Startups of the Month 🚀 May Edition

Startups of the Month 🚀 May Edition

Different sectors of startups are producing and integrating AI into their products and services, reinforcing the necessity for businesses to innovate in this AI race.

One of these sectors is HRTech. On the Sling Hub platform, there are 15 Brazilian AI HRTechs, categorized as AI First and AI Enabled. Looking at all sectors, there are over 200 Brazilian startups producing and integrating AI models into their services and products.

Rocketmat AI is an example of a business combining solutions for hiring and human resources management through AI. Recently, the startup launched AI Aidan, a service that accelerates and optimizes the search for professionals using the capabilities of Generative AI and was one of the startups selected by the Google AI Academy program.

It's no surprise that Rocketmat AI led the Startups of the Month 🚀 May Edition ranking. Tiago Machado, Founder and CEO, highlights how AI can increasingly revolutionize the recruitment process:

“Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing recruitment by automating repetitive tasks, enhancing candidate screening and selection, reducing biases and improving the candidate experience, making the process more efficient and fair. In the near future, HRTechs incorporating AI into their solutions will provide intelligent and more accurate analyses, acting as an accelerator for new and better job opportunities, as well as contributing to the development of people within organizations.”

Another highlight of Startups of the Month is CloudWalk, which raised USD$303M. We'll talk more about this round later in this edition 😉

MadeiraMadeira, Arado, Magie, Medway and the Mexican Merama complete this month's ranking.

Yduqs - sponsor of the edition

This edition of Startups of the Month is supported by Yduqs, a client of Sling Hub and partner in various innovative projects.

Yduqs has been achieving increasingly significant results in open innovation. Last year, for example, the corporation was ranked TOP 1 in the Educational Services category by the 100 Open Startups Ranking. One reason for this strength in the educational sector is their Yduqs Labs program.

“Yduqs Labs, our innovation laboratory launched in 2022, is the materialization of our strategy centered on open and collaborative innovation. By actively integrating into the innovation ecosystem, we establish partnerships with startups to solve current challenges and drive future opportunities. From Proofs of Concept to acquisitions, we explore various models of engagement with startups. To quickly absorb the value generated by these partnerships, we implement a "fast track" in our procurement, technology and legal processes, while collaborating with business areas through agile methodologies for consistent delivery. This approach, combined with a culture of innovation, has allowed us to mature in adopting innovations at scale, adding value to our community, especially to our students and teachers,” says Isabel Brandao, Innovation Coordinator at Yduqs.

⏩ Show up

Sling Hub is the largest LatAm platform used by corporations and investors. In February alone, there were over 3.4K accesses and more than 1.6K startups searched.

Want your profile to appear for major players in the ecosystem and stand out as Startup of the Month? Your chances increase if your profile is up-to-date on Sling Hub.

Access here and complete your information in just a few minutes. It's free!

⏩ Did you see that?

Kanastra, a FinTech offering back-office solutions for structured funds and securitization vehicles, raised USD$20M in a Series A round with Kaszek.

Somos Young, an ecosystem of solutions for higher education institutions, raised ~USD$12.3M with Banco BS2 and BPS Capital.

Semexe, a marketplace for used sports equipment, raised USD$760K with Hiker.

⏩ Once a king, always a king

FinTechs secured 71% of all funding raised in Latin America in May, solidifying the sector's leadership, according to Sling Hub data.

In May, the Brazilian FinTech CloudWalk, Inc. secured an impressive USD$308M receivables fund, marking the largest round of the year in Latin America. This deal significantly contributed to last month's total volume in the region, reaching a notable USD$847M.

The FinTech sector alone raised USD$601M — an incredible increase compared to the USD$339M raised by Latin American FinTechs in April.

Among the 100 FinTech rounds in Latin America from January to May, it's noteworthy that 10 were debt rounds and 9 were receivables funds.

Interestingly, none of the top five rounds, ranging from USD$80M to USD$308M, involved equity financing.

In a recent interview with Danylo Martins 🏳️‍🌈, co-founder and editor of Finsiders Brasil, he highlighted that "sometimes companies cannot raise equity financing and opt for debt alternatives, influenced by risk aversion and high-interest rates." The full conversation is available here.

The standout rounds of the year were led by startups from Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia, with key investors like Itaú Unibanco (CloudWalk, Inc. and Pravaler), General Atlantic (Bold.co and QI Tech) and Goldman Sachs (Addi and Simetrik).

⏩ Networking with potential investors

Netwoo, a platform that uses AI to generate more accurate networking, has just launched Investors & Founders, an event focused on startups connecting with angel investors, venture capital funds, accelerators, corporations and funding entities.

This is your opportunity to understand how to raise investments for new businesses and expand your network.

Join the next edition of Investors & Founders on June 14th at Arca Hub, Rio de Janeiro! Free event. Register here.

⏩ For today, that's all!

Thank you for reading this far! I hope you enjoyed another edition of Copilot News!

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