The March report from Brazilian intelligence platform Sling Hub shows that, for the first time in 12 months, Latin American startups have not raised $1 billion or more in a month. But it got close to that: the report — always published first on LABS — registered 63 rounds and $934 million in investments in the region last month. In January, LatAm’s ecosystem attracted $1.4 billion, and in February, $1.1 billion.

Despite the drop in March, the startups in the region closed the first quarter of 2022 with $3.3 billion in investments, a result 40% higher than in the same period of 2021.

Brazilian startups, which historically account for 70% of the region’s investments, answered for 57% of the rounds (36). Compared to March 2021, Brazilian startup funding dropped by 52%.

Startups from Mexico came in second place, with ten rounds reported in March, followed by Colombia (7), Argentina (5), Peru (2), and Uruguay (2).

Of the 63 rounds, 23 were pre-seed and seed.

The investments raised in March will be mainly used for product development, international expansion, and hiring. Among the startups that announced rounds last month are health techs (seven rounds), food techs (four), fintechs (four), and retail techs (three).

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The biggest round was raised by Mexican fintech Jeeves, which raised $180 million from Tencent and other previous investors.

The 10 biggest investment rounds of March 2022 in Latin America

1. Jeeves (Mexico): $180 million Series C, led by Tencent and accompanied by family offices linked to FAANG founders (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google) and Carlo Enrico, president of Mastercard for Latin America and the Caribbean.
2. evino (Brazil): $126 million round led by Vinci Partners.
3. Flash (Brazil): $100 million Series C led by Battery Ventures and WhaleRock.
4. 99 Minutos (Mexico): $82 million Series C by American OAK HC-FT followed by Kaszek and Prosus.
5. Contabilizei (Brazil): $60 million Series C led by SoftBank.
6. Oxio (Mexico): $40 million Series B led by ParaFi Capital.
7. Gringo (Brazil): Series B of $36.8 million led by the venture capital fund VEF and co-invested by Píton Capital.
8. acasa (Colombia): $33 million debt round led by Quona Capital.
9. Trebel Music (Mexico): $25 million Series B led by Indonesian media conglomerate MNC Media.
10. Trela ​​(Brazil): $25 million Series A pulled by SoftBank.

Among the funds, the most active in March were SoftBank and Global Founders Capital (GFC), both leading five rounds each. After them, come Norte Ventures (four rounds), Kaszek (four), monashees (four), FJ Labs (four), and Y Combinator (four).

READ ALSO: A look inside Y Combinator’s seed-funding engine for Latin America

The average round in the region was $18 million, but some startups were able to raise money in unprecedented ways, according to Sling Hub.

Argentinian biotech startup Stämm, for example, raised $17.2 million in a Series A round led by Varana Capital, a new record for the segment in Latin America.

With the $100 million Series C, Flash tied with Sólides for the biggest round of an HRTech in Latin America.

Brazilian fintech Kamino has raised the most significant pre-seed round in the region to date: US$ 6.1 million in a funding pulled by Inspired Capital Partners.