Patria leads $60M round for Colombian housing startup Duppla
What's the deal? Patria InvestmentsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → led a $60 million early-stage round for Duppla, a Colombian home-financing startup, combining debt and equity. It marks the Brazilian alternative-asset manager's first venture capital investment in the neighbouring country.
What does Duppla do? It offers an alternative path to home ownership for Colombians who struggle to secure traditional mortgages. Clients make a down payment of at least 15% of a property's value, then rent it for an initial five years while Duppla finances the rest.
During that period, clients can raise their contributions to qualify for a conventional mortgage when the rental contract ends. Duppla serves about 300 families and aims to reach 1,500 by the end of 2027, said co-founder Cristian Villamizar.
Why now? Only about 3% of Colombian adults held a mortgage in 2024, underlining the limited reach of traditional lending in a country where millions have variable or informal incomes. Home-loan rates there are among the region's highest, averaging 16.1% in 2023.
"This is a model that can help reduce that gap" for Colombians who cannot access a mortgage, said Diego Chona, partner and head of private equity investments at Patria.
Who else joined? Venture firms Cometa and NazcaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, financial-services group Skandia Colombia, and investment firm Grupo PegasusDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → took part. Patria invested through the equity portion; the deal was signed in late June and took effect on July 29.
By the numbers: The round ranks in the 98th percentile of early-stage venture deals in Colombia over the trailing 48 months, based on a sample of 393 rounds — placing it near the top of the market by size.
What's the endgame? The deal is part of Patria's broader push into Colombia, where it sees a large consumer market and pent-up demand for essential services. The firm wants to "become a catalyst for startups" and build a portfolio spanning early-stage, growth, and private equity, Chona said.
Known mainly for private equity, credit, real estate, infrastructure, and public markets, Patria entered venture capital by acquiring Brazil's Igah Ventures in 2022. It now manages more than $59 billion in assets and holds over $7 billion invested or under management in Colombia, with plans to double private equity exposure there to $1.4 billion within three to five years.
The signal: Patria's first Colombian venture bet reflects rising investor appetite for the country's technology ecosystem, coming as president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella, who takes office in August, pledges to revive economic growth and spur private investment.
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