500 Startups, the venture capital firm and global accelerator program, announced a new fund for Latin American startups.
‘500 Luchadores III’ is a $17M fund that will invest in 130 early-stage startups over the next two and a half years. The fund will focus on Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America as the company already has funds dedicated to Brazil.
Unlike the previous ‘Luchadores’ funds, this new investment is of greater value and also has a post-investment strategy to support companies beyond investment.
The Luchadores funds have invested in a total of 44 companies so far, including Konfío, Clip, and Jüsto. The new fund will focus on finance, education, healthcare, agribusiness, mobility, SME solutions, and e-commerce, among other sectors.
The initial investments will vary between $50K and $100K. Subsequent investments with successful startups could be anything from $250K from the Luchadores III fund to $3-5M from 500 Startup’s global fund.
“Latin America has been a part of our global strategy for nearly a decade. This third fund is a show of our continued support of the region as it attracts increasing international interest,” said Christine Tsai, CEO of the company.
The fund is backed by IDB Lab with an undisclosed amount.
Read more on Bloomberg.