
The company’s self-proclaimed mission is to “decentralize” financial services, with an emphasis on SMEs.
Hash’s 16 direct customers use its infrastructure to provide financial services to their own customers, which are SMEs. Currently, more than 16,000 SMEs are using its complete payment services software. (TechCrunch)
Tech-driven VC leading Mexican M&A
Venture capital deals in Mexico’s burgeoning tech sector have stolen the spotlight among M&A activity in 2021, producing some of this year’s most hyped transactions in the region, and research firm Transactional Track Record (TTR) sees the trend holding strong.
In the third quarter, Mexico saw digital pre-owned car marketplace Kavak grab an additional US$700mn VC injection, brand aggregator Merama pick up US$225mn and online lender Konfio receive US$110mn.
Mexico saw a total of 37 VC deals in the third quarter (+8.82% compared to 3Q20) with combined capital of US$1.7bn (+198% over 3Q20).
“International strategic players continue to have a strong appetite in sectors related to technology, especially e-commerce – in the retail sector – and in fintech, particularly US [buyers] that are increasing their investments in LatAm, in addition to certain leading financial firms,” Marcela Chacón, TTR research and business intelligence analyst for Latin America, told BNamericas.
Chacón added that these tech trends are bubbling up across Latin America, not just Mexico.
The TTR analyst said the potential for fintechs is clear with plenty of room to grow, given the segment only represents 5% of financing in the region, “which means there’s a huge opportunity for future cross-border transactions.”
TTR reports Mexico registering 112 VC deals from January to September with a disclosed value of US$3.71bn. This represents a 47% increase in the number of operations and 297% in value, compared to the same period 2020.
Tech-driven VC and other deals were one of the few areas in M&As to fare decently in pandemic-stricken 2020.
The following TTR graphic details venture capital deals in Mexico over the first nine months of 2021 by sector in comparison to the same period last year. (BNamericas and TTR)
Sol-denominated bonds have jumped since cabinet reshuffle
Sol-denominated bonds have returned 7.9% since President Pedro Castillo accepted the resignation of his Marxist prime minister on Oct. 6 as investors cheered what seem to be a shift to the center ground for the 11-week-old government. That was the best performance among local-currency debt in emerging markets over the period. (Bloomberg)
LATAM Insurtech Crabi raises $4M in seed funding
Mexican insurtech startup, Crabi, announced a $4 million in seed investment led by Kaszek Ventures.
Crabi came out of Guadalajara as a technology solution for the car insurance industry. Its founders Cristina Carvallo and Javier Orozco created an app that enables users to quote, compare and insure their cars. Deductibles and coverage costs are also available.
According to information from the company, Crabi lets users access a 15 percent savings on insurance. This is equivalent to the commission charged by an insurance agent to manage a contract.
Insurtech: opportunity knocks for users and insurers
The Mexican market is well-positioned for a company like Crabi to expand. According to 2020 data from the Commission for the Protection of Financial Services Users (Condusef), only three out of every 10 vehicles in Mexico have insurance. Mexico ranks second in deaths per year due to this cause in Latam. Additionally, there are approximately 238 car thefts per day.
According to the 2018 National Survey of Financial Inclusion, the main factor for not insuring a vehicle is the cost of the policy. Crabi offers a digital alternative that streamlines the car insurance comparing and purchasing process.
Crabi currently has 13,000 users and YoY growth of 110 percent. (Contxt)
Copper Prices near record highs with stockpile at 47-year low
While modestly retreating on news from China that it will strive to bring down coal prices therefore easing supply disruption concerns the copper remains near all-time highs. Last week, many industrial metals, including zinc and aluminum rallied on worries the energy crunch would impact production.
Inventories of physical copper on the London Metal Exchange fell to their lowest levels since 1974 this week, according to Kingdom Futures, in a sign of strong demand. Goldman Sachs said in a recent report that metal stocks could reach an all-time low by the end of the year and “deplete entirely” by the second quarter of next year.
Industrial metals are benefiting from robust demand and supply disruptions due to rapid rises in the prices of gas and coal, which is increasing costs for mines and refiners from Chile to China. (FT, Bloomberg)
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