Key Takeaways
- • Startups in Latin America raised $4.7 billion in 2025, up 65% from 2024, according to a Tuesday report by startup adviser Endeavor and investment firm Glisco Partners.
- • Deal count remained well below the market peak: 554 funding rounds in 2025 versus 788 in 2022.
- • Early-stage startups accounted for 56% of deals in 2025 but received just 7% of total funding.
- • Only 5% of startups that raised seed funding in 2022 reached the next major funding stage by year four.
- • Funding for AI-using companies rose to $327 million in the first half of 2026 from $165 million a year earlier.
Summary
Venture investment in Latin American startups rebounded sharply in 2025, with total funding reaching $4.7 billion, up 65% from 2024, according to a report published Tuesday by startup adviser Endeavor and investment firm Glisco Partners, as reported by Reuters. The recovery, however, is reaching fewer businesses and contributing less to the growth of smaller firms, the report indicates.
Activity remains well below the market's peak. The number of funding rounds in 2025 totaled 554, compared with 788 in 2022. The largest rounds went disproportionately to better-known companies that already have scale, including Mexican digital payments company Clip, online used-car platform Kavak, Argentine financial app Uala and Mexican fintech Plata, the report said.
The funding concentration is most visible at the earliest stage. Seed-stage and other early-stage startups made up 56% of all deals in 2025 but received only 7% of total funding. The report also flags a tightening pipeline: of the startups that raised seed funding in 2022, only 5% had reached the next major funding stage by year four.
Artificial intelligence attracted a growing share of capital despite the weaker market. Funding for AI-using companies rose to $327 million in the first half of 2026 from $165 million a year earlier, per the report. Kavak is deploying an AI "CEO" agent to manage logistics such as inventory, beginning with operations in the Mexican town of Cuernavaca, according to Chief Product Officer Alejandro Maza, who said such tools could be used to double profits by year-end.
Activity remains well below the market's peak. The number of funding rounds in 2025 totaled 554, compared with 788 in 2022. The largest rounds went disproportionately to better-known companies that already have scale, including Mexican digital payments company Clip, online used-car platform Kavak, Argentine financial app Uala and Mexican fintech Plata, the report said.
The funding concentration is most visible at the earliest stage. Seed-stage and other early-stage startups made up 56% of all deals in 2025 but received only 7% of total funding. The report also flags a tightening pipeline: of the startups that raised seed funding in 2022, only 5% had reached the next major funding stage by year four.
Artificial intelligence attracted a growing share of capital despite the weaker market. Funding for AI-using companies rose to $327 million in the first half of 2026 from $165 million a year earlier, per the report. Kavak is deploying an AI "CEO" agent to manage logistics such as inventory, beginning with operations in the Mexican town of Cuernavaca, according to Chief Product Officer Alejandro Maza, who said such tools could be used to double profits by year-end.
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