LatAm ICT investment, financing watch

Brazil’s largest electronics manufacturer Positivo is investing in the expansion of its service-related lines of business, notably infrastructure outsourcing, to offset B2C hardware sales woes.

Launched in Q2, the infra outsourcing Positivo Tech Services unit is targeting mostly large corporates, according to Marcos David, head of operations at the unit. 

“We now have customers from virtually every sector, such as retail, government, industry, agribusiness, etc. Hundreds of them,” David told BNamericas. The technical support service is available nationwide, through 1,700 professionals, covering all brands of equipment, not only Positivo’s. 

The executive did not specify investments or how much the line currently represents in sales. Among the new contracts are deals with mining and steel companies. Positivo posted 3.72bn reais (US$711mn) in net revenue year-to-September, up 62.7% year-over-year.  

Brazil’s laptop sales are expected to have fallen 6% in 2022 to 6.6mn units, and tablets by 31% to 2.3mn units, according to IDC. Desktops, driven by corporate and government demand, are expected to have grown 17% to 2mn units. 

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Mexico’s second largest mobile carrier AT&T México has opened a call for co-investments in B2B 5G projects in the country.

The call is part of Fondo AT&T 5G, an initiative unveiled last year by the telco to strengthen the local 5G ecosystem. It consists of a matching fund of US$100,000, with the companies selected contributing equal amounts. 

Organizations interested in participating can submit projects related to 5G cases regardless of what stage of development they are at, in areas such as AI and smart cities, said AT&T.  

“We have identified a lot of potential [for 5G] in the industrial sector and not only in large industries, but also SMEs and maquiladoras [assembly plants] that we know can use this type of technology in specific solutions, but there's no solution that fits everyone, that's where we're really interacting,” Jerónimo Diez de Sollano, director of information systems at AT&T México, told BNamericas about the company's 5G plans last June.

The call will receive submissions until January 27. More information can be found here. 

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France's Le Wagon, a 2013-founded platform for training and teaching digital skills, aims to expand its footprint in Latin America as the region requires a qualified workforce for industry 4.0 projects.

“The digital transformation in Latin America is just beginning and the demand for digital skills does not stop growing,” Sebastian Buffo Sempé, co-founder & VP of Le Wagon Latam, said in a statement.

The renewed Latin America bet comes after the company acquired its regional franchise. In addition to Latin America, the group bought and integrated subsidiaries in Asia Pacific and Europe. Financial details were not disclosed. 

In 2020, Le Wagon raised US$20mn from investors in its first funding round to support growth.

Le Wagon provides teaching through immersive programs, or bootcamps, and claims to rely on a network of programmers, growth-hackers, entrepreneurs, data scientists, product managers, designers and industry 4.0 professionals. The company is present in 25 countries. Among its clients are BNP Paribas.

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Geneva-based core banking software company Temenos inked a contract, for an undisclosed amount, with REAG Investimentos, which claims to be the second largest independent investment fund manager in Brazil with 75bn reais in more than 350 funds.

The Brazilian company will adopt the Temenos open platform to modernize its systems and consolidate its legacy workloads, it said in a statement. The modernization is also expected to enable Temenos' internationalization plan.

Last year, Temenos inked a contract with Peru’s Banco de La Nación. The company also has clients in Chile, such as BCI. The Chilean market, in particular, is seen as offering opportunities due to its large number of multifunds and family funds, Temenos said.

Worldwide, Temenos claims to offer services for 3,000 banks, digital banks and community banks in more than 150 countries.