SHARP FOUNDERS,
BOLD COMPANIES.
Investing since 2011, helping founders with connections, strategy and capital.
WHO WE ARE
About
We are an early-stage venture capital fund investing in the Future of Finance.
We look for diverse founding teams with sharp and bold visions that want to transform and impact the financial markets in Latin America and the World in a responsible way. Also, we believe that the world will run on blockchains and we want to support founders leading this transformation.
At Iporanga we see ourselves as sponsors of innovation, investing equity capital, acting as part of the teams, being side by side with founders, providing connections and years of accumulated expertise in helping companies grow from startup to scale-up stages.
We primarily partner with Seed stage companies exploring opportunities in fintech, embedded finance and blockchain across Latin America.
Diary of our Journey
2009
Our journey started a while back in 2009. That year we launched Iporanga as a more traditional asset management business running a Macro Fund (that we still manage). Throughout the years we saw an opportunity to operate an arbitrage in the liquid markets and decided to hire developers to help us model and implement our algorithmic trading and risk systems. At some point, we were outnumbered by over 15 developers working in the house and changing our culture and the way we saw the world for good.
2011
Technology companies were booming again and we decided to follow that trend more closely. The year was 2011 and we came across a little company called Quero Educação, from São José dos Campos/SP. We ended up investing in them nearly on the powerpoint and helping the founders grow into one of the largest technology companies in the Education sector.
2013
In 2013 we invested in another icon of the Brazilian technology sector, this time in the logistics sector. We met with Fabien Mendez for dinner in Rio and on the same night we knew we would back that guy. Done, deal. Loggi is today one of the largest operators of last-mile logistics in Brazil with a valuation of over $2 billion.
2018
In January 2018 Leonardo Teixeira joins Iporanga to build the Venture Capital platform. Leonardo Teixeira brings an extensive network and experience investing with angels from 2013 until 2018 amassed over nearly 20 investments in technology companies from various sectors such as Olist, Netshow. Me, Linte, BxBlue, Back4App, just to quote a few.
2019
2019 is a very special year because we launched the Iporanga Early Stage II, partnering up with great investors and a large network of operators to help outstanding entrepreneurs in their journeys.
2020
In April 2020 Renato Valente joins Iporanga as partner to lead Fund II with Leonardo. Renato brings a strong experience being an entrepreneur, as founder with an exit in 2015. After that he acted as Brazil Country Manager of Telefonica Open Innovation responsible for more than 30 investments through Wayra in startups like Teravoz, Gupy, Monkey, Pier and investments in VCs through Telefonica fund of funds unit.
Our Team
GENERAL PARTNER
Renato Valente
Renato spent most of his career in technology and has been in the entrepreneurial ecosystem since 2009 when he founded an Adtech startup, Ocapi, sold in 2015.
After that he worked for 5 years as Country Manager for Telefonica Open Innovation, leading investments in VCs and Wayra Brazil, doing over 30 investments in startups like Gupy, Teravoz, Pier and Monkey. Prior to that worked at IBM and LATAM. Renato holds a BA in Business Administration from FAAP, specializations in Global Management from IESE (Barcelona) and Venture Capital from
UC Berkeley.
GENERAL PARTNER
Leonardo Teixeira
Since 2013, Leonardo Teixeira has been involved in more than 30 investments in technology companies, the most notable ones being Olist, Netshow.Me and Bxblue.
Besides Iporanga, Leonardo participates as board member for Caffeex Technologies LLC (being also a co-founder ). Prior to 2013, Leonardo worked at Macquarie Group and Barclays PLC in São Paulo, London and New York as an Associate Director. Leonardo holds a BA in Production Engineering from Poli – USP, an MBA in Finance from Insper, Executive Education in Venture Capital from UC Berkeley and LEAD Certification in Corporate Innovation from Stanford University.
BOARD MEMBER, FOUNDING PARTNER
Leo Kalim
Leo Kalim is CFO of Gorila,
founding partner at Iporanga and also participates in the Investment Committee of Iporanga Ventures.
