Cicada, a US-regulated electronic trading platform connecting institutional capital to Latin American local-currency markets, has raised $13.5m in a Series A funding round.
The round was led by Citi, with participation from Brazilian stock exchange B3 through its independent venture capital arm L4, alongside Kaszek, Dila, and Crestone. The financing also includes a parallel strategic equity programme designed to anchor liquidity through committed market makers, with leading Wall Street institutions already signed on as early participants.
The capital will be used to expand commercial efforts, boost liquidity, add new products and geographies, and deepen integrations with third-party global platforms. Cicada also plans to invest further in its regulatory, compliance, and risk infrastructure. As part of its product expansion, the company intends to develop an electronic interest rate swap execution venue initially focused on Mexican TIIE, a market with average daily trading volumes of approximately $24bn.
Cicada is targeting Latin America’s largely voice-driven local-currency bond markets. In Mexico alone, the fixed income market is valued at $500bn, with over 98% of $5–7bn in daily trading still conducted non-electronically, it saiid.
The platform operates as an SEC-registered alternative trading system (ATS), offering an all-to-all marketplace that connects global buy-side and sell-side institutions across borders. Cicada has also introduced one of the first central limit order books (CLOB) for Mexican local-currency bonds, alongside proprietary spread-trading functionality and its Double Down execution protocol.
L4 managing partner Tiago Wigman said, “Collaboration across trading venues is essential to boosting liquidity and facilitating stronger North-South capital flows. Cicada’s platform enables institutions to source and distribute liquidity electronically at scale, strengthening the integration of North American capital markets and expanding access for global investors to local-currency bonds.”
Cicada co-founder and co-CEO Ignacio Tovar said, “Having Citi lead this round, together with capital from B3 and a dedicated equity program for market makers, is critical to scaling liquidity on the platform. This combination of strategic capital and active participation from liquidity providers strengthens our foundation as core market infrastructure for local-currency emerging-market debt.”
Cicada co-CEO Javier Hernandez said, “We’ve built the first fully all-to-all, truly global electronic marketplace for secondary trading in Mexican local-currency bonds, bringing institutional-grade capabilities to a market that has long needed it. We’re now positioned to expand this model across additional Latin American markets as electronification continues to accelerate.”
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