INFOGRAPHIC: LATAM's Top Weekly Startup Funding—Week 42, 2025

Brazil dominated Latin America’s venture capital map this week, pulling in over $33 million across payments, credit-tech, mobility, and conversational commerce, as fintech founders double down on embedded finance and alternative ownership models. From replacing credit cards with Pix installments to turning WhatsApp chats into storefronts, founders are betting that convenience and automation will define the next wave of consumer engagement in the region.

Brazilian payments startup Pagaleve led the week with a $29 million round combining equity and receivables financing, backed by OIF Ventures and Sun Hung Kai & Co. Pagaleve allows shoppers to split purchases into four interest-free Pix transfers, embedding the option directly at checkout so consumers can pay over time without a credit card. With more than 5 million users, approval rates exceeding 70%, marketing and delinquency below 2%, the company plans to scale distribution through deeper retail partnerships in the coming months.

Brazilian mobility startup zMatch followed with a $1.8 million pre-seed round from investors including Cristiano Oliveira and Lucas Morales. The company replaces traditional vehicle ownership with AI-generated car subscription plans, giving users long-term rentals tailored to their budget, lifestyle, and brand preferences. Beyond consumers, zMatch also provides management software for automotive retailers, turning dealerships into subscription businesses. The founders plan to launch their proprietary AI engine, ZAI, in 2026 to further automate pricing and fleet allocation.

Early-stage fintech innovation, Bull, a Brazilian credit-tech platform, raised a $1.8 million pre-seed round led by Canary. Rather than lending directly to consumers, Bull enables businesses to offer white-label payroll loans to their own customer base, handling origination, management, and collection through automated infrastructure. Founded by the team behind FortBrasil, Bull is positioning payroll lending as a plug-and-play revenue stream for enterprises rather than a standalone financial service.

Conversational commerce platform Agent.Shop closed a $1 million round led by MAYA Capital and Caravela Capital. Built to turn WhatsApp, web chat, and social channels into transactional storefronts, the platform handles catalogs, payments, and order management inside chat, enabling merchants to sell without websites or apps. The company will use the funds to scale engineering and launch nationwide in Brazil before expanding abroad.

Rounding out the week, Brazilian AI data platform Nekt secured $230,000 in follow-on funding from Norte Ventures, just three months after its previous round. Nekt consolidates enterprise data across marketing, sales, operations, and customer success tools, enabling teams to generate analytics up to 10x faster without complex integrations. Growing 140% YoY, the company now serves clients across Brazil, the U.S., and Australia, and will channel the new capital into product enhancements and strategic partnerships.