Latin America VC Report 2026: Investment Rebounds to US$4.1B as Fintech Dominates
Latin America VC Report 2026 shows VC investment rising to US$4.1B in 2025, led by Brazil and Mexico, with fintech capturing 61% of funding while early-stage deals decline.
The Latin America VC Report 2026 reveals a venture capital ecosystem that is regaining momentum in deployed capital but still struggling in transaction volume. While total investment increased in 2025, the number of deals declined, signaling a more selective and concentrated market across geographies, sectors, and stages.
Capital Up, Deals Down: A Selective Recovery
According to the Cuantico VP-produced report, venture capital investment in Latin America reached US$4.126 billion across 681 rounds in 2025. This represents a 13.8% year-over-year increase compared to US$3.627 billion in 2024, marking the first meaningful rebound after three consecutive years of contraction following the historic 2021 peak of US$17.381 billion.
However, the recovery was not driven by more activity. The number of transactions fell 1.9%, from 694 to 681 deals, the lowest level since 2017.
The shift is clear: investors are writing larger checks but backing fewer companies. The average ticket size climbed from US$5.2 million to US$6.1 million, a nearly 16% increase, reflecting a capital allocation strategy focused on startups with stronger traction and more mature business fundamentals.
Brazil and Mexico Capture Nearly 80% of Investment
Geographic concentration intensified in 2025. Brazil led the region with US$2.032 billion across 363 deals, representing 52.9% of total capital deployed, with an average ticket of US$5.6 million.
Mexico followed with US$980 million in 86 rounds, accounting for 25.5% of regional investment and the highest average ticket size in Latin America at US$11.4 million. This elevated average was largely driven by megadeals from fintech players such as Plata and Klar.
Together, Brazil and Mexico represented 78.5% of all VC capital in the region.
Behind them:
- Chile: US$249 million (53 deals)
- Colombia: US$224 million (62 deals)
- Argentina: US$172 million (34 deals)
- Central America (regional block): US$107 million (41 deals)
- Uruguay: US$40 million (12 deals)
- Peru: US$35 million (8 deals)
Colombia stood out for higher deal activity than Chile (62 vs. 53) but with smaller average tickets (US$3.6 million vs. US$4.7 million). Argentina maintained competitive average rounds of US$5.1 million, though macroeconomic constraints limited overall transaction volume.
Fintech Dominates Funding Allocation
From a sectoral perspective, fintech continues to define Latin America’s venture capital landscape.
The sector accounted for 29% of all deals but absorbed 61% of total funding in 2025, demonstrating not only frequency but also significantly larger round sizes.
The year’s three largest rounds were raised by Mexican fintechs:
The top 10 rounds of the year were heavily fintech-driven and also included:
- Kapital – Series C (US$100M)
- Creditas – Series G (US$108M)
- Ualá – Series E (US$66M)
- QI Tech – Series B (US$63M)
Collectively, the 10 largest rounds totaled US$1.229 billion, nearly 30% of all capital deployed in 2025.
SaaS ranked second, representing 13% of both deals and funding, with notable transactions including Omie (Series D, US$160M) and Canopy (US$100M).
Logistics and energy demonstrated disproportionate capital intensity. Logistics represented only 5% of deals but 17% of capital, while energy captured 10% of funding with just 4% of transactions. Healthtech and foodtech each accounted for 7% of deals, though with more modest capital shares (3% and 4%, respectively).
Early-Stage Funding Faces Structural Pressure
One of the report’s most concerning findings is the continued contraction at the bottom of the funnel.
- Pre-seed funding dropped 40% in capital, from US$110 million to US$66 million, marking the lowest level since 2018. Even more striking, deal count fell from 251 to 152 transactions, a 39.4% year-over-year decline and a 77% drop from the 2022 peak.
This reduction at the earliest stage has long-term implications for the ecosystem’s pipeline, potentially compressing quality deal flow for seed and Series A rounds in the coming years.
- Seed funding showed modest capital growth of 4.7% (US$408M to US$427M), though deal count declined sharply from 321 to 247. Meanwhile, average ticket size increased from US$1.27M to US$1.73M.
- Series A grew 9.3% in capital to US$773M (72 deals), with average tickets rising 32% to US$10.7M.
- Series B posted the strongest relative performance, jumping 56.8% to US$939M across 24 deals, with average tickets soaring to US$39.1M.
In contrast, late-stage (Series C and beyond) contracted severely, falling 56.8% from US$1.798B to US$777M, the lowest level since 2017.
Although venture debt is excluded from official statistics, the report highlights its growing relevance. Non-dilutive financing instruments, especially for fintech credit and BNPL players, have increasingly supplemented equity rounds, reshaping the capital stack for growth-stage startups.
Exits Surge as Liquidity Improves
Liquidity conditions improved significantly in 2025.
The value of VC-backed exits more than doubled, climbing from US$1.8 billion to US$4.9 billion across 63 transactions. Average exit value increased from US$29M to US$77.8M.
This marks the third strongest year historically, behind 2021 and 2018, and signals improved return dynamics for LPs.
However, unicorn creation remains subdued. Only two Latin American startups surpassed the US$1 billion valuation threshold in 2025, the same number as in 2024, far from the 22 unicorns created during the 2021 boom. Since 2017, the region has produced 58 unicorns in total.
Fundraising Recovers, but Growth Capital Remains Scarce
On the fund manager side, 2025 saw renewed fundraising activity.
Fifteen new VC funds launched in the region, collectively raising US$761 million, a 131% increase over the prior year’s US$329 million across 11 funds. While still below the highs of 2021 and 2023, the upward trend signals recovering institutional confidence.
Fund distribution remains heavily skewed toward early stages. Out of 351 mapped funds:
- 117 focus on pre-seed
- 144 on seed
Together, early-stage vehicles represent 74.4% of active funds. Only eight funds operate at the Series C level, helping explain the scarcity of growth capital.
Typical fund sizes in Latin America are:
- Pre-seed: US$10M
- Seed: US$15M
- Series A: US$35M
- Series B: US$100M
- Series C: US$125M
Industry Outlook: Liquidity Returning, Selectivity Persists
According to Jose Kont, CEO of Cuantico VP:
“Dealflow in Latin America is far from what the industry needs. Ecosystems are not generating enough startups, and many lack the traction investors now demand. The hangover from 2021 and 2022 has made investors more cautious. However, the pendulum is beginning to swing back — 2026 and 2027 should bring more liquidity to the region, potentially reigniting appetite across the industry.”
About the Report
The Latin America VC Report 2026 is produced by Cuantico VP in partnership with Startuplinks. The collaboration combines market intelligence, data infrastructure, rankings, and sector research to provide actionable insights for funds, LPs, and founders across the region.
The full report will be officially presented on March 5, 2026, during a private event for investors, fund managers, and founders. The session will also introduce two new indicators: the LatAm VC Confidence Index and the Startuplinks Founder Confidence Index.
