SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian startups have raised a record $9.43 billion in funding rounds in 2021, more than doubling the figure seen in the previous year, said a report published by innovation platform Distrito on Wednesday.
According to Distrito’s data, there were 779 funding rounds over the past year, of which 46 took place in December alone, totaling $555 million in the last month of year.
The country’s fintechs raised the highest volume of investments in 2021, reaching $3.7 billion, followed by retail startups, which got $1.3 billion in funding.
The number of mergers and acquisitions was also the highest in history, with 247 startups being bought or merging with other companies.
During the year, 10 Brazilian companies got the unicorn status, reaching a valuation of more than $1 billion. Brazil now has 21 companies with that status, according to the report.
(Reporting by Aluísio Alves; Writing by Peter Frontini; Editing by Sandra Maler)
