São Paulo — SoftBank Latin America Fund is creating a new entity for its investments in early-stage startups. Called Upload Ventures, SoftBank will remain the largest shareholder in the new fund. Rodrigo Baer (former Redpoint eventures) and Marco Camhaji, who were leading SoftBank Latin America Fund’s early-stage fund, will now lead Upload Ventures with angel investor Norberto Giangrande.
Giangrande has already invested in digital banks such as Nubank, Neon and Cora, and startups such as Buser and Gupy. According to SoftBank, the spin-off is expected to be fully completed by the end of April.
Upload Ventures invests in early-stage companies in Latin America, maintaining its original investment target of approximately $100 million per year. Baer, Camhaji and Giangrande will be supported by their current 12-person team, which will fully migrate to Upload Ventures from offices in Brazil and Mexico.
“SoftBank’s vision to identify and invest in early-stage companies in Latin America has proven to be a huge success,” said Paulo Passoni and Shu Nyatta, managing partners of SoftBank Latin America Fund, in a press release.
According to SoftBank Latin America Fund, in six months of operation, the early-stage fund has received more than 1,100 pitches from startups in the region.
The fund will not sell its stakes in the startups. The portfolio of the early-stage companies invested in by SoftBank will be fully transferred to Upload Ventures. Abstra, Arch, Birdie, BotCity, Digibee, D-Uma, Indaband, Medway, Neivor, Nile, Salu and Worc are the invested startups.
Redpoint eventures faces a different situation from the Brazil-based fund , which, according to the Brazilian newspaper O Estadão, should sell the stakes it holds in 48 startups and close its doors, while the fund’s lead investors Anderson Thees and Manoel Lemos will take over a new venture capital fund from Itaú. Another Redpoint partner, Romero Rodrigues had already left the fund to lead new managing firm Headline.