The Venture Codex

Participated · Debt Financing · Jun 2022

Mottu operates a motorcycle rental and last-mile delivery marketplace connecting restaurants, retailers, and e-commerce businesses with delivery couriers. Led by founder and CEO Rubens Zanelatto, the company controls operations end-to-end in more than 30 cities across Brazil and Mexico and established its own assembly line in Manaus. It serves 50,000 customers and offers an in-house assembled SKU, Mottu Sport, positioned as a fuel-efficient motorcycle in Latin America. Mottu plans to use the Series C proceeds to expand geographies, improve operational efficiency, and enhance customer experience. The company is also entering the mobility market focused on commuters who frequently use low-quality public transportation in Brazil and Mexico. Its model combines vehicle assembly, rental, and a delivery marketplace to support last-mile logistics for restaurants, retailers, and e-commerce. Mottu operates a fleet of motorcycles rented to independent couriers and provides complementary services including credit, insurance, maintenance, 24-hour support and a driving school. The company started operations in early 2020 with a fleet of 200 motorcycles in São Paulo and grew to 1,000 by the end of that year. By the end of 2021 Mottu reported $10 million in ARR after growing ARR 5x that year, having reached $2 million ARR in its first year. Today it operates in eight Brazilian cities and Mexico City with a fleet of 10,000 motorcycles and a headcount of about 400. Customers pay a weekly rental fee that amounts to roughly $150 per month, and the company reports zero delinquency rates to date. Mottu says it helps couriers who have little or bad credit access work opportunities and aims to expand both its fleet and technology platform.

Participated · Debt Financing · Jan 2022

Agrolend operates a lending platform that provides credit at the point of sale for agricultural inputs (seeds, crop protection, crop nutrition) using CPR-F contracts signed via farmers’ WhatsApp. The company leverages a distribution network of more than 150 partners—retailers, industries, and cooperatives—and operates in over 15 Brazilian states across crops including soybeans, corn, coffee, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables and livestock. Agrolend finances loans through issuance of time deposits targeted to agribusiness (LCAs) distributed on major investment platforms. The company has nearly $100M in total funding and reports a capital base of approximately $100M following the latest round. Management says the capital increase will let Agrolend expand credit offerings to industries, retailers and cooperatives without raising its leverage ratio, continuing a history of low‑risk growth. Its stated goal is to grow the credit portfolio to $600M and serve about 10,000 small and medium‑sized farmers. Agrolend is a São Paulo-based financial institution that provides credit to small and medium-sized farmers in Brazil through a digital platform. Led by CEO Andre Glezer, the company originates and formalizes loans in a digital environment via smartphone, partnering with input and equipment distributors, industries and agtechs to finance technology. It operates in more than ten Brazilian states across crops and sectors including soybeans, corn, coffee, sugar cane, fruits, livestock and dairy cattle. Agrolend is targeting expansion to serve up to 10,000 small-to-medium sized farmers and increase its loan book to R$2 billion for the 2023/24 crop season. The company expected its loan book to reach R$250 million by the end of 2022 and will increase equity to R$220 million after the Series B. The business combines digital origination with partnerships and capital markets solutions to scale agricultural credit across Brazil. Agrolend offers a 100% digital credit product for small and medium agricultural producers, with a fast, low-friction underwriting process that completes in under five days and typically does not require physical collateral. The company uses advanced technology to enable an innovative credit model focused on financing diverse agricultural productions and investments in equipment and new technologies. Agrolend emphasizes ESG and social impact by targeting underserved producers across more than 10 Brazilian states and roughly 100 municipalities. Founded in December 2020, the startup says it is currently doubling in size every month. The recent capital will support growth of the credit portfolio, expansion of the team, and improvements to the platform and credit model. Management aims to scale the loan book to R$1 billion and reach 5,000 customers within two years. Agrolend offers an online loan origination platform for small and medium-scale farmers, using advanced technology and innovative credit analysis to underwrite loans without physical collateral. The company partners with traditional agricultural inputs players and supply-chain participants to originate loans and reach growers. Loans range from 50,000 to 300,000 Brazilian reals, run for up to one year, and are repaid after harvest; some loans can be issued as soon as 24 hours after request. Agrolend says it offers lower interest rates than traditional banks and operates the entire process digitally. Founded in December 2020 and based in São Paulo, the startup raised seed capital to scale lending and build its team. It plans to structure a fund that will receive and hold originated loans, with Agrolend selling loans to that debt investment vehicle to enable much larger lending capacity.

