Internet and telecommunications group SoftBank led a R$120m ($22.3m) series B round for Brazil-based marketing technology developer Cortex on Monday that included venture capital partnership Redpoint eVentures and co-investment fund Endeavor Catalyst.
Founded in 2003 as Cortex Intelligence, Cortex produces software products that provide big data analytics to help users achieve marketing and sales objectives. They include market intelligence tool Cortex MI, Cortex PR for public relations work and government-focused sales product Cortex B2Gov.
Marcelo Claure, SoftBank’s chief operating officer and head of its Latin America-focused SoftBank Innovation Fund, said: “Data intelligence and big data solutions are essential, and they play an important role in the development of Latin America’s innovation ecosystem.
“We are thrilled with our partnership with Cortex, which is a great opportunity to help companies throughout the region.”
The funding will be used for technology research and development, new product management and recruitment, particulaly for Cortex’s data intelligence team. It had previously received an undisclosed amount of series B funding from Redpoint eVentures in 2015.
Telecoms firm Portugal Telecom (now Altice Portugal) and Capital Criativo, which is sponsored by real estate investment firm Promovalor and now known as C2 Capital Partners, paid $26.5m for a 40% stake in Cortex subsidiary Cortex Europe in 2012, according to Diário Económico, which reported that Portugal-based peer Inductiva owned a further 20%.
