Key facts:
Total venture capital investments in the region reached USD 15.7 billion.
Mercado Bitcoin, Bitso and Ripio are among the firms that received the most financing.
In the annual report of the Private Investment Association in Latin America (LAVCA), a significant growth of venture capital aimed at companies in the region was evidenced. Total investment nearly quadrupled from 2020 to 2021, while investment in bitcoin and other cryptocurrency, decentralized finance (DeFi) and blockchain companies increased 10-fold in the same period.
Point out the report than the total financing of venture capital projects in the subcontinent went from USD 4,143 million in 2020, to USD 15,736 million in 2021which represents an annual growth of 279%.
The growth of financing for specific projects in the areas of cryptocurrencies, DeFi and blockchain was much higher, since increased from USD 68 million to USD 653 million in the same periodor an 860% increase.
The flow of venture capital into the crypto space was concentrated on exchanges and retail trading platforms, the report says. These include the Brazilian exchange Mercado Bitcoin, which received USD 290 million in three rounds, Bitso (USD 250 million, Ripio (USD 50 million), and Lemon Cash (USD 17.1 million).
Beyond companies aimed at directly serving consumers, companies in the business-to-business (B2B) area also received financial support. Some of them are Liqi ($5.5 million), Gavea Marketplace ($5 million), and Agrotoken ($5 million).
In an exclusive interview with CriptoNoticias, at the beginning of last December, the director of Mercado Bitcoin, Fabrício Tota, explained that part of the financing obtained is being used to expand the exchange’s operations to Mexico, Argentina, Colombia and Chile. Then they plan to continue in other countries in the region, Tota said.
Similarly, Ripio, the Argentine cryptocurrency exchange, will also allocate venture capital raised in one of the 2021 rounds to the expansion of its operations to Mexico, Uruguay, Colombia and Spain, as reported by CriptoNoticias in mid-September. .
The exchange of Mexican origin Bitso, for its part, announced last week the start of an alliance with Banco de Bogotá, to start the sale of cryptocurrencies in Colombia, within the framework of the regulatory sandbox coordinated by the Financial Superintendence of Colombia (SFC).