Latin America
Impact Investing | May 2, 2024
How Big Tech can restore forests – and credibility in voluntary carbon markets
In the state of Michoacan in western Mexico, indigenous communities have secured Forest Stewardship Council certification for their sustainably managed biodiverse temperate forests. …
Latin America | May 1, 2024
BTG Pactual’s Timberland Investment Group secures $1.2 billion for timberland in Latin America
Timberland Investment Group, a division of Brazilian bank BTG Pactual, closed its inaugural Latin America timberland fund with $860 million in 2015. The …
Latin America | April 30, 2024
In Puerto Rico, mobilizing billions for economic mobility with capital from across the spectrum
Puerto Rico has a window in which to turn disaster recovery into economic revival. “We didn’t choose it, but this is our time,” …
ImpactAlpha Latin America | April 30, 2024
ImpactAlpha Latin America: Turning disaster into revival in Puerto Rico
Saludos, Agents of Impact! 👋 Welcome to the latest edition of ImpactAlpha Latin America. Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to join Eduardo Carrera (above) in …
Latin America | April 30, 2024
Latin American family offices add investing tools to philanthropic toolkit
Latin America is witnessing a transformative trend in family office philanthropy: the shift towards impact investing. Traditionally, philanthropy in the region has been …
Latin America | April 30, 2024
These impact investors are finding opportunities and doing deals in Latin America (videos)
How will more investors increase their allocations of capital to Latin American impact funds and ventures scale up? One by one. “We think …
ImpactAlpha Latin America | April 30, 2024
How Fundación Bancolombia invests in Colombia’s small businesses for rural economic development
Rural economic development is a complex issue, including in Colombia. Rural regions are often culturally diverse areas, but have limited access to quality …
ImpactAlpha Latin America | April 30, 2024
IMPAQTO Capital backs Ecuadorian healthy snacks company Cusi (video)
Cusi sources quinoa, yucca, green plantains, cocoa and other local plants for its line of healthy snack foods from 60 smallholder farmers and …
Latin America | April 25, 2024
IDB Lab backs small businesses in Paraguay and health access in Ecuador
The Inter-American Development Bank’s experimental venture funding group IDB Lab provided a $3 million anchor investment for iThink VC, an investment firm that …
Climate Finance | April 17, 2024
Astarte Capital and Silvipar raise $325 million for sustainable forestry in Paraguay
Paraguay is one of the poorest countries in South America. It also has one of the highest rates of tropical deforestation in the …
Catalytic Capital | April 9, 2024
The impact investing opportunity in Puerto Rico’s economic comeback
In one of Puerto Rico’s poorest neighborhoods, you can find what economists might call a “green shoot.” The plan for Oasis, a six-acre, …
Latin America | April 8, 2024
Sustainable tourism in the Galapagos Islands gets a boost with Quasar Expeditions’ $14 million loan
Tourism, a key source of livelihoods in communities in the Galapagos, also poses a major threat to the ecosystem’s stunning biodiversity. Quasar Expeditions …
Latin America | March 27, 2024
The path to growth in Brazil runs through the impact economy (videos)
Sign up for ImpactAlpha Latin America to follow the people and money powering Latin America and the Caribbean’s impact economy. In May, thousands of visitors …
ImpactAlpha Latin America | March 27, 2024
ImpactAlpha Latin America: Investing in Brazil’s impact economy
Sign up for ImpactAlpha Latin America to follow the people and money powering Latin America and the Caribbean’s impact economy. Saludos, Agents of Impact! 👋 …
Impact Voices | March 27, 2024
Investing in life vs. tech: Lifting up nature-based solutions for ecosystems and communities
“We need to invest in life, rather than expensive infrastructure investments,” Anne van Leeuwen, a founding farmer from the European Alliance for Regenerative Agriculture, pleaded …
Latin America | March 27, 2024
Mexico’s Savia Ventures backs Chilean alt-protein startup Done Properly (video)
Santiago-based biotech company Done Properly uses fermentation to produce healthy and sustainable food alternatives, including meat and additives. Mexico City-based climate tech VC …
Climate Finance | March 27, 2024
New Global Innovation Lab cohort dives into regional climate finance solutions
Climate Policy Initiative’s decade-old Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance has mobilized $4 billion to urgent climate efforts in the Global South. To …
Impact Voices | March 26, 2024
Why Beta Impacto combined venture capital and an NGO to scale impact in Latin America
Over the past 15 years, my personal journey has been dedicated to making the world a better place, navigating through various stages of …
Latin America | March 12, 2024
Potencia Ventures backs Trampay to bank gig economy workers in Brazil (video)
On-demand delivery of food, packages and other products provides much-need income for millions of workers in Brazil. For such gig workers, schedules and …
Latin America | March 8, 2024
Atta impact-first venture fund targets “missing middle” social enterprise in Mesoamerica region
ImpactAlpha, March 8 — New funds are emerging out of Latin America and the Caribbean as the region’s impact ecosystem comes together and …
Latin America | March 4, 2024
FLII feeds investor optimism and urgency about Latin America’s future
Sign up for ImpactAlpha Latin America to follow the people and money powering Latin America and the Caribbean’s impact economy. ImpactAlpha, Mar. 4 – Agents of …
Latin America | February 26, 2024
Latin America’s impact ecosystem, built over decades, is primed for takeoff
Sign up for ImpactAlpha Latin America to follow the people and money powering Latin America and the Caribbean’s impact economy. ImpactAlpha, Feb. 26 …
ImpactAlpha Latin America | February 26, 2024
ImpactAlpha Latin America: Growing the impact ecosystem
Saludos, Agents of Impact! 👋 Welcome to ImpactAlpha Latin America, our specialized monthly newsletter bringing you year-round coverage of the news, voices and dealmaking …
Impact Voices | February 26, 2024
How Estímulo is blending finance for Brazil’s small businesses
Estímulo’s story stands as a compelling testament to the transformative power of blended finance in addressing some of the most pressing challenges facing …
Impact Voices | February 26, 2024
Designing catalytic loan products for impact companies in Latin America
When we set off to invest our first fund in 2019, we developed an investment strategy which we believed filled a gap in …
Latin America | February 26, 2024
Blue like an Orange provides $18 million in financing to Mexican lender Fuentebuena
ImpactAlpha, February 26 — Monterrey-based Fuentebuena works with more than 150 municipalities in Mexico to provide payroll loans to unbanked and underbanked city …
Impact Voices | February 26, 2024
Five reasons Latin America and the Caribbean are attracting impact investors
Investing in Latin America and the Caribbean’s impact ecosystem represents an opportunity to generate financial returns and make a meaningful difference by addressing …
Inclusive Economy | February 5, 2024
Impaqto Capital backs Sinba’s recycling services in Peru
ImpactAlpha, February 5 – Sinba provides recycling services for 1,500 residential customers and 70 companies, including Starbucks, Nestle and Coca-Cola. Its services help …
Inclusive Economy | January 26, 2024
Deal Spotlight: ‘Missing middle’ lending to social enterprises in Latin America (video).
