INFOGRAPHIC: LATAM's Top Weekly Startup Funding — Week 21, 2025

It was a notable week for Brazil’s innovation ecosystem, with startups across climate tech, fintech, AI, and real estate securing fresh capital to scale their operations. From forest restoration and financial inclusion to AI governance and automated property management, these companies are addressing key challenges across the country’s economic and environmental landscapes.

Openlayer, a Brazilian-founded AI startup, raised $14.5 million in a Series A round led by Race Capital, with participation from investors such as NXTP, Mindset Ventures, Y Combinator, and others. The company offers an AI testing and governance platform designed to help enterprises evaluate model performance, run pre- and post-deployment tests, and detect issues before they affect users. With its latest funding, Openlayer plans to accelerate product development, expand its team, and broaden its reach across key industries and global markets. The startup, which emerged from Y Combinator’s Summer 2021 batch, reported a nearly 5x increase in product development output in 2024.

re.green, a Brazilian company specialising in large-scale forest restoration, secured $14.2 million from BNDES through the Climate Fund. This marks the first operation under the Arco da Restauração program and the first biodiversity-labelled funding for a restoration initiative in the country. The funding will support the recovery of over 16,000 hectares in the Atlantic Forest and Amazon regions, focusing on climate mitigation, biodiversity, and regional development. re.green has already restored more than 26,000 hectares and planted over 4.5 million native seedlings. The company is leveraging drone and LiDAR monitoring and collaborating with Microsoft to generate high-integrity carbon credits. With this investment, re.green aims to solidify ecological restoration as an investable and impactful asset class in Brazil’s climate economy.

Blips, a fintech based in Minas Gerais, raised $8.85 million in its first funding round, led by Headline and XP. The company provides financing and equipment rental services for micro and small businesses, particularly in underserved sectors like beauty, food, and construction. Blips has scaled rapidly since its founding in 2019, growing its client base from 200 to 4,000 and generating R$200 million ($35.4 million) in revenue in 2024—a 3,700% increase since inception. The startup’s proprietary credit evaluation system includes psychometric and social indicators, approving 60% of applicants typically rejected by traditional banks. With a default rate of just 0.4%, Blips plans to obtain a Direct Credit Company license to broaden its financial offerings and further support Brazil’s entrepreneurial economy.

SumUp, the UK-based fintech with a strong presence in Brazil, raised $60 million via a Credit Rights Investment Fund (FIDC), marking its fifth FIDC-backed round in four years. Structured by Itaú BBA, Genial Gestão, and Banco Genial, the new capital will be used to expand SumUp’s early payment services, which allow micro and small businesses to receive advance payments from instalment sales. Operating in Brazil since 2013, SumUp serves over 4 million small businesses globally and continues to invest in financial tools that improve cash flow predictability and financial inclusion for entrepreneurs.

Plaza, an AI-driven proptech startup, secured $354,000 to expand Maya, its AI-based virtual assistant for real estate agencies. Initially designed for pre-service interactions, Maya now automates administrative rental processes such as issuing invoices, handling maintenance requests, and processing contract terminations. Available 24/7 via WhatsApp, the system has resolved up to 93% of client inquiries without human intervention in some agencies. With 78% of real estate firms in Brazil still relying on manual processes, Plaza aims to modernise operations and alleviate administrative burdens. The startup also plans to introduce risk management solutions to simplify rent guarantees and improve tenant experiences, signalling its ambition to reshape Brazil’s rental ecosystem.

These funding rounds showcase the diversity of innovation emerging across Brazil, where sustainable infrastructure, inclusive finance, advanced AI, and digital real estate services are reshaping critical sectors and laying the foundation for long-term economic and social transformation.