Latin American fintechs remain the main venture capital success story in technology in the region, with local and, above all, global funds betting large checks on these companies.
Several recent announcements of investments corroborate the continuation of this trend.
In Brazil, fintech Jota has completed a US$30 million (mn) Series A venture capital round with the US fund Haun Ventures. This is the manager’s first investment in a Brazilian startup, and the transaction values Jota at US$185 million.
According to the companies, the investment aims to boost the expansion of Jota’s digital account, known for having developed a financial assistant based on artificial intelligence (AI).
On the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) front, the U.S. fintech Tilt, formerly known as Empower Finance, acquired the Brazilian company Blipay, focused on salary advances and with more than 6 million registered users.
Tilt said that the transaction, whose amounts were not disclosed, gives it immediate presence in the largest consumer credit market in Latin America and marks its fourth entry into a market outside the United States, after Mexico, the Philippines, and India.
“Blipay shares our mission and has already demonstrated that it can serve customers whom traditional lenders have left behind. We are bringing our global infrastructure and everything we have learned in Mexico, the Philippines, and India to one of the most attractive credit markets in the world, building on the solid foundation created by Blipay,” the company said in a statement.
Tilt is headquartered in San Francisco, California, and its Tilt Line of Credit is provided by FinWise Bank. The sale of Blipay also marks the first divestment by the manager SRM Ventures.
In Chile, the fintech Blanco, focused on providing digital financial services and factoring solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), raised US$5.2 million in a seed round led by Krealo.
Krealo is the innovation and corporate venture capital arm of the Credicorp Group, a leading financial services holding company in Peru with operations in Peru, Chile, Colombia, Bolivia, Panama and Miami.
Blanco automates the process of credit analysis and receivables anticipation using artificial intelligence (AI), allowing companies to carry out transactions directly via WhatsApp.
In Colombia, investors’ bet was on a fintech already established in the market and specialized in the “buy now, pay later” segment.
Addi raised US$86 million in a Series D round that marked the debut of the Brazilian investment bank BTG Pactual in an international growth equity investment (capital for companies in expansion). The investment in the Colombian company was co-led by the manager Citius, from Luxembourg, which is also headquartered in Dubai.
In addition to BTG Pactual and Citius, the Singapore sovereign fund GIC and the asset manager Monashees also took part.
With the new capital injection, Addi reached a market valuation close to US$1 billion (bn), becoming a potential new unicorn.
Payments, open finance and credit
In addition to credit, according to a February report by Fitch, instant payments and open finance initiatives are becoming central pillars of the expansion of fintechs in the region.
“The sector is accelerating the digitalization of payments and enabling data sharing on a larger scale, especially in Brazil, which has the most advanced ecosystem in Latin America”, the analysis says.
Despite this, Fitch believes that the greater penetration of credit promoted by fintechs remains limited due to still high costs.
In the macroeconomic sphere, divergent monetary policy paths and risks to global trade may reprice yield curves and increase uncertainty regarding the sector’s funding costs, the agency notes.
Among other challenges highlighted by Fitch for fintechs in 2026 is the increase in political uncertainty associated with electoral cycles in Brazil, Colombia, and Peru.
For Fitch, this may increase market volatility, narrowing issuance windows and raising funding costs and refinancing risk, especially for issuers dependent on external markets. The agency also highlights the growing use of securitization in some jurisdictions.
“While they may support growth and improve the alignment between assets and liabilities, these structures increase exposure to changes in investor appetite and market access. Difficulties faced by a fintech can trigger contagion through reputational risk and loss of confidence across the entire sector. They can also lead to regulatory adjustments that challenge or limit these institutions’ long-term prospects.”
Of the more than 23 thousand active startups in Latin America at the end of 2025, around 3,500 were fintechs, according to data from Distrito, a platform specializing in startups and venture capital.
This represents 14% of the total, consolidating the segment as the most representative in the region.
Brazil was leading with 1.706 fintechs in operation, followed by Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina.
(The original version of this content was written in Portuguese)