MercadoLibre, an electronic commerce provider in Latin America, has set up a $10m corporate venturing unit to back start-ups supporting its subsidiaries.
The MercadoLibre Commerce Fund will look for early-stage technologies based at least in part on the MercadoLibre ecosystem, including MercadoPago, MercadoShops, MercadoEnvíos and MercadoClics.
Marcos Galperin, chief executive of MercadoLibre, said the company launched the fund in recognition of Latin America’s potential in terms of resources and technology start-ups.
Separately, and earlier in April, Brazil-based mobile insurance start-up Pitzi has raised money from a venture consortium led by Kaszek Ventures, the fund started by the co-founders of MercadoLivre.
Additional investors on the round include VC peers Flybridge Capital Partners, Thrive Capital and Initial Capital as well as angel investors Fabrice Grinda and José Marin (the founders of OLX and Deremate) and João Alceu Amoroso Lima, ex-CEO of Qualicorp and SúlAmerica.