Tech Talents LatAm #19
Recently launched climate insurtech, ex-Tech Lead at Itaú, ex-Head at Uber, and much more...
Welcome to 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, here’s a breakdown of what I’ve been reading recently. Feel free to skip directly to this week’s talent movements by clicking here.
DeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup, shocked the tech world with the release of its new reasoning model, R1. By now, most people have read that it matches or outperforms OpenAI’s most advanced models on several benchmarks, despite allegedly being trained for just a fraction of the cost. However, what’s less reported is how DeepSeek has brought open-source models significantly closer to their closed-source counterparts. In practice, this means that instead of paying for OpenAI’s Premium ChatGPT plan, you will soon be able to run best-in-class models on your local machine for free. This is a major step not only toward the democratization of AI for general users and founders but also for data privacy and security, as users will have full control over where their data goes.
VC firm NFX shared its Five Stages of AI Agent Evolution. From Generalist Chat (the first version of ChatGPT) to Agents that perform tasks without human supervision (where we are now), and eventually to AI-first Organizations where the AI sets its own goals and makes strategic decisions, the article offers a good reflection on the rapid development of this technology and provides a compelling forecast of what’s next for AI agents.
Speaking of Agents, Andreessen Horowitz believes AI will dramatically increase markets that were previously considered too niched. By enabling software to fully replace human labor, AI will increase the lifetime value and pricing potential of vertical SaaS. Automated sales and marketing tools powered by AI will also reduce customer acquisition costs, contributing to better margins for SaaS tools. These factors will make markets previously deemed too small — such as veterinary clinics or laundry services — more attractive to founders and investors alike.
🎊 Startup Launches
Founders who have just publicly announced what they are working on.
Natu
Overview
Startup Description: Digital climate insurance focused on Brazilian rural producers.
Industry: Insurtech, Agtech
Team Size: 2
Time in Stealth: 8 months
Founder Profile
Luiz Fernando Guerreiro - Co-Founder at Natu
Previously featured as a stealth founder in Tech Talents #14.
Founder Highlights: Serial Founder, Technical Founder, Masters, Top University, Scaleup Experience, Previous Exit
Previous Experience: Ex-Co-Founder and CEO at Petlove, ex-CEO at Buy Buy (acquired by Buscape Groupe), ex-Commercial and Marketing Manager at B2W Digital.
Ask for an Intro: Click here
Headquarters: São Paulo, Brazil
Farol
Overview
Startup Description: Farol helps law firms grow sustainably by offering AI tools that deliver high-quality, ready-to-use legal documents.
Industry: Legal Tech
Team Size: 2
Time in Stealth: 7 months
Founders Profiles
Pedro Teixeira – Founder & CEO at Farol
Founder Highlights: Unicorn Experience, Previous Exit, Top University
Previous Experience: Ex-Product at Arco Educação, ex-Business Development at Eduqo (exited to Arco Platform), ex-Director of Teaching at CASD Vestibulares, ex-Professor at Poliedro Educação, ITA Bachelor's in Civil-Aeronautical Engineering.
Co-Founder: Jonata Weber (CTO)
Ask for an Intro: Click here
Headquarters: São José dos Campos, São Paulo, Brazil
🤫 Talents Entering Stealth
Talents with relevant experiences who have just entered stealth mode.
Douglas Luan – Founder at Stealth Startup
Founder Highlights: Technical Founder, Top University, Ex-Corporate, Masters
Previous Experience: Ex-Senior Software Engineer and Tech Lead at Itaú Unibanco, ex-Machine Learning Researcher at Centro de Ciência de Dados - C2D. Bachelor and Master’s degree in Engineering from USP.
Headquarters: São Paulo, Brazil
Ask for an Intro: Click here
Time in Current Position: 6 months
Abraham González Pont – Co-Founder at Stealth Startup
Stealth Description: Creating Scalable Opportunities in Retail, Technology, and Entertainment.
