Narayan AmmachchiVenture capital firm Kaszek raised US$975 million this week, sparking optimism among tech startups in Latin America, most of whom have seen their coffers drain since the US Federal Reserve began raising interest rates.
Part of the funds will be funneled into LATAM startups already supported by Kaszek. The rest will fund budding entrepreneurs with innovative products and services, the Buenos Aires-headquartered VC explained.
Wall Street investors were (until recently) Kaszek’s top funders. This time, though, the firm raised money from a diverse group that includes nonprofits in US universities, charities and financial institutions.
Kaszek’s success in raising funds is good news for the LATAM startup community. The firm is considered a “seed capital provider” in the region; the 120 companies it initially funded collectively raised more than US$15.5 billion from other investors.
Kaszek has raised more than US$3 billion since its founding in Argentina in 2011, with more than a dozen of the startups it has funded achieving unicorn status, including Nubank, Kavak, Clara, Bitso and Credijusto.
Kaszek has been looking to bet on startups that either build digital payment infrastructure or develop innovative technical solutions to combat climate change.
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