Tech Roundup: Brazil has a new unicorn

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Welcome to our Tech Roundup, where we bring you the biggest stories in technology and innovation in Brazil and Latin America. This week: Who will be the next unicorn of Latin America? The Distrito innovation platform had some guesses and just got the first one right.

Brazil’s newest unicorn and the other candidates for 2024

Every year, leading startup data and analytics platforms try to predict which companies will be the next to reach unicorn status — that is, a valuation of USD 1 billion or more before an IPO or acquisition.

State of play. In March, innovation platform Distrito released its list of 20 unicorn candidates for Latin America, 12 of which were Brazilian: Blip, Petlove, Órigo Energia, Omie, Cerc, SolFácil, Buser, CRMBonus, QI Tech, Stark Bank, Tractian, and Mottu.

The other eight are from other Latin American markets: 99 Minutos, Karvi, Frubana, Justo, Klar, Xepelin, Tul, and Pomelo.
The list was drawn from 100 startups chosen using criteria such as total funding raised, presumed revenue, number of employees, and last valuation compared to the market average.

Why it matters. Distrito got one of its predictions right this week, a good omen for 2024.

QI Tech, a banking-as-a-service fintech startup, has just raised a USD 50 million extension for its USD 200 million Series B round, announced last year. Led by US-based growth equity firm General Atlantic, the new funding pushed the...

Fabiane Ziolla Menezes

Former editor-in-chief of LABS (Latin America Business Stories), Fabiane has more than 15 years of experience reporting on business, finance, innovation, and cities in Brazil. The latter recently took her back to the classroom and made her a Master in Urban Management from PUCPR. At TBR, she keeps an eye on economic policy, game-changing businesses, and people driving innovation in Latin America.