This post is the fifth in a series about Latin American venture capital ecosystems. Read Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.
I recently wrote about the growing business opportunities in Brazil, the fifth largest country in the world and home to one of the most tech-savvy populations in Latin America. Despite the recent political turbulence and recession, Brazilian startups are still attracting plenty of attention from investors. New government initiatives and a growing interest from foreign investors are building momentum for Brazil’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
If you’re an investor or seeking funding opportunities for your venture, below is a brief overview of the venture capital ecosystem in Brazil.
Angel Investors
Anjos do Brasil – Anjos do Brasil is a nonprofit founded in 2011 to help further the development of angel investment in Brazil. The organization has over 16 affiliated groups and 350 members across the entire country.
Startup Angels – Startup Angels is an international network that inspires and enables angel investors worldwide, with an office in São Paulo, Brazil’s financial capital.
VC Firms
Monashees+ – Monashees+ is a global venture capital firm based in São Paulo that invests in innovative entrepreneurs at the early stages of their ventures. Their portfolio includes companies that are improving people’s lives through tech, such as Rappi, VivaReal, and Petlove.
Redpoint eVentures – Redpoint eVentures is an early stage venture capital firm located in São Paulo, Brazil. The firm is partners with Redpoint Ventures and e.ventures in Silicon Valley and boasts an impressive portfolio of 15+ companies, including big names like Rappi and Gympass.
Kaszek Ventures – This Brazilian venture capital firm focuses on high-impact technology companies that want to operate in Latin American markets. Kaszek provides not only capital but also hands-on mentorship, networking, product development, team-building, and plenty of resources to help entrepreneurs develop viable businesses.
Valor Capital Group – Valor focuses on US/Brazil cross-border opportunities and is based in New York, Menlo Park, and Rio de Janeiro. They look for early- to late-stage US or international technology companies seeking to expand to Brazil, as well as Brazilian technology companies. Valor Capital Group companies solve the problems that face the middle class, especially in fields of education, financial services, and health.
DGF Investimentos – This Brazilian venture capital firm focuses on small- to medium-sized enterprises in the Brazilian technology market. They have already made over 40 investments, with several successful exits.
Criatec Fund – A seed investment fund focusing on emerging (under BRL$6M yearly revenue) and innovative companies. Criatec Fund seeks to gain capital through long-term investments in innovative and high-growth startups. The investors in the Criatec Fund include Banco Nacional do Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (BNDES) with BRL$80 million invested, and Banco Nordeste do Brasil (BNB) with BRL$20 million invested.
SP Ventures – São Paulo-based VC firm that acquires equity in early-stage innovative startups. Investment tickets vary from R$2 Million to R$6 Million (USD$650K to $2M) per company, on average, but can reach R$15 Million (USD$5M) including follow-ons.
Instituto Inovacao – Instituto Inovacao is a large, well-known VC firm in São Paulo. Founded in 2000 as a startup accelerator, the firm now co-manages the largest seed fund in Brazil, Criatec Fund. They also administer Inseed, an in-house seed fund for new businesses.
Ideiasnet S.A. – Started in 2000, Ideiasnet S.A. quickly became the corporate benchmark for all tech venture capital, investing in e-commerce, edtech, digital media, SaaS, and more. Restructured in 2009 to become an accredited manager of investments funds, Ideiasnet S.A. is now focused on investing between USD$1M and USD$4M into technology companies operating in Latin America.
Confrapar – Confrapar is a Brazilian fund manager focused on technology companies with offices in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Belo Horizonte. Confrapar invests up to USD$12M in each company and currently has 10 technology companies in its portfolio.
Astella Investimentos – Astella Investimentos is a São Paulo-based early-stage venture capital investor for “heroes,” or entrepreneurs looking to make a large-scale impact on consumers.
Warehouse Investimentos – This venture capital firm based in São Paulo is focused on technology and “green tech” startups with high-growth potential. Generally, Warehouse Investimentos does not invest in companies with over USD$8M in yearly revenue already.
W7 Venture Capital – W7 Venture Capital is a venture capital firm investing directly in the Brazilian web market.
Canary.vc – Canary VC is a seed stage fund that trades 10-15% equity for investments in tech companies that are at a critical juncture in their growth. They focus on the vision of the entrepreneur and the strength of the starting team as they select their ventures.
Government Initiatives
Apex Brazil Corporate Ventures Program – This Brazilian government program is designed to promote Brazilian products abroad and works to encourage corporate venture capital investments in Brazil by bringing investors there and hosting networking events with the entire Brazilian VC community.
ABVCAP – The Association for Private Equity and Venture Capital of Brazil is a non-profit focusing on venture capital and private equity in Brazil, raising industry standards and promoting global best practices in Brazil. ABVCAP is one of the only VC initiatives by the Brazilian government after the country suffered heavily in the 2008 financial crisis. The organization strives to facilitate relationships between international and local investors.
Accelerator Programs
Start-Up Brazil – Based on the Start-Up Chile model, this incubator program is a project by the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation, and Communication that partners with local accelerators to help bring startups through the phases of development and lasts 12 months.
Aceleradora de Startups – Aceleradora de Startups is a collaborative startup accelerator based in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
InovAtiva Brasil – InovAtiva Brasil is a free accelerator program that has nurtured over 540 startups funded by Ministry of Industry, Economy, and International Commerce, and the Brazilian Support Service for Micro and Small Enterprises (SEBRAE).
Startup Farm – This is the biggest and most active startup accelerator in Brazil with over USD$100M in captured investments and a portfolio of over 250 startups operating in 110 countries. Sponsored by Visa and IBM, the Startup Farm operates out of Google’s São Paulo campus.
Papaya Ventures – Papaya Ventures is a multi-thematic startup accelerator operating out of Rio de Janeiro that provides startups with $10K of seed funding in exchange for 10% equity.
Tree Labs – Tree Labs is an ‘Inventions Factory’ that provides an alternative, community-based model to startup acceleration. Tree Labs is also based in Rio de Janeiro.
ACE – ACE is a major player among accelerators in Brazil, investing over $500 thousand reais in promising startups each year. Previously known as Aceleratech, ACE is considered among the top funds in Latin America, having nurtured over 130 startups during its operations.
Wayra Brasil – Wayra is a top international accelerator operating throughout Latin America to improve telecommunication technology. In Brazil, they have supported 63 tech startups through their accelerator program.
If I’ve missed any valuable Brazilian venture capital resources, please let me know in the comments.