Andre Maciel, founder at Brazilian VC Volpe Capital: the $700B LATAM question for Meta, Google and ByteDance

Welcome to Season 3 of The J Curve, a podcast about entrepreneurship in Latin America. My guest today is ⁠Andre Maciel⁠, founder of the Brazilian venture capital firm ⁠Volpe Capital⁠, whose current and former portfolio includes the likes of Vtex, CRM&Bonus, Connectly, and Atlas Governance. Before starting Volpe, André was the founding managing investment partner at SoftBank Latin America, and prior to that, he spent nearly 17 years in investment banking and private equity at JP Morgan.

This is a special conversation where we dive into the evolution of startup investing in Brazil and Latin America, unpack various exit strategies, and set realistic return expectations for portfolio managers. We also explore AI’s transformative role in boosting productivity, particularly in sectors like tax prep and automation. Finally, we discuss why LATAM is such a hotbed for innovation, offering tech giants like Google and Meta an incredible $700 billion market opportunity.

In today's episode we discuss:

1. AI’s Big Bet: why the application of AI is a critical factor in unlocking productivity in Latin America? 

2. The $700B question for Meta, Google and ByteDance: why Brazil is big tech’s most wanted market?

3. The 2021 exit gap: how LATAM VCs missed a golden opportunity to deliver LP returns?

4. The path forward: How can Latin America cultivate a robust local LP market?

5. LATAM vs. Silicon Valley: What sets their founders apart?

If you would like to get more insight from LatAm's leading tech founders and investors, subscribe to our new ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube channel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. 

Follow Olga on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Olga is an entrepreneur, venture capital investor, mentor at Techstars and founder at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The J Curve⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, Latin America's leading English speaking podcast about tech builders. She's been investing in the USA, SEA and Latin America for over 13 years. Companies she backed include tech unicorn ClassPass (acquired by Mindbody) and Vitalk (acquired by Gympass).