Tech Talents LatAm #11
Ex-General Manager at CoudKitchens starts something new, ex-Chief Revenue Officer at Oiti in stealth, ex-Head of New Ventures at Descomplica builds in health, and much more...
Welcome to the eleventh edition of Tech Talents!
In this newsletter, I share real-time key talent movements in the LatAm tech ecosystem, including founders entering and exiting stealth mode, executive-level movements in unicorns, and partner-level changes in local VC firms.
Before we dive in, I wanted to share a chart that I recently came across in PitchBook-NVCA’s Venture Monitor Q3 2024 that captures the current state of Venture Capital well. Feel free to skip to this week’s talent movements if you prefer.
As shown below, distribution from VCs back to Limited Partners (LPs) as a share of net asset value (NAV) is currently at 5.2%. This is less than a third of the average quarterly rate of distributions over the past decade (16.8%).
What does this mean and why does it matter? As many of you know, the VC industry follows a clear cycle:
Limited Partners (LPs) → Invest in VC firms → Invest in Startups → Go through an Exit Event (get acquired, go public, or sell via secondary) → Exit proceeds go back to VCs → VCs distribute the money back to LPs
LPs can then use this money to invest in the asset class again and so the cycle restarts…
Scarcity or abundance of liquidity events for startups is the main driver that dictates how healthy the cycle is and can thus change the rules of the VC game significantly.
For example, what we see now is that liquidity events (M&As and IPOs) have been less frequent over the last two years, both globally and in LatAm. Therefore, VCs have struggled to distribute capital to their investors (LPs) who in turn have less capital to invest back into VCs. It then gets more difficult for VC firms to raise money and, with less capital to deploy, investors become more diligent and the bargaining power of founders tends to be lower resulting in more investor-friendly terms.
Regardless of what player you are in the ecosystem, you should always be aware of the forces in play to update your strategy accordingly. Broadly speaking, here’s what I think the current market status means for each player:
VCs: This is a good time to invest. With less money in the market, good founders might be looking for capital and be more flexible with terms (pro rata, valuation, board seats…).
Founders: Knowing that the pendulum is not in your favor, it might be a good idea to extend runway so that you have a better chance of fundraising when market conditions improve.
LPs: Might be overalocated in VC but this doesn’t mean it isn’t a good time to invest. In fact, the opposite is true as, following the same logic of VCs above, great opportunities might show up.
Back to our usual format…
This edition of Tech Talents is brought to you by BZCP.
Bronstein, Zilberberg, Chueiri & Potenza Advogados advises investors in their investment rounds and also in exit events and M&A, in addition to assisting startups from their creation through all stages of development, helping to solve complex legal matters.
🎊 Founders Coming Out of Stealth
Founders who were in stealth mode and have just revealed what they are working on.
Nexa Finance
Overview
Startup Description: Nexa combines traditional financial market expertise with cutting-edge technology to offer new products and the best investment experience.
Announcement Post: Click here
Industry: Fintech
Team Size: 7
Time in Stealth: 9 months
Founders Profiles
Lucas Danicek Borges - Founder and CEO at Nexa Finance
Founder Highlights: Ex-Investor, Top University
Previous Experience: Ex-Partner and CIO at TERA Capital, ex-Portfolio Manager at Patria Investimentos, ex-Partner and Portfolio Manager at Nest Investimentos, ex-Equity Trader at Santander Asset Management, University of São Paulo B.B.A.
Ask for an Intro: Click here
Headquarters: São Paulo
Eduardo Furuie - Co-founder at Nexa Finance
Founder Highlights: Ex-Investor, Top University
Previous Experience: Ex-Portfolio Manager at TERA Capital, ex-Analyst at Patria Investimentos, Federal University of São Carlos, Bachelor's in Industrial Engineering, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Industrial Engineering.
Ask for an Intro: Click here
Headquarters: São Paulo
🤫 Talents Entering Stealth
Talents with relevant experiences who have just entered stealth mode.
Diego Echecopar - Co-Founder and CEO at Stealth Startup
Founder Highlights: Serial Founder, Top University, Ex-Big Tech, Masters
Previous Experience: Ex-Global Business Development and Venture Capital at CloudKitchens, ex-General Manager for Mexico and Central America and the Andean Region at CloudKitchens, ex-Investment Consultant at Ataria, ex-CEO and Founder at Bocadio.com, ex-Co-founder and Managing Director at SV Links, ex-Manager of Sales & Marketing at Intrax Cultural Exchange. MBA from University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business.
