Brazilian Big Data Platform Cortex raises BRL 260 million in its Series C led by Lightrock

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‍Riverwood and SoftBank also took part in the round which has made Cortex the best capitalized firm in the Marketing and Sales Intelligence segment in Latin America.

The company is imminently expected to achieve a quadrupling in size since its last investment round and will use the proceeds of the round to further develop its service offering.

Brazilian startup Cortex, a Brazilian Big Data analytics SaaS platform that provides intelligence solutions for sales, marketing and communication, is pleased to announce its Series C of BRL 260 million led by Lightrock, a global private equity platform that backs purpose-driven entrepreneurs tackling the world’s biggest challenges. Existing investors SoftBank Latin America Funds and RiverwoodCapital, also participated in the round, having co-led the company's previous investment in 2020.

Despite a slowdown in fund raising by technology companies globally, the new investment, which is the largest capital commitment in the segment in Latin America to-date, consolidates Cortex as a reference in the Marketing and Sales Intelligence category in the region.

Lightrock, an active investor in high-potential Latin American technology companies, will support Cortex’s growth by: providing its leadership team with strategic counsel; improving and facilitating its impact management processes;  developing the Company’s functional capabilities and enhancing its corporate governance; and assisting with the pursuit of partnerships as well as additional financing. Lightrock’s other Latin American companies include: Creditas, Dock, Frete.com, Buser, Dr Consulta and Konfio.

Commenting on Lightrock’s investment and Cortex’s ability to drive productivity improvements in companies across the region, Marcos Wilson Pereira, Lightrock’s Managing Partner for Latin American, stated: “Cortex has enabled companies, regardless of sector or size, to drive sales growth by leveraging its intelligent, yet simple to use platform. The potential of this company to internationalize and drive productivity improvements in companies beyond Brazil and, in turn, positive long-term economic impact across Latin America, is enormous. We could not be more excited to be supporting their talented team.”

Leonardo Rangel, Cortex’s co-founder and co-CEO, commented on the successful round, stating: “We are very proud of our investors, which include some of the leading international funds operating in the region, such as Riverwood, Softbank, Redpoint eVentures, C2 Partners, and Endeavor Catalyst. It is also our pleasure to welcome Lightrock to the list; an investor that is deeply committed to the region and is accelerating with specific expertise the ambitions of purpose-led companies like ours.”

Vision for the Future

Cortex is shortly expected to achieve a quadrupling in size since the conclusion of its last investment round. Leonardo, commenting on the company’s growth and development, said: “Despite the challenging economic context, the best investors keep the long term in mind and seize opportunities at times like this. After all, does anyone doubt that the world will be increasingly technological? Or that companies and people will increasingly use data and artificial intelligence to enhance company processes or everyday tasks?”

Cortex will use proceeds of the Series C to develop its solutions in the Sales Intelligence area and increase investment in the Marketing, Sales, and After-Sales department.

Reflecting on the process of fundraising, Leonardo added: “It amuses me to see all this discussion about tech companies being called unicorns, camels, zebras, or even mountain goats. Here at Cortex, all we care about is developing cutting-edge technology, delivering good numbers, having a differentiated team and an excellent vision. Fortunately, we have been able to attract investors, even in difficult times. Our last round occurred at the first phase of the pandemic. Of course, it hasn’t been easy but I am ecstatic our investors identified our potential and share our vision."