Founder of Argentina’s Ualá Launches VC Fund

The founder of Argentina-based FinTech Ualá is launching a venture capital (VC) operation that has raised $30 million so far from a stable of investors.

As Bloomberg reported Monday (April 18), Pierpaolo Barbieri’s new firm 17Sigma will focus on early-stage Latin American startups. The region experienced record startup funding in 2021, with companies raising about $15 billion, per the report.

Ualá, a Buenos Aires-based financial services firm that also operates in Mexico and Colombia, is one of the region’s unicorns and was valued at $2.5 billion in its latest funding round in August 2021.

Launched in October 2017, Ualá offers a Mastercard-branded prepaid card and app and allows for numerous financial services, including sending and receiving money, online shopping and ATM withdrawals.

Barbieri told Bloomberg that 17Sigma will focus on pre-seed and seed rounds in Latin America, because there’s less interest in that phase of funding from bigger global funds.

“When we thought about this project, we thought the most effective way to help the community and to disrupt markets is to bet at the earlier stage,” Barbieri said. “That’s when founders need the most help, they need ideas, they’re building teams.”

While Barbieri is the chief investor and has a seat on the investment committee, the fund will be overseen by managing partner Bianca Sassoon, formerly of VC firm Kaszek Ventures, making 17Sigma the first fund in Spanish-speaking Latin America run by a woman, per the report.

See also: Financial Services Startup Ualá Launches Broker-Dealer Ualintec Capital

Last year, Ualá launched Ualintec Capital, its own broker-dealer operations, in an effort to expand the number of investment alternatives it can offer clients with its digital wallet app.

Also in 2021, the company purchased ABC Capital, a Mexican bank, in order to further its plans to expand and grow in that country ahead of additional investments. At the time, Ualá said it could potentially raise as much as $150 million.

Related: Argentinian FinTech Ualá Buys ABC Capital for Ongoing Expansion