CAYMAN ISLANDS Law and Practice Contributed by: Simon Thomas, Richard Spencer, Alexandra Clynes and Sayak Bhattacharya, Campbells
1. Trends 1.1 VC Market Campbells had a busy 12-month period where it advised on the following: • QI Tech, a Brazilian fintech, in connection with its initial USD200 million Series B funding and USD50 million Series B extension round, led by General Atlantic, with participation from Across Capital; • Xapo Bank, a formerly VC-backed virtual asset currency provider, in connection with a management buyout, in a transaction involv - ing capital flows in excess of USD2 billion; • NG Cash (a Brazilian digital bank targeting younger generations) in its USD12.5 mil - lion Series A round, led by Monashees and Andreessen Horowitz;. • netLex, a Brazilian life cycle management provider in its USD22.7 million funding round, led by Riverwood; and • Brandlovrs, a Brazilian marketing start-up that uses AI to match companies with creators, in its fundraising of USD6.6 million led by Kaszek. 1.2 Key Trends The Cayman Islands continues to see significant growth in the venture capital industry, with the number of private funds registered with the Cay - man Islands Monetary Authority at an all-time high with the total number of funds registered reaching over 30,000 by the end of 2024. Notable trends included a rise in venture capital funds investing in cryptocurrencies, blockchain, Web3, and decentralised finance (DeFi) and a continued focus on credit, infrastructure, real estate, private debt, and technology sectors.
In the venture capital equity financing space, 2024 saw more down rounds, convertible note financings, and series round extensions. How - ever, the market is hopeful for an increase in equity rounds in the second half of 2025, with Q1 already showing an increase in activity com - pared to Q1 2024. 1.3 Key Industries We have seen the Cayman Islands increasingly become a hub for venture capital investments in the blockchain space. Enhancements to the Cayman Islands Virtual Asset Service Providers Act have encouraged the establishment of funds investing in tokenised assets, NFTs, DAOs, and other blockchain-based projects. Cayman Enterprise City and Tech Cayman initiatives have further strengthened the fintech ecosystem by providing infrastructure and regulatory support. Beyond blockchain and fintech, venture capital activity has also focused on broader technology sectors such as software development, mobile gaming, and AI-driven solutions. Latin American markets still favour the Cayman Islands for venture capital activity for various reasons, including investor familiarity, liability certainty, tax neutrality and legal certainty. While 2021-2024 saw primarily fintech companies using the Cayman structure, 2024-2025 is start - ing to see an increase in healthtech and educa - tion tech companies seeking funding through the offshore structure. In more recent times, we have seen a trend for some LatAm operating companies with holding structures in the USA to consider continuing out of the USA and into the Cayman Islands, in some cases to mitigate against regulatory risk borne out of the US nex - us, in preparation for transactional activity. Industries with high exit activities included finan - cial services driven by strategic sales and PE-
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