Seaya Ventures and Cathay Innovation today announced the first close of a $125M multi-sector fund for startups across Latin America redefining industry and society. Based out of Mexico City, the Seaya Cathay Latam Fund aims to be the direct link for local, purpose-driven entrepreneurs to the worldwide resources needed to build and scale resilient businesses leading markets on the regional or global stage.
The new fund invests in transformative technology companies focusing on Series A and B with reserves for follow-on rounds. It also embeds sustainability into the investment cycle to give startups the tools to grow responsibly while maximizing impact. This includes consumer and enterprise startups in fintech and proptech to mobility, healthtech, food, agriculture, cybersecurity and more. In September, the team made its first investment in Chilean fintech Xepelin’s $230M round. Other previous investments in the region include Mexico’s Kueski and Lana, Brazil’s Facily and alt.bank, Colombia’s RobinFood and Chile’s Fracttal.
“We’re looking for exceptional founders building innovative technologies and business models that will have a lasting, positive impact on Latin America,” said Beatriz Gonzalez, Founder and Managing Partner, Seaya Ventures. “With Cathay’s global reach and Seaya’s local edge, we can bring real value by helping startups capitalize on emerging trends across the world with localized, hands-on support. Our experience helping companies expand to and from Latam, creating global winners, is what sets us apart,” said Pablo Pedrejón, Principal, Seaya Ventures.
The news follows April’s formal partnership announcement, which brought together both firm’s expansive investment platforms, combining Seeya’s local edge, and Cathay’s corporate ecosystem of investors and strategic partners covering Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and Latin America. By fusing local expertise with a global platform under a single fund, Latam startups can gain unique value beyond capital with access to deep, multi-sector insights along with potential corporate partners or customers to fuel business development and activate growth.
“Latam is approaching the tipping point with a burgeoning tech sector and rising middle-class fueling rapid growth,” said Jacky Abitbol, Managing Partner, Cathay Innovation. “Similar to what we saw in China and Southeast Asia, there’s a large equity gap, a growing talent pool and VC allocations. Startups can now adapt innovation to local market needs, building inclusive, digital-first industries from the ground up. With our Latam fund, and a joint platform of $4.6B AUM, we can invest and follow along every step of this entrepreneurial journey — something unique in the market today.”
The teams have proven track records investing in 17 unicorns and several breakout startups including Spain’s Glovo, Cabify and Wallbox (NYSE:WBX) as well as Chime Bank in the US, Paris-based Ledger and China’s Pinduoduo (NASDAQ:PDD). Leading local investments for the Latam fund is Federico Gómez Romero, who brings over 12 years of experience and most recently led Latam activities for seed fintech fund Accion Venture Lab. Previously, he was an investment banker at Lazard before launching several startups and becoming CEO at Credility, an SME lending platform in Argentina.