Christopher Raithle

Out of Contech - Vol 6 🚀 FULL LIST OF SPANISH CONTECH ECOSYSTEM On request! - Zacua Ventures Europe concentrated 33.9% of total contech deals in 2025, according to Last Week in ConTech (but only 23.6% of total funding). Nevertheless, the continent is home to some of the largest construction companies worldwide. Some of the characteristics of the European construction market are: - International presence: Unlike US counterparts, European contractors concentrate 50% or more of their revenues in international markets, making them truly global. - Market fragmentation: The market is largely dominated by huge construction firms (Skanska, Vinci, Bouygues, ACS, Ferrovial, Acciona, Strabag, to name a few), and complemented by a very large tail of small players. - Industrial Innovation: Traditionally, the continent has been home to some of the largest industrial players (Holcim, BASF, Saint Gobain, Hilti, etc) who dedicate a large portion of revenues towards R&D. - Sustainability focus: The market has the strongest focus on sustainability in the industry, with large subsidies and incentive schemes driving new innovation in the area. Spain & Portugal play an important role in the industry, including 5 of the largest construction companies worldwide. Here's a list of the key players, institutions and conferences in the Iberian Peninsula every startup should know: Leading Institutions & Conferences - Barcelona ConTech Hub led by Paco Gómez Escofet - Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de Madrid - MWCC - Madrid World Construction Capital - Smart Building Summit - Barcelona - February - Rebuild Conference - Madrid - March - Mobile World Congres (4YFN) - Barcelona - March - AI4AECO Summit - Spain - April - Contech Bizkaia - Bilbao - May - Energy Tech Summit - Bilbao - April - South Summit - Madrid - June - Build Tech Week - Madrid - Spring - Slush Bilbao - Bilbao - October - The District - Barcelona - October Key Players in Spain & Portugal: Construction Companies - SACYR, open call for startups, Sacyr iChallenges, for road construction & maintenance - Ferrovial, innovation led by Luis Amorim - Grupo ACS, the largest construction group. - @ACCIONA Construcción, innovation led by Telmo Pérez Luaces - Mota-Engil, Rui Rocha Costa 🔷 leads their innovation team - FCC Construcción - by David García Núñez  - Dragados SA Developers - NEINOR HOMES - Lucas Galán Lubascher Innovation director - Grupo Lar - Lorena Diaz Director LAR Tech - MERLIN Properties - CIO Alvaron Ontañon - CIRCULAR CAPITAL - Cástor González  - Distrito Natural - Covivienda ecológica - José Antonio De Pedro Cuadrado CVCs - Roca Ventures - Led by Daniel Valverde Muntané - Cemex Ventures - Jesus Ortiz de la Fuente - CRH Ventures - Ramy Fam - Molins - Laia Gelabert  - Finsa - Primitivo Vizoso Rua - Fluidra - Pere Camprovin - Sorigué - Cosentino - Celsa Group Portugal: Semapa Next Mota Engil

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Mexican fintech Klar has raised $190 million in a Series C round led by General Atlantic, valuing the company at over $800 million. The funding includes $170 million in equity and $20 million in venture debt, aimed at product development and expansion in #Mexico. Klar had raised $70 million at a $500 million valuation in the summer of 2022. Existing investors like IFC - International Finance Corporation and Prosus Ventures joined the round, along with new backers including Santander and Grupo Televisa. Founded in 2019, Klar serves over two million users with credit cards, loans, and investment products. It previously secured $100 million debt facility from Victory Park Capital Advisors and acquired B2B platform Tribal to strengthen its SMB services.

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💥 2.3%. That’s how much global VC funding went to female-only founding teams in 2024. And Carina Abreu and I are part of that 2.3%. While $289 billion in venture capital was deployed globally last year, only $6.7 billion reached women building companies from scratch. Meanwhile, 83.6% went to all-male founding teams. Yes — the numbers improved slightly from 2023. But at this pace, the world won’t see gender parity in venture funding until 2065. As two female tech founders building C-MORE — a European AI-native intelligence company — we feel these numbers deeply. Not as statistics, but as lived reality. Every milestone takes more resilience, more proof, more traction, more “show me again.” And yet, we keep building. We keep scaling. We keep proving that greatness has no gender. Because innovation is not male or female — it’s courageous. Carina Abreu and I didn’t enter tech to fit into an existing system. We entered to redesign it. To build a company that makes intelligence accessible to the 99% of businesses who get left behind — the same way female founders often do. So here’s to the 2.3%. To every woman building something that statistics say shouldn’t exist. To every founder rewriting the norms. To every team proving that excellence doesn’t need permission — it just needs a chance. And may we accelerate the path so the next generation doesn’t have to wait until 2065. See the study here: https://lnkd.in/dB9AS4rH #WomenInTech #FemaleFounders #AI #StartupLife #Leadership #Innovation #Sustainability #RiskIntelligence #Entrepreneurship #NoPermissionNeeded

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Portfolio company Solfium announces its $10m Series A, led by Accion and ALIVE Ventures, with participation from Kamay Ventures. Solfium is building a platform that helps corporates and millions of MSMEs across Mexico transition to clean, reliable, and affordable energy. By integrating financing, installation, and long-term support, Solfium makes solar adoption simple, empowering supply chains to decarbonize without complexity. Since 2022, the company has installed 36,000+ solar panels, adding 25 MW of capacity that will eliminate 281,000 tons of CO₂ and deliver $28m in savings over 25 years. It’s a big step for a country where 99% of businesses are MSMEs, and where high energy costs and outages still hold back productivity. With clients including Coca-Cola and three of Mexico’s top five banks, Solfium is proving that solar can scale commercially and inclusively. Kudos to Andres, Zacharie, and the entire Solfium team. 🇲🇽☀️ ___________________ Rally Cap VC portfolio.

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Excited to share this important milestone for us at Mundi Ventures. The first closing of Mundi Ventures LatAm Fund I marks a strong step forward in our long-term commitment to Latin America and the Caribbean, a region with exceptional entrepreneurial talent and significant untapped potential in the growth investing stage. Through our previous global funds, we’ve already had the privilege of backing companies like Sami, Betterfly, Raincoat and Olé life, supporting founders expanding access to financial and health protection across the region. With this new fund, we are doubling down on that mission, investing in the next generation of AI-driven companies across fintech, insurtech, healthtech, cybersecurity and climate, helping close the protection gap and strengthen resilience at scale. Grateful to partner with such a strong group of LPs, including IDB Invest, COFIDES and leading insurance players. This is just the beginning. 🔗 Read more below

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Miami-based venture capital firm Kiara Capital has raised $40 million in its first fundraising round to invest in early-stage B2B fintech startups in Latin America. The firm was co-founded in 2023 by Miami based fintech entrepreneur Michael Esrubilsky (left) and Brazilian investor Daniel Arippol (right). Esrubilsky has over 25 years of experience and led four successful exits in Brazil worth nearly $1 billion, while Arippol brings 15+ years of expertise in private equity and venture capital. Kiara has already reviewed 160+ opportunities, made five key investments, and invested $2 million across Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and the US. Notable investments include Astride, a US-based fintech offering accounting solutions for foreign investors, and Payana, an AI platform improving financial operations for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in Mexico and Colombia. The founding partners will stay the largest investors, making sure their interests match those of the other investors. Kiara plans to invest in 15-20 startups, with initial investments of $500,000 and additional funds set aside for follow-up investments. This story was initially published in this week’s issue of Global Fintech Insider. To read the other crunchy fintech stories covered in it (or to join the 3,300+ fintech pros that already signed-up for FREE), click the link in the comments.

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