Latin America's startups raised $1.3 billion in one quarter — up 26% — and Mexico is leading the pack

Latin American startups raised $1.3 billion in the third quarter of 2026, up 26% on the year before, according to Crunchbase data — and for the first three quarters, Mexican startups raised $1.52 billion, about 41% more than Brazil's $1.08 billion. Highlights include a $225 million raise for a Chilean lithium project company, $129 million for Colombia's clean-energy firm Erco Energía, $125 million for Mexico's AI financial-services company Kapital at a $1.6 billion valuation, and an $85 million seed round for Brazil's Decade — the largest seed ever raised by a Latin American startup. An Endeavor fund focused heavily on the region also closed oversubscribed at $320 million.

SDG 8 · Decent work and economic growth — Mechanism: market force