API-first companies are on the rise, not just in fintech but also in sectors like healthcare. This diversification is boosted by the fact that employees who have earned their chops on banking APIs are now applying their skills to other problems.
Healthcare is one of the sectors that could benefit from API solutions. While there is value in knowing your heart rate or glucose levels, an API can help companies give its end users a much more global view of their well-being, allowing them to take the right steps to stay healthy.
Mexico-based startup Vivanta lives at this intersection of healthcare and APIs. Its focus is health data, with an eye on the fact that wearables are becoming ubiquitous. But its co-founders Alex Hernandez and Jorge Madrigal previously worked together at fintech companies: Arcus, acquired by Mastercard last December, and Belvo, which is API-led and sometimes described as “LatAm’s answer to Plaid.”
This API-centric track record was key for the startup to raise a $300,000 pre-seed round even before launching its product — Vivanta is doing a private launch next month.
“We invested in Vivanta because Jorge and Alex have a successful track record of pushing new API products into the market,” said 99startups managing partner Alejandro Gálvez, who participated in the funding alongside Guadalajara’s Redwood Ventures, Monterrey’s Angel Hub MTY and Mexico-focused syndicate Lotux.
Vivanta’s founders also invited a dozen individuals to participate in the round, with a focus on operators with relevant expertise. “Being able to ask questions to people who’ve done it before is invaluable,” Madrigal told TechCrunch. “We wanted to have a strong network of people that we can lean on.”
Some of Vivanta’s angel investors are founders themselves, such as Arcus’ Edrizio de la Cruz, Madrigal’s and Hernandez’s former boss. But the pair also made a deliberate effort to reach out to technical profiles that are perhaps less common on cap tables — including female engineers and CTOs currently building APIs.