Mexico's ecosystem of fintechs and VC grows with recent developments

Contxto – This is a two for one in news, readers.

Starting off, according to Finnovista’s white paper “Latin America: Global Investors’ New Fintech Frontier,” Catalan software developer Latinia is a key player in Mexico’s fintechs. Specifically, the corporate venture capital (VC) firm from Spain is the largest investor in Finnovista’s Startupbootcamp accelerator program.

And your second news piece of the day is regarding Mexican VCs Angel Ventures and Dila Capital. The former led the recent investment round for Spanish startup, ByHours, and the latter contributed alongside other investors. The funds will help the startup consolidate its operations in Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East.

I know what you’re thinking: what’s this have to do with Latin America?

Simple, these (apparently) unrelated events share a common denominator: an expansion of Mexico’s startup ecosystem both inwards and abroad.

Latinia’s interest in Latam

We’ve briefly talked about Latinia before. This software developer from Barcelona has already invested directly in startups from Latin America such as Uruguayan Prometeo and Mexican Flink. And indirectly as well through Finnovista’s Startupbootcamp.

And it’s clear that Latinia has a soft spot for business to business (B2B) fintechs.

The motives behind it can be found in a recent press release from the Catalan-based developer. In it, the company’s Director of Corporate Development, Oriol Ross stated that its customers (banks) are often looking for reliable Latam fintechs with eyes on the ground.

And certainly investing in them is a strategic way to cozy up with these startups.

Related article: Top 9 Venture Capital funds in Mexico

Angel Ventures takes the investment lead

Of course, we don’t know exactly how much the Mexicans VCs pitched in. But the round was for a total of €8 million (about US$8.8 million). And according to a press release, equity was drawn from the Pacific Alliance Fund II.

And it’s interesting to observe how a VC from Mexico’s ecosystem led the way in an investment round beyond its native country. Likewise, it can be seen as a sign of growing maturity and vision for the VC.

Plus, it favors networking that in the future may translate into the arrival of foreign investors to Mexico and Latin America as well.

Related articles: Tech and startups in Mexico!

-ML