Leo Kalim has over 20 years of Emerging Markets experience, formerly trading FX and IRS at Goldman Sachs and before that he was EM portfolio manager at independent hedge funds and some of the largest Brazilian asset managers (Unibanco, HSBC, BankBoston). Leo holds a Bachelor’s degree in economics from FEA-USP and an MBA from MIT.
BOARD MEMBER, FOUNDING PARTNER
Guilherme Assis
Guilherme Assis is the CEO of Gorila, founding partner of Iporanga and also participates in the Investment Committee of Iporanga Ventures.
Before moving to a full role as CEO of Gorila fintech, Guilherme had been running the Venture Capital strategy since 2014, and investing in Brazilian tech companies since 2011.
Prior to that, between 2001 and 2009 Guilherme worked for Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.
Guilherme holds a BA in Production Engineering from POLI-USP and a Masters in Mathematical Modelling from IME-USP.
BOARD MEMBER, FOUNDING PARTNER
Robinson Dantas
Robinson is COO at Gorila and founding partner at Iporanga. Robinson’s career started at Morgan Stanley on the derivatives desk.
He then co-founded GDX Investimentos and later on he founded bXChain (2016), a startup focused on offering blockchain solutions for digital products. Robinson is also a Cryptofinance scholar teaching at FGV in
São Paulo. Robinson holds a
BSc in Electronics Engineering
from Poli-USP.
VENTURE PARTNER
Pedro Henrique Silva
Pedro Silva joined Iporanga as a Venture Partner in March 2023. Pedro has the goal of doing GP, LP and business development for Iporanga in New York.
Previously Pedro worked at Arvorie (co-founder) and before that he experienced different roles at Carlyle, Baker McKenzie, Kraft Heinz and McKinsey. Pedro graduated in Electronics Engineering from the Aeronautics Institute of Technology (ITA) and has an MBA in Finance and Operations from Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania.
FINANCE & OPERATIONS MANAGER
Stéphanie Ackermann
Stéphanie has over 6 years of experience in the banking industry, having worked across different operations departments.
Before joining Iporanga, she worked with operational internal controls and process improvements at Rabobank and HSBC. Stéphanie holds a BA in Accounting from
FEA-USP.
INVESTMENTS ASSOCIATE
Rodrigo Trindade
Rodrigo entered the innovation and venture capital environment in 2018, working at Wayra Brazil prospecting investment, business opportunities and managing entrepreneurship programs.
After that, he worked with business development at Vivo. Before joining Iporanga, he worked with CVC, conducting the investment pipeline and portfolio management for a major retailer in Brazil. Rodrigo
holds a BA in Physical Engineering from USP.
FINANCE & OPERATIONS ANALYST
Rafael Viaceli
In 2022, Rafael embarked on his journey with Iporanga as an intern in the finance and operations department. In 2023, he took the next step and joined the team as an analyst.
Before this, he had completed his Brazilian Army Reserve Officer Training Course at CPOR SP. He also gained over a year's worth of valuable experience during his time at MetLife, actively contributing to various finance-related projects. Rafael holds a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from FGV.
INVESTMENTS INTERN
Bianca Rocha
Bianca joined Iporanga in 2022 as an intern in the investments area. She currently studies Production Engineering at Maua Institute of Technology in São Paulo.
Before joining Iporanga Bianca worked at Confrapar, a Growth Fund where she assisted with portfolio companies and evaluating new investments.
OUR THESIS
How we Invest
We invest in people, not in assets.
Being investors and entrepreneurs in technology companies since 2011 has taught us a fair amount of things. We know that building a company presents extreme challenges and nerve-wracking situations for founders and we aim to be there offering all the support needed because at the end of the day, at the seed stage, we invest in people, not in assets.
6 T's
Our investment frameworking is based on what we call 6Ts.
Team
Thesis
TAM
Why is this the best team? Is this a strong and complementary team? Do they embrace diversity? Are they sharp? Do they have an edge on this market? How strong is their market knowledge? Are they able to attract more capital? Can they hire, inspire and lead great people? Are they in for the long run?
What problem are they fixing now and what will they build in the future? How passionate are the team about the problem? What is their bold vision? Is this a life opportunity?
How big is the target market? How fast is the market growing? Is it following a strong trend? Is there any regulatory change?
