Top 10 Latin American Startups of 2025

Kavak revolutionizes used car sales across Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Turkey, and the UAE, with an $8.7 billion valuation in 2021 that made it Latin America's most valuable startup at the time. Founded in Mexico City in 2016 by Carlos Garcia and Roger Laughlin, it captures 12% of Latin America's online used car market, up from 3% before its entry.

Clip dominates Mexico's payment tech landscape, processing over $6 billion USD in total payment volume. It has enabled over 1 million merchants to accept card payments, directly lifting financial inclusion for the 50% of Mexico's adult population that was unbanked in 2012.

NotCo leads plant-based innovation in Latin America, using proprietary AI to replicate animal product taste and texture. The company raised $235 million in a 2021 Series D at a $1.5 billion valuation, with partnerships spanning Kraft Heinz and Burger King across the region and the U.S.

Lemon Cash is Argentina's fastest-growing crypto app, reaching 1.5 million users in just 18 months by solving the country's 200%+ annual inflation crisis. It raised $16.3 million in 2022 and partnered with Visa to issue a crypto debit card accepted at over 80 million merchants worldwide.

Frubana revolutionizes B2B food distribution in Colombia, eliminating up to five layers of intermediaries to connect restaurants directly with farmers. It raised $65 million in Series B funding in 2021, expanded to Brazil and Mexico, and has supported over 200,000 farmers with stable urban commercial relationships.

VTEX leads as Latin America's premier enterprise e-commerce platform, powering over 2,600 active stores with a robust cloud commerce infrastructure that processes more than $5 billion USD in gross merchandise volume annually. Backed by its 2021 NYSE listing that raised $361 million, the platform serves global giants like Walmart, Whirlpool, and L'Oreal, demonstrating unmatched scalability for high-volume retailers.

Nuvemshop has emerged as the dominant e-commerce platform for Latin America's 100,000 SMEs, with active stores spanning five countries and a Series E round in 2021 raising $500 million at a $3.1 billion valuation, led by Tiger Global. Compared to VTEX, Nuvemshop targets a different market segment, but it competes head-to-head with Shopify for Latin American entrepreneurs.