Four years ago, Chilean entrepreneur Eduardo della Maggiora arrived in Miami with a long-term vision for Betterfly, the insurtech and healthtech unicorn he founded and leads. The Miami-based company had launched in Latin America, but the United States was always part of the plan.
Today, that vision took a major step forward.
Betterfly just announced its acquisition of Mexican employee benefits startup Minu in what is believed to be one of the largest startup-to-startup acquisitions in Latin America’s recent history. The combined company will serve more than one million employees across more than 4,000 corporate clients in Mexico, Chile, Spain, and the United States.
Della Maggiora sees the deal as a sign that Latin America’s startup ecosystem is entering a new phase.
“Latin American VC capital markets have been even more shut down than those in the U.S. over the last two, three, four years,” he told Refresh Miami. “This is not only an incredible story for us, but for the whole entrepreneurial ecosystem in Latin America.”
The acquisition comes at a time when venture funding across Latin America remains well below the record levels seen during the boom years of 2021 and 2022. Against that backdrop, a major startup acquisition stands out as a different kind of milestone.
Founded in Chile in 2019, Betterfly built its business around the idea that employers should help workers take a more proactive approach to their health and wellbeing. Minu, founded the same year in Mexico, focused on a different challenge: improving financial wellbeing through tools such as earned wage access, insurance products, savings solutions, and flexible employee benefits.
“When we founded Minu, we became obsessed with a deeply human problem: the lack of financial wellbeing for millions of workers,” said Minu co-founder and CEO Nima Pourshasb. “Joining Betterfly lets us take that mission much further – and now, to reach millions of people in the largest market in the world.”
Together, the companies are betting that employers increasingly want a broader approach to employee wellbeing that combines health, insurance, and financial wellness in a single platform.
The deal also arrives as Betterfly prepares for one of its most ambitious moves yet: entering the United States.
“The U.S. was always the plan,” della Maggiora asserted. While Betterfly expanded rapidly throughout Latin America in its early years, the company intentionally delayed its U.S. launch. Now, after more than a year of preparation, it is preparing to roll out its offering in Florida, which combines insurance products with preventive health tools and wellness programs.
“This acquisition allows us to give us more financial resources to invest in our entry into the U.S. market,” he said.
Miami has become the hub for that expansion. Today, Betterfly employs about 10 people in South Florida and expects to roughly triple that number over the next six to twelve months. Della Maggiora said the city’s connections to Latin America, combined with its growing technology ecosystem, made it an obvious choice for the 200+ person company.
“It’s like a no-brainer to choose Miami as a launching pad to come into the U.S.,” he said. His experience in the city helped reinforce that belief. Shortly after arriving, he recalled being welcomed by former Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and introduced to key players in the local ecosystem.
“We felt welcomed here from day one,” he added.
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