Ask for an Intro: Click here
Headquarters: México
Time in Current Position: 3 months
Rafael Viana – Founder at Stealth Startup
Founder Highlights: Serial Founder, Technical Founder, Investor, Ex-Consultant
Previous Experience: Ex-CTO & Co-Founder at Caf, EIR at Canastra Ventures, ex-Consultant at KOPP, multiple Full Stack Developer roles. Rafael holds a degree in Computer Science from Universidade de Santa Cruz do Sul.
Ask for an Intro: Click here
Headquarters: Rio Grande do Sul
Time in Current Position: 3 months
Felipe Mundy - Co-Founder at Stealth Startup
Stealth Description: Building the next generation of solutions for Physicians
Founder Highlights: Serial Founder, Technical Founder, “Soonicorn” Experience
Previous Experience: Ex-Digital Products Director at Leroy Merlin, ex-Head de New Ventures at Descomplica, ex-Group Product Manager at Ambev, ex-Integration Chief Product Owner at Anheuser-Busch InBev. Instituto Militar de Engenharia graduado em Engenharia Eletrônica.
Ask for an Intro: Click here
Headquarters: São Paulo
Time in Current Position: 3 months
Rodrigo Yukio - Founder at Stealth Startup
Founder Highlights: Unicorn Experience
Previous Experience: Ex-Chief Revenue Officer at Oiti, ex-Sales at Axado, ex-Sales at Unico IDtech, ex-Executive Sales at CashMonitor, ex-Executive Sales at Targetware Informatica, Mackenzie Economics, Anhembi Morumbi Business Administration.
Ask for an Intro: Click here
Headquarters: São Paulo
Time in Current Position: 1 month
Eduardo Cesar Franceschett – Founder at Stealth Startup
Founder Highlights: Serial Founder, Previous Exit, Ex-Big Tech
Previous Experience: Founder at KarHub, EIR at Canary, ex-Founder at AirHomes, ex-Founder at Konfere, ex-Sales Manager at Mercado Livre, ex-Managing Partner at Axado, ex-Head of E-commerce at OdontoPrev. Holds an Executive MBA from Fundação Dom Cabral and another from ACE Startups, along with a degree in Social Communication from Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing.
Ask for an Intro: Click here
Headquarters: São Paulo
Time in Current Position: 8 months
🦄 Unicorn Movements
Promotions, new hires, and other movements in local unicorns’ executive-level.
Charles Monteux
Current Role: Chief Revenue Officer at Frete.com
Previous Role: General Manager Brazil at Afiniti
Previous Experience: Ex-Vice President Client Services at Afiniti, ex-Associate Partner - Head of Digital for Telecom Brazil at IBM, ex-Senior Engagement Manager at Value Partners Management Consulting, ex-Program Director and Managing Consultant at Capgemini Invent, ex-Manager at Accenture, ex-Products & Services Specialist at IBM, HEC Paris MBA.
Headquarters: São Paulo
Time in Current Position: 1 month
Raphael Correa
Current Role: Head of Design at Olist
Previous Role: Head of Design at Clara
Previous Experience: Ex-Global Design Manager at Kavak.com, ex-Head of UX & Design LATAM at Dafiti Group, ex-Head of UX & Product Design at KaBuM!, ex-Head of UX Design at Rakuten Brasil, ex-Head of Innovation & Design at HypnoBox CRM, ex-Art Director at various advertising agencies including JWT and Digitas. Holds a degree in Publicidade e Propaganda from Universidade Metodista de Piracicaba.
Headquarters: São Paulo
Time in Current Position: 1 month
Bruna Wang
Current Role: Chief of Staff at Neon
Previous Role: Head of Growth and Engagement at Neon
Previous Experience: Ex-Head of Customer Experience and ex-Chief of Staff at Mottu, ex-Commercial Planning US & Europe at FARM Rio, ex-Owner of Kaizuka Atacado, ex-Senior Business Analyst at Gradus Consultoria de Gestão, ex-Business Analyst at A.T. Kearney. B.B.A. from FGV.
Headquarters: São Paulo
Time in Current Position: 1 month
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