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monashees Closes US$150 Million in New Funds for Investment in Latin AmericaBrazilian venture capital firm monashees today announced the close of monashees VIII, LP, its new fund totaling US$150 million to support early stage investments in high-growth technology startups in the region. The capital base includes international endowments, foundations, family offices, funds, and entrepreneurs, such as Brandywine Trust Group, S-Cubed Capital, Temasek, CreditEase, IDG, Mike Krieger, Horsley Bridge Partners and the University of Minnesota, as well as fifteen high net worth Brazilian families and groups. monashees is the largest and most active venture capital firm in Latin America (LatAm) with more than US$430 million raised across its funds and over 55 active companies. monashees portfolio companies have raised more than US$2 billion from top global investors after partnering with monashees. With the closing of Fund VIII, monashees will continue to identify and invest in visionary founders who are capitalizing on global trends and using technology to solve important problems and address large market opportunities in LatAm. Areas of particular focus include transportation and logistics, financial services and healthcare. As a common theme across specific sectors, monashees will look to back outstanding founding teams early on, at the inflection point of product-market fit. "We are excited to further advance our partnership with the monashees team," said Du Chai, Managing Director at Horsley Bridge Partners. "Over the course of our partnership, we have continued to be impressed by monashees' strong team, platform and their ability to attract the region's leading entrepreneurs." "We are thrilled by the close of monashees VIII and appreciative of the confidence and support of our local and global investors and founder partners," said Fabio Igel, partner and co-founder of monashees. "With the market opportunity stronger than ever, we are eager to continue supporting bold founders as they build the companies that will drive the future of the region," said Eric Acher, managing partner and co-founder of monashees. Global players are increasingly recognizing the significant market opportunities present in LatAm, where large urban populations are coming online, mobile internet usage outpaces the United States, and fragmented and inefficient markets are ripe for disruptive innovation. The new crop of local billion-dollar startups, including 99 and Rappi, and major funding rounds, such as SoftBank's recent investment in Loggi, are testaments to this trend. monashees has a proven track record of identifying top entrepreneurial talent and helping founders scale the business and navigate critical and defining moments, whether acting as a strategic sounding board, supporting leadership recruitin, connecting with potential partners or raising follow-on financing. The firm takes a bottom-up approach which is less about pointing directions, and more about posing challenging questions and working with founders to find the best answers. "We feel privileged to share great entrepreneurs' dreams and help them change our reality," said Carlo Dapuzzo, partner of monashees. "monashees brings a truly unique set of skills to the table, with a disciplined investment strategy, as well as the unmatched local expertise and knowledge that leads the team to identify and invest in the region's best founders," said Stuart Mason, Chief Investment Officer at the University of Minnesota. "The recent billion-dollar acquisition of 99 by DiDi is not only a milestone for the local ecosystem, but validation of this sentiment and suggests that there's no liquidity hurdle for great companies in Latin America. We are excited to partner with monashees as it continues to find and nurture the best opportunities going forward." Co-Investors' Perspectives Hans Tung, Managing Partner, GGV Capital "monashees has been a good partner and local resource for us as we begin investing in the enormous opportunities available in the LatAm market. The firm's track record for identifying local talent and success in navigating regional complexities are impressive, and their founder first mentality aligns with our own. We look forward to sharing our global resources and working with the monashees team and other shareholders to support Yellow and expect further collaborations." Kevin Efrusy, Partner, Accel Partners (News - Alert) "I have partnered with monashees for nearly a decade now and have been able to watch how their professionalism, patience, and long-term orientation has driven the transformation of the Brazilian/LatAm startup environment from a ragtag dream into today's robust machine, with companies like 99, Neoway, Rappi, Loggi, and many others on their way. Entrepreneurs live to build things that wouldn't otherwise exist, and the monashees team have themselves been among the most intrepid entrepreneurs you'll find anywhere." Founder Perspectives Ariel Lambrecht, Co-Founder, 99 and Yellow "monashees has added immense value to both 99 and Yellow, and it has been a pleasure working alongside their team for the past five years. As our first investor, monashees saw the vision for 99 back in the earliest stages of development and provided critical support and connections to help us grow the business and attract further support from DiDi, the global leader in our industry. Partnering with monashees early on at Yellow was one of our easiest decisions. We are thrilled to be working with them again, and confident we're building something truly great." Fabien Mendez, Co-Founder and CEO, Loggi "We built a strong connection with the monashees team even before they led our Series A. Since then they have been resourceful and available partners, both in good times and tumultuous ones." Jaime de Paula, Founder and CEO, Neoway "We selected monashees to co-lead our Series A alongside Accel in 2014 because the firm brings a rare combination of deep technology sector expertise and local Brazilian market knowledge. Neoway has benefitted not only from monashees' financial commitment and board representation, but also more broadly as part of the monashees network of companies. Our revenues have more than tripled since their investment and monashees has played an important role in contributing to this growth." Pierpaolo Barbieri, Founder and CEO, Ualá "When considering different investors, entrepreneurs might be tempted to think money is fungible. But it is not. It is most important to have investors who will take the time and effort to become thought partners for management and boards. Then money becomes secondary to partnership. We have found ideal partners in monashees, where the whole team is dedicated and profoundly involved. Every conversation, before and after their investment, has added value to our product and our team." Simón Borrero, Co-Founder and CEO, Rappi "We were told by our trusted network that monashees was the partner to have if we were serious about succeeding in Brazil, and our work with the firm over the years has proven that to be true. Since its investment in Rappi, monashees has helped us grow to a valuation of over US$1 billion. Their team was there for us at critical moments and we feel fortunate to have them on our side." About monashees monashees is a Brazilian venture capital firm active globally that invests in entrepreneurs committed to creating innovative solutions for a new world. We invest in the beginning stages and follow alongside companies that are revolutionizing markets, creating value, and improving people's lives through technology, such as Rappi, Pipedrive, Loggi, Neoway, ContaAzul, Enjoei, Neon, MadeiraMadeira, Ualá, Yellow and Grupo Zap.
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