by Renata Samadova -

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Impact Minds: Standing Together; August 28-30, 2023; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

This event will promote networking among impact ecosystem actors to facilitate the deployment of capital in Latin America and the Caribbean. On August 27, members of the Colombia-based network Latimpacto will meet for a pre-event dinner. The main event offers sessions titled: (1) The Role of the Multilaterals Acting as

by Renata Samadova -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EIB Loans $214m to Sicredi for Solar Panels for Households, SMEs in Brazil

Banco Cooperativo Sicredi, a Brazil-based financial cooperative owned by its 6.5 million members, recently agreed to borrow EUR 200 million (USD 214 million) from the EU’s European Investment Bank (EIB). Sicredi plans to use the capital to equip houses and

by Ben Barba -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Ebanx Acquires Payment Initiator License, Accessing Pix to Simplify E-commerce Purchases in Brazil

Ebanx, a Brazil-based payments company with operations in 15 countries, recently received authorization from the Banco Central de Brasil, Brazil’s central bank, to use the bank’s instant payments platform Pix. This follows Ebanx’s acquisition of a Payment Initiation Service Provider (PISP) license from

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Cresol Baser of Brazil Borrows $12m from Huruma Fund for Farm Lending, Green Product Development, Impact Measurement

Spain’s Gawa Capital, manager of the public-private Huruma Fund, recently disbursed the fund’s first investment in Brazil, lending EUR 12 million (USD 12.1 million) to Cresol Baser, a cooperative unit of Cresol, which provides savings, loans, training and insurance to individuals, farms and other businesses. The funding is earmarked for agricultural lending, including to help farmers adapt to climate change. Huruma plans to

by Benjamin Greissman -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fintech Creditas of Brazil Buys Banking License from Andbank Brasil for $100m

The Brazil-based online lending firm Creditas recently acquired the banking license of Andorra Banc Agrícol Reig (Banco Andbank) Brasil, a member of the Andorra-based Andbank Group, for approximately BRL 500 million (USD 100 million). The deal allows Creditas to

by Adhya Singh -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Central Bank of Brazil to Apply Banking Regulations to Large Fintechs, Maintain Flexibility for New Entrants

During the course of 2023 and 2024, Banco Central Do Brasil (BACEN) will phase in tighter regulatory restrictions on large financial technology (fintech) firms in Brazil. Using the concept of proportionality, the central bank’s new rules will

by Sheen Gupta -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Banco Santander, DEG, IDB Invest, Itaú BBA Loan $150m to Banco Pan to Boost Digital Financing of Vehicles, Microenterprise, Consumption in Brazil

IDB Invest, a member of the US-based Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, is leading a loan package totaling USD 150 million for Banco Pan SA, a Brazilian commercial bank, with the aim of increasing access to digital financial services for people with low incomes. The loan funding includes USD 50 million from IDB Invest, USD 25 million from Germany’s Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG), and USD 75 million as a B loan funded in unspecified portions by Spain’s Banco Santander and Brazil’s Itaú BBA. Banco Pan plans to use the funding,

by Sheen Gupta -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fintech TerraMagna Raises $40m in Debt, Equity from Milenio, Shift, SoftBank to Boost Lending Along Agricultural Value Chains in Brazil

TerraMagna, a Brazilian agricultural financial technology (fintech) company, recently raised USD 30 million in debt and USD 10 million in equity funding from Japan’s SoftBank Group, via its SoftBank Latin America Fund, and two Brazilian finance firms, Milenio Capital and Shift Capital. The breakdown of the investments by investor and the sizes of the stakes taken have not been released. In addition to lending to sellers of agricultural inputs and tools,

by Sophie Fiala -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fintech Dinie of Brazil Raises $24m in Equity, Debt to Boost In-house API, Capacity, Securitization

Dinie, a financial technology (fintech) lender in Brazil, recently raised USD 3.8 million in a seed funding round led by Accion Venture Lab – a unit of US-based nonprofit Accion – and US-based investment firm K50 Ventures. The other participants were

by Harriet Ritchie -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Nubank of Brazil Raises $750m in Equity, Mostly from Berkshire Hathaway, Sands Capital to Support Expansion in Latin America

Brazil-based digital bank Nubank recently raised USD 500 million from US-based holding company Berkshire Hathaway to help Nubank: (1) strengthen its management team with additional hires; (2)

by Harriet Ritchie -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Positive Ventures of Brazil Raises $10m for Impact Fund Supporting Cleantech, Education, Fintech, Health

Positive Ventures, a Brazilian venture capital and private equity firm, recently raised USD 10 million for an impact investment fund from its limited partners, including Cândido Bracher, who previously served as Chairman of Brazil-based Itaú Unibanco; Teresa Bracher; and Luis Stuhlberger, who co-founded Brazil-based Verde Asset Management. Positive Ventures invests in companies seeking to “create an economic, social and

by Harriet Ritchie -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microsoft, IFC to Support Women Entrepreneurs, Forcibly Displaced Populations in Brazil with Business, ESG, Technology Training

Microsoft, a US-based technology firm, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, recently entered a partnership to deliver business and technology training in Brazil. This is to result in: (1) a publicly available workshop on January 26 regarding how to incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) elements into a young business; (2) technology train

by Nathan Kiplagat -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IDB Loans $750m to BNDES to Support MSMEs in Brazil During COVID-19 Pandemic

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), whose membership comprises 48 nations, recently loaned USD 750 million to Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (BNDES), the Brazilian government’s development bank, to support micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Brazil that have seen significant drops in revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic. The loan is expected to enable

by Simrun Kothari -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Central Bank of Brazil Launching Open Banking Regulations in Partnership with TecBan, Ozone

Banco Central do Brasil (BCB), the central bank of Brazil, is introducing open banking regulations “enabling licensed institutions to share customer data” with the goal of encouraging “the rise of comparison platforms, financial management tools and more customer-friendly payment initiation procedures.” The central bank plans to

by Michelle Fleming -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Banco Santander, IFC Lending $300m to Bradesco to Support MSMEs in Brazil

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has agreed to syndicate a loan of USD 300 million for Brazil’s Banco Bradesco to support its lending to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). IFC and