Brazil’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI) has approved a 1.5 billion reais (US$285 million) loan for the flood-hit state of Rio Grande do Sul.
The funding will be made available to innovative companies based in the state, and an additional 65 million reais has been approved for the renovation of a research center.
Of the total amount provided to innovation companies, about 60 percent will be for small and medium-sized enterprises, with 1 billion reais to be provided through Banlisul Bank of Rio Grande do Sul. According to the government, interest rates on these loans will be lower than the market average.
Chile Increases Science and Technology Budget
Chile’s Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation boasted increased budgets dedicated to projects and investments.
Minister Aysen Echeverry said the investment portfolio will increase by 100 billion pesos (about US$110 million) from 2023 to 2024 compared to the previous period.
The Minister also mentioned the 4,100 Fondecyt (Public Science Fund) projects approved for 2022 and beyond, as well as 900 national doctorate scholarships and 81 scientific start-up projects approved for 2023.
Echeverry highlighted a new AI law, a plan to attract data center investment, a technological knowledge transfer project to universities, and programs on lithium, sustainability and climate change as the ministry’s main achievements for 2023-2024.
German DEG strengthens Latin American climate fund
Germany’s DEG has invested US$20 million in DIC Latin America Fund IV, LP (Derby IV), a fund managed by Derby International Capital.
The sector-agnostic fund will back mid-sized companies with a minimum of 40% of its investments in climate finance transactions.
“With this financing, DEG will provide scarce long-term risk capital through Darby IV to primarily family-owned businesses in Latin America, filling a funding gap that is often ignored by banks and other financial institutions in a tough financing environment,” DEG said.
Actis raises seed funding from Espirito Santo Fund
Actis, a Brazilian startup focused on laboratory management systems, has raised R$1.2 million in a seed round led by InvesTech through its FUNSES1 fund, with participation from TM3 Capital.
Funses is the sovereign wealth fund of the state of Espirito Santo and is managed by TM3 Capital. The fund, which had already invested in Actis, made a follow-on offer. Funses’ funding is partly provided by Bandes, the state development bank.
Actiz intends to use the proceeds for product development, expanding its sales team and signing new customers, particularly in the pharmaceutical, animal health, cosmetics, chemical, food and beverage industries, and service provider laboratories.
KPMG Brazil integrates Accountfy into its portfolio
KPMG Brasil will integrate the services of Accountfy, a software-as-a-service (Saas) platform, with its financial and accounting management solutions.
The integration comes following Accountfy’s participation in KPMG Brasil’s Emerging Giants Startups Program. KPMG said Accountfy’s services will help mid-sized and large businesses looking for ways to improve the agility, efficiency and automation of their processes.
BeConfident Gains Trust from Angel Investors in Seed Round
BeConfident, a Brazilian startup that offers AI-based English conversation courses via WhatsApp, has secured R$2.5 million in a seed round that included participation from 20 angel investors.
These investors are C-level executives from companies such as Duolinguo, Layers, Quinto Andar, 99, Rappi and Passei Direto.
The startup won the seventh HackBrazil competition, a competition born out of the Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) “Brazil Conference” event, the most recent of which took place in Boston in April.
TransNetwork Acquires Inswitch for Latin American Remittances
TransNetwork, a B2B payments infrastructure platform for instant funds movement in the Americas, has announced the acquisition of Inswitch, a provider of embedded financial technology.
TransNetwork said in a statement that the transaction is expected to accelerate the development of its digital product suite for cross-border payments in Latin America.
The acquisition, details of which were not disclosed, will see Inswitch’s payments network and instant funds transfer capabilities integrated with Inswitch’s financial technology solutions delivered through its API-based core platform.