Founder Highlights: Investor, Ex-Big Tech, Ex-Corporate
Previous Experience: Ex-VP, LATAM Regional General Manager at OXIO, ex-Head of Driver Operations LatAm at Uber, ex-Business Sales Manager at Vodafone Hutchison Australia, ex-Director & Co-Founder at Innovacoco Mexico, ex-Sales & Business Planner at Hewlett-Packard Financial Services, ex-Director & Co-Founder at Lusso Mexico.
Headquarters: Mexico
Ask for an Intro: Click here
Time in Current Position: 6 months
Danilo Augusto – Co-Founder & CTO at Stealth Startup
Founder Highlights: Serial Founder, Technical Founder, Masters, Top University
Previous Experience: Ex-Co-Founder & CTO at GreenLab Solutions, ex-Lead Data Scientist at Mindsay, ex-Data Scientist at Sinequa, ex-Software Engineer at École Polytechnique. Master's degree in Computer Engineering from École Polytechnique, Master's degree in Mathématiques from École normale supérieure.
Headquarters: São Paulo, Brazil
Ask for an Intro: Click here
Time in Current Position: 4 months
José Victor Almada – Founding Member at Stealth Startup
Founder Highlights: Technical Founder, Scaleup Experience
Previous Experience: Ex-Principal Engineer at PicPay, ex-Staff Engineer at Guiabolso. Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from PUC.
Headquarters: São Paulo, Brazil
Ask for an Intro: Click here
Time in Current Position: 3 months
Felipe Jyn Yamada – Founding Team at Stealth Startup
Founder Highlights: Ex-Corporate, Unicorn Experience
Previous Experience: Ex-Senior Product Manager at Shopee, ex-Product Manager at QuintoAndar, ex-Business Analyst - Pricing at Cielo.
Headquarters: São Paulo, Brazil
Ask for an Intro: Click here
Time in Current Position: 3 months
Renato Sanabria – Building something new at Stealth Startup
Founder Highlights: Scaleup Experience, Technical Founder, Serial Founder, Ex-Consultant, Top University
Previous Experience: Ex-Founding Team at Tino, ex-Analytics Manager at Quero Educação, ex-Data Scientist at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), ex-Co-founder and CEO at TerraMagna.
Headquarters: São Paulo, Brazil
Ask for an Intro: Click here
Time in Current Position: 1 year, 3 months
🦄 Unicorn Movements
Promotions, new hires, and other movements in local unicorns’ executive-level.
Thiago dos Santos Teixeira – CTO at Dock
Previous Role: General Manager and CPTO at Zup Innovation
Previous Experience: Ex-VP of Product and Engineering at Zup Innovation, ex-Head of Engineering and Lean Digital Transformation at CI&T, ex-Software Engineer at Assesso, ex-Software Engineer at Netwire Consulting.
Headquarters: São Paulo, Brazil
Time in Current Position: 1 month
Luana Bichuetti – CEO Fintech at Loft
Previous Role: VP Auto Business Unit at Creditas
Previous Experience: Ex-Head Leste Global Ventures at Leste Group, ex-Global Head NABLAB at Anheuser-Busch InBev, ex-Engagement Manager at Booz & Company, ex-Business Analyst & Associate at A.T. Kearney, Harvard MBA.
Headquarters: São Paulo, Brazil
Time in Current Position: 3 months
Monica Duarte Santos – People Leader at Stone
Previous Role: Chief People Officer at Loggi
Previous Experience: Ex-People Operations Director, Latin America at Google, ex-HR Manager at Nokia, ex-HR Analyst at Medcenter Solutions.
Headquarters: São Paulo, Brazil
Time in Current Position: 1 month
Reminder: I’m giving away access to a structured database of key executives in LatAm unicorns. This database currently features over 120 profiles from 20 organizations, including all the usual Tech Talents information — tags, previous experience, LinkedIn links, time in current position, and more.
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