ImpactAlpha, January 26 — In Peru, Shanantina works with Indigenous communities to cultivate sacha inchi, a nut native to the Amazon. Cedros Cafe, …
Impact Voices | December 14, 2023
Why this Latin American venture fund is listening to customers to drive impact and returns
How common is deep impact measurement for an impact investing fund? In practice, most funds focus primarily on measuring outputs, such as the …
Inclusive Economy | November 9, 2023
ALIVE Ventures backs Teclogi to support truckers in Colombia
ImpactAlpha, November 9 – Logistics inefficiencies clog the movement of goods, drive up costs, and create unsafe road conditions in Colombia. Bogota-based Teclogi …
Latin America | November 6, 2023
Pomona scores backing from the DFC and IFC for small businesses in Latin America
ImpactAlpha, November 6 – Pomona Impact Management has made 28 investments since 2011 to support small businesses in Central America. It stretched a …
Smallholder Agriculture | November 1, 2023
Verqor scores $7.5 million to provide digital credit to Mexico’s farmers
ImpactAlpha, November 1 – More than three-quarters of Mexico’s five million farmers do not earn sufficient income to live. Mexico City-based Verqor provides …
Financial Inclusion | October 26, 2023
Colombian microfinance lender UNI2 snags $3 million in debt from Triodos funds
ImpactAlpha, October 26 — Decades of armed conflict has exacerbated access to credit, payments, insurance and other forms of financial services for households …
Gender Smart | October 19, 2023
Through a gender lens in Latin America, investors see opportunities for impact and alpha (videos)
Oct. 19, Medellín – The women of Comuna 13, a sprawling neighborhood in the hills above downtown Medellín, turned to graffiti art, hip-hop music …
Inclusive Economy | September 19, 2023
Mottu raises $50 million for motorcycle rentals for Latin American gig workers
ImpactAlpha, September 19 — São Paulo-based Mottu launched in 2020 to train, finance and insure motorbikes for gig delivery workers. Last year, it …
Podcasts | September 1, 2023
Democratizing gender lens investing in Latin America
Pro Mujer’s Carmen Correa joins host Monique Aiken to share how the pioneering Latin American microfinance institution’s bonds are democratizing gender lens investing …
Gender Smart | August 21, 2023
With gender bonds, Pro Mujer puts Argentina’s capital markets to work for female entrepreneurs
ImpactAlpha, Aug. 21 – The amounts are small, but the implications could be profound. When micro lender Pro Mujer earlier this year distributed …
Smallholder Agriculture | July 27, 2023
Culttivo raises $14.5 million to extend credit to Brazil’s small-scale coffee producers
ImpactAlpha, July 27 – Brazil is the world’s largest producer of coffee. Most beans are grown and harvested by small producers, whose livelihoods …
Inclusive Economy | June 29, 2023
BlueOrchard secures $100 million to back underserved small enterprises in Latin America and the Caribbean
ImpactAlpha, June 30 — Swiss impact investor BlueOrchard, in partnership with Global Affairs Canada and IDB Invest, is launching a private debt fund …
Education Tech | May 11, 2023
BeeReaders raises $3.5 million to close the literacy gap for Spanish-speaking students
ImpactAlpha, May 11 — Austin-based edtech venture BeeReaders provides customized and culturally-relevant Spanish reading and writing content to 500 schools and 250,000 K-12 …
Dealflow | May 9, 2023
El Salvador’s Cubo raises $3.5 million to digitize payments for small businesses
ImpactAlpha, May 9 — El Salvador’s Cubo launched in 2021 with an easy-to-use digital solution for micro and small enterprises in Central America …
Investing in Health | May 8, 2023
How impact incentives brought a dental care startup back to its roots in rural Ecuador
ImpactAlpha, May 8 – Dental care is often an afterthought in global health. But as anyone who’s had a toothache knows, it can …
Financial Inclusion | May 8, 2023
Mexican embedded finance venture R2 secures $100 million line of credit from Community Investment Management
ImpactAlpha, May 8 — R2 has secured a $100 million from San Francisco-based impact investor Community Investment Management. The Mexico City-based venture provides …
Emerging and Growth Markets | May 1, 2023
Beneficial Returns backs Elisur Organic to help Peru’s coffee farmers diversify their crops
ImpactAlpha, May 1 – The world’s coffee supply—and the farmers that grow it—is threatened by climate change. Some coffee specialists are trying to …