Q3’21 Venture Pulse Report - Americas

Outside of the US, blockchain was a major winner of VC investment this quarter. Antigua-based FTX and Brazil-based Mercado Bitcoin — both crypto exchanges — raised $900 million and $200 million respectively, while Canada based crypto-financial company Blockstream raised $167 million

The fintech sector more broadly also remained very hot across the Americas, including a $1.15 billion raise by Nubank, a $1.1 billion raise by US-based Chime, a $510 million raise by US-based Varo, and a $112 million raise by Brazil-based Omie.

Canada saw incredibly high levels of VC investment in Q1’21 and Q2’21 due to pent-up demand, significant amounts of dry powder, and a sense of excitement in the market. After two record quarters VC investment dropped in Q3’21, although it remained very solid compared to historical trends.

Companies from a wide-range of sectors and locations attracted VC investment in Canada this quarter, including drug discovery company Deep Genomics ($180 million), travel company Hopper ($175 million), blockchain-focused Blockstream Corporation ($167 million), accounting software firm Freshbooks ($135.75 million), fintech platform Flinks ($103 million), and security firm 1Password ($100 million). With their Q3’21 funding rounds, Blockstream, Freshbooks, and 1Password became Canada’s newest unicorn companies.

Latin America saw strong investment in Q3’21, with numerous jurisdictions in the region attracting large rounds. Columbia-based Rappi, Argentina-based Tiendanube (i.e., also known as Nuvemshop), and Mexico-based Kavak each raised $500 million+ rounds. Meanwhile, Brazil saw numerous $100 million+ funding rounds; e-commerce platform Nuvemshop raised $500 million¹, real estate company Quinto Andar raised $420 million, crypto exchange Mercado Bitcoin raised $200 million, ride hailing and delivery driver focused car rental company Kovi raised $124 million, digital ID company Unico raised $120.9 million, payments company Cora raised $114.5 million, and business management platform Omie raised $112 million.

Given the increasing deal sizes, unicorn births have also occurred more frequently in Latin America in recent quarters. In Q3’21, Tiendanube6 and Unico both achieved unicorn status.

VC investment in the Americas is expected to be quite strong in Q4’21 — not only in the US, but also in Canada and across Latin America. As startups across sectors continue to mature, deal sizes will likely also continue to grow. Fintech investment is expected to remain very hot, in addition to logistics and delivery, and health and biotech.

After a quiet Q3’21, exit activity is expected to come roaring back in Q4’2; this will likely include a strong mix of traditional IPO activity and M&A.