Participated · Debt Financing · Sep 2021

SuperSim offers micro‑personal loans aimed at financial inclusion for Brazil’s sub‑banked (classes C and D), using technology and an efficient risk system that can approve borrowers with negative credit records. Loans currently range from R$250 to R$2,500, with rates positioned competitively versus major credit cards and declining for borrowers who prove repayment capacity. The company uses the borrower’s mobile phone as a form of guarantee for many approvals and reached a record of more than 5,000 loans granted in a single day. Management says SuperSim achieved profitability two years after founding and now employs over 150 people. The firm targets roughly 10% of Brazil’s non‑prime consumer credit market (about 1% of the total personal‑loan market) and plans to scale further. SuperSim offers online microloans, including loans secured by customers' smartphones and unsecured loans ranging from R$250 to R$2,500. The company serves hundreds of thousands of monthly loan requests that convert into thousands of loans, and it targets financially underserved customers. SuperSim has formed strategic partnerships (including AME Digital) and runs pilots with other national-scale companies to expand distribution. Management projects very rapid growth—forecasting a 1,200% increase in 2021 versus 2020—which the company says validates its product-market fit. The business uses data and technology to underwrite higher-risk borrowers and aims to increase financial inclusion through microcredit. SuperSim began operations in 2019. SuperSim offers 100% online microcredit loans in Brazil, with ticket sizes ranging from R$500 to R$2,500 and a focus on financially excluded or negatively scored customers. The company uses a proprietary AI system that crosses more than 1,000 internal and external data points to assess fraud, payment capacity and willingness to pay. This year it launched a product that uses the customer’s mobile phone as collateral to help control default risk and expand acceptance rates. SuperSim says each loan builds a customer history that can lower risk over time and enable better rates and longer terms, while maintaining concern for overindebtedness. The fintech reports rapid growth in demand—loan volume in June quadrupled versus April—and attributes acceleration to pandemic-driven need for microcredit. SuperSim began operations in September 2019 and positions itself on a mission of practical financial inclusion for Brazilians underserved by traditional finance.

Participated · Series F · Mar 2021

Loggi builds and operates a technology-driven logistics network that handles local and national deliveries, collecting from small and large e‑commerce sellers, transferring goods between cities and delivering to end consumers. The company emphasizes technology to reduce delivery times and improve perceived quality, positioning its platform as an enabler for broader e‑commerce access. Founded in 2013, Loggi historically doubled volume year-over-year and grew 360% in 2020 versus 2019. It has opened dozens of proprietary agencies, six new distribution centers and expanded direct operations to roughly 500 municipalities, reaching about 50% of Brazil’s population. With the new funding, Loggi plans to accelerate national expansion, further increase delivery capacity and continue investing in technology to scale service levels and reach. Loggi offers a minimalist online platform and Android app that lets customers request motorcycle couriers with just two clicks while couriers accept or decline jobs via smartphone. Its algorithm triangulates supply and demand to calculate estimated time and price, and the product includes automatic payments (card or boleto), real-time tracking, and detailed delivery histories and reports. The company supplies couriers with phone chargers and mounts to boost productivity and aims to increase couriers' take-home from roughly 40% to about 80% of a fare without raising customer prices. Loggi began operations in the second half of October and is currently offering services in São Paulo. The startup positions itself to professionalize the local courier sector ahead of imminent regulatory changes and to provide a lower-cost solution for clients. Financially, Loggi launched operations backed by external capital from angel investors.