LatAm Tech Weekly - Special Edition
#134- Powered by Nasdaq: Brazil @ Silicon Valley, Latin America Forum by Riverwood, deals of the week and much more!
Happy Sunday!
After a whirlwind week on the road, I’m back in Sao Paulo, bursting with updates to share. My journey took me through three cities and two major technology events, not to mention the 26 one-on-one meetings and countless enlightening discussions. Now, I’m excited to give you the inside scoop on everything that happened!
First up, I was at the Brazil @ Silicon Valley event, hosted right in the heart of Palo Alto at Google's campus. Then, I jetted off to Miami for the renowned Latin America Tech Forum organized by Riverwood. While it might sound glamorous, trust me, it was intense!
Below, you’ll find a summary that will bring those who couldn’t attend these events up to speed on the key developments in the tech world. So, without further ado, let’s dive in!
P.S. - I might miss some pieces of news this week since I was travelling, and I’m only human - please bear with me here :)
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Opinions expressed here are solely my own and does not represent those of people, institutions, organizations that I may or may not be associated with in any capacity, unless explicitly stated.
The Brazil at Silicon Valley is a nonprofit movement bridging the most influential Brazilian leaders and Silicon Valley. Organized by Stanford and Berkley students, since 2019, it holds a massive yearly event at the heart of Silicon Valley which is invite-only. The quality of attendees is amazing - only founders from top Brazilian tech companies, venture capital and growth fund managers and high level executives. On stage, a mix of legendary American speakers such as Dan Schulman, Former President & CEO at PayPal and Brazilian growth stage founders, such as Victor Lazarte (Wildlife) and Luis Silva (Cloudwalk).
This year, the event had around 500 people and (without surprises here) the focus was AI. I’ll summarize here the two panels I personally liked the most.
A Foundation Primer: The Impact of Gen AI with Scott Brady, founding partner at Innovation Endeavors and Lecturer at Stanford
Historic Pace of Technological Change: Technology, especially AI, is evolving faster than ever before. For instance, ChatGPT reached 100 million users in just 60 days.
Evolution of Language Processing: Initially, the best-in-class language processing utilized recurrent neural networks, which struggled with parallel processing and long-range word associations.
Breakthrough in AI Technology (2017): The pivotal "Attention is all you need" paper by Google introduced transformers. These are notable for their ability to process words in parallel, making them more computationally efficient and tokenizable across multiple computers.
Rapid Application and Effects:
The development of AI models saw a significant acceleration post-2017, shifting from incremental advances to sudden, large-scale effectiveness.
GitHub Co