By: Pedro Blas, Gyoung Joo Choe y Ana Carolina Lustosa.
IDB Lab, the innovation and venture arm of the Inter-American Development Bank Group, announced that it will make an equity investment in the NXTP III Fund, a regional venture capital fund focused on early-stage technology-based companies in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Fund seeks to invest seed capital in up to 25 startups that are developing solutions in sectors with high growth potential and impact, with a special focus on those with Business-to-Business (B2B) business models. In particular, the Fund would support software companies building long-term competitive advantages in underpenetrated markets, with extensive experience in Cloud & SaaS, LogisticsTech, B2B marketplaces, Fintech, artificial intelligence, and information services.
Through the proposed investment in the NXTP III Fund, IDB Lab is helping to expand access to financing for dynamic entrepreneurs seeking to solve the structural challenges facing the region with the support of technology. "The NXTP III thesis is solidly aligned with IDB Lab's mission to catalyze innovation for inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Fund addresses an acute gap in smart seed capital financing for B2B startup entrepreneurs whose solutions enable the removal of barriers to digital transformation and increase the productivity of the SMEs that use them," said Magdalena Coronel, CIO of IDB Lab. "In particular, we recognize NXTP III's regional strategy that, in addition to investing in startups in more developed ecosystems, also targets nascent ecosystems, which generates knowledge transfer and regional integration," according to Carolina Lustosa and Gyoung Joo Choe, team leaders of the project.
The Fund's management team, led by Marta Cruz, Ariel Arrieta, Gonzalo Costa, Alexander Busse and Darly Bendo, has invested in +200 startups since 2011, through predecessor funds NXTP I and II, including early investments in Auth0, Mural, Nuvemshop/Tiendanube, Betterfly, Cobly, Inventa, and many others. "Most SMEs in our region face serious difficulties to innovate and carry out the technological transformation needed to meet the demands of the new generations. We see more and more opportunities to invest in extraordinary teams that are creating scalable companies that will help address this issue, and NXTP is in a unique position to identify and accompany them in that process of sustained growth, I also express our gratitude to the IDB Lab team, which is partnering again in this new fund, and to all the teams of founders of our portfolio companies that are also joining us to fulfill our vision," said Marta Cruz, Co-founder & General Partner."