Technology
Timing
Transformational
Does the solution come from a proprietary technology? What is different about the technology? Do the first users love the product? Why is it a great product?
Why now? Why hasn’t this been built before? What signals cross to suggest the timing is appropriate?
Is this business going to really change something? Will it redefine a category? How will this business impact the lives of people and/or businesses? What ESG impact will it have in the world? Which SDGs is the company pursuing? Will it help create a better world?
Straight and honest conversation with founders
The relationship of a Venture Capital partner with a founder is a long one, it can last for a decade or more. Over the years we have learned that the best way to develop and manage this relationship is by being professional, ethical, intellectually honest, and respectful. As a consequence, we like to maintain open communication with the founders we invest.
Statistics are brutal in our business, and for every 100 founding teams we meet with, perhaps 1 will get financed by us, and those are sad constraints in our business model. Even though we may not end up investing in your company, we wish to be as helpful as reasonably possible to us, fostering good ideas and good entrepreneurs.
As Venture Capitalists, we are in for the long run and we have a pragmatic approach. We love LATAM for its beauties and people and we want to be part of its development. As much as it presents several challenges as a region, it also presents invaluable opportunities that great entrepreneurs will tackle and fix. And we also love technology for its role as an engine of progress in the world. We are at the intersection of both.
COMPANIES
Our latest investments
ACTIVE
Praso
Sector
Business Model
Retail
Transactional
Portfolio
Headquarters
Iporanga Early Stage II
Recife – Brazil
ACTIVE
Pagô
Sector
Business Model
Fintech
Transactional
Portfolio
Headquarters
Iporanga Early Stage II
São Paulo – Brazil
ACTIVE
Covalenty
Sector
Business Model
Retail
SaaS, Transactional
Portfolio
Headquarters
Iporanga Early Stage II
São Paulo – Brazil
ACTIVE
Verde
Sector
Business Model
Fintech
Marketplace, Transactional
Portfolio
Headquarters
Iporanga Early Stage II
São Paulo – Brazil
ACTIVE
Kravata
Sector
Business Model
Blockchain
Transactional
Portfolio
Headquarters
Iporanga Early Stage II
Bogotá – Colombia
ACTIVE
Appito
Sector
Business Model
Entertainment
Transactional
Portfolio
Headquarters
Iporanga Early Stage II
São Paulo – Brazil
RESEARCH
Papers
Research initiative to showcase Iporanga’s Future of Finance thesis and discusses the opportunities we believe will bring the next 1000x returns and greatest impacts in society.
Paper 2 | Open Finance
1000X OPPORTUNITIES
Our second paper, released in August 2023, about Open Finance. The material provides an overview of the current Open Finance scenario, in addition to discussing the main points and conflicts inherent to the model. It also brings our best interpretation of facts, opportunities and use cases.
We believe that the Open Banking initiative has the potential to cause profound changes to the financial industry by leveling the playing field among market participants, while laying the foundations for new financial solutions to blossom through the work of entrepreneurs.
Earlier Papers
Also, Iporanga discusses relevant topics through our blog.
ESG
Our View
We, as venture capitalists, are committed to transforming the world through innovative businesses.
Iporanga believes that allocating resources in financial services is the best destination of Venture Capital funds, not only by delivering the highest returns, but also by being the one that generates the greatest impact. With this in mind, we are convinced that integrating ESG criterias into our investment process adds value and reduces risk for investors and startup founders.
Although our ESG journey is just beginning, we are moving in the right direction.
Our recent efforts focused on ESG and Diversity & Inclusion aim to contribute strongly to two important United Nation goals:
To better understand our view, access Iporanga’s ESG Manifest.
WHAT WE HAVE
ALREADY DONE
-
Set diversity goals for our team & portfolio and implemented policies and strategies that will lead us to increase gender equality.
-
Designed ESG criterias for analysis in our investment process and developed an internal ESG monitoring process.
-
Developed diversity and SDGs support guides for our portfolio companies.
WHAT WE WANT
TO DO
-
Publish an annual ESG transparency report.
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Include the ESG throughout all our investment process.
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Zero our carbon footprint.
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Be one of the references in ESG applications in Venture Capital in Latin America.