Briter Intelligence published its first report on investment in startups in Latin America. According to the report, financing in the region reached US$8.6 billion in 2025 through more than 500 disclosed transactions.
However, the most striking fact is the concentration of capital. Brazil and Mexico captured 84% of the investment tracked. Brazil led with US$4.6 billion distributed in more than 200 deals. For its part, Mexico added US$2.7 billion in 90 operations.
In contrast, Colombia, Chile and Argentina together represented only 15% of the total financing. To explain these differences, the report classifies the markets into four categories: Dominant Hubs (Brazil and Mexico), Robust Emerging Markets (Colombia, Chile and Argentina), Nascent Markets and Outliers.
Even so, Briter Intelligence highlights the growth of sectors such as e-commerce, software, mobility, health, agriculture and climate tech. In this context, the ecosystem no longer faces only the challenge of creating startups, but also the challenge of scaling them.
Fintech dominates, but health and cleantech gain ground
Fintech and digital financial services (DFS) concentrated 64% of the invested capital. In addition, they registered more than 170 deals, consolidating themselves as the main sector in the region.
On the other hand, health, software and cleantech showed a high number of operations, although with smaller tickets. In fact, health was the second most active sector, registering 52 deals. However, it only raised 3% of the total financing.
This reflects that investors are also betting on early-stage companies outside the financial sector. Likewise, the report shows greater diversification of the Latin American ecosystem.
Another relevant fact is the weight of mega deals. Transactions greater than US$100 million represented less than 6% of disclosed transactions. Even so, they concentrated 61% of regional financing.
The fund raised by CloudWalk alone contributed $1.3 billion of the total $8.6 billion. Therefore, the report warns that large operations can distort the reading of the aggregate figures.
Limited liquidity and gender gap
The acquisition market remains tight. Only 47 M&A operations were recorded in the entire region, equivalent to 8% of the transactions tracked.
Furthermore, 85% of those acquisitions did not disclose their financial terms. As a result, it is more difficult to measure ecosystem returns and assess how much capital is being invested back into new startups.
In terms of gender, the outlook remains challenging. Only 14% of funding went to companies with at least one female founder.
On the other hand, equity continues to be the dominant instrument. It represented 68% of the deals and close to US$3.8 billion of the total financing. In addition, it predominated in rounds less than US$5 million.
Instead, debt gained prominence in the more advanced stages. In fact, it represented 53% of the capital raised in operations exceeding US$50 million.
