CAF invests in GovTech startup Cívica Digital to accelerate digitalization of governments

CAF—development bank of Latin America—has made its third investment in a Mexican GovTech start-up as part of the strategy to accelerate digital innovation in the public sector through new partnerships with private sector start-ups. This investment is part of a first round of impact investments financed by the Fund for Investment and Business Development (FIDE).

“With this kind of investment in GovTech start-ups, we intend to promote new public-private partnerships for public innovation by focusing on ventures with a public vocation and social impact,” said Carlos Santiso, director of CAF’s Digital Innovation of the State Directorate.

CAF has developed a govtechlab, a service platform to promote GovTech ecosystems in the region, through technical advice to governments, support for public challenges and GovTech laboratories, actionable knowledge creation, as well as public impact investments in GovTech ventures.     

The investment in Cívica Digital aims to accelerate digital transformation of both the Mexican and Latin American governments. Founded in 2015, Cívica Digital develops URBEM, a software platform that helps governments digitalize their procedures and services, avoiding the need for people to physically visit government offices, thereby reducing CO2 emissions from transportation while redefining the relationship between citizens and government.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people accessing government digital services using URBEM grew exponentially. “Today more than ever, more citizens from all Mexican and Latin American states and municipalities need reliable public services, and the support of their municipal, state and national governments. Our goal is to save 4–5 years in the learning and development curve for governments in regards to providing better services, while offering solutions swiftly and more intelligently,” said Juan Pablo Escobar Luque, founding partner and CEO of Cívica Digital.

“Given the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, CAF seeks to support the scaling up of technological solutions, such as that offered by Cívica Digital, which have positive impacts both on governments, by making them more efficient, and on citizens, by facilitating remote management of administrative procedures, saving them time and thus reducing their exposure to the virus,” said Marisela Pinto, an Executive from the Impact Funds and Investments Directorate.

With this investment, Cívica Digital will continue to develop and strengthen its URBEM platform, and accelerate growth to include more states and municipalities in Mexico. The 500 Startups fund and the impact investment group New Ventures Group previously supported Cívica Digital with pre-seed capital. This investment is in addition to the two already made by CAF in GovTech companies.