(Bloomberg) -- Vine Ventures, which has backed a handful of Latin American startups, raised a new $140 million fund, which it says makes it one of the largest US-based seed investors focused on the region. 

The New York-based company will use the Vine II fund for early-stage startups from Latin America, with an eye on financial services, logistics and supply chain companies, Managing Partner Eric Reiner said in an interview. Combined with its first fund, Vine now has $243 million under management, which it also invests in Israel and the US. 

“This is a testament to the work we’ve done. We were spot on being early in Latin America,” said Reiner, who founded Vine with Dan Povitsky just before the global Covid-19 pandemic began in 2020. “This certainly makes us one of the largest US seed funds focused on the region.” 

The company is dedicated to making investments of $1 million to $10 million for startups in their seed stage. It plans to deploy the new fund over the next three years as it absorbs the macro-economic changes and political developments, Reiner said. 

It has made bets on Colombia-based property tech firm Habi, which later raised $200 million from SoftBank’s Latin America Fund, TUL, a Latin America super-app for the construction industry valued at $800 million, and Israeli platform Komodor, among others. The first fund posted a net internal rate of return of 251% through last year, the company said. 

Vine was able to raise money from large tech funds, family offices and pension funds even as venture capital spending has slowed as investors shied away from riskier sectors. Latin America, one of the fastest-growing markets for tech investments last year still managed to raise about $3 billion in the first quarter, down from $4 billion in the fourth quarter last year, according to data compiled by CB Insights, an analytics firm. 

Reiner said some firms that poured capital into the region have pulled out. “It’s been very clear that there were tourists in Latin America, but we’re here to stay,” he said. “We’re still bullish on Latin America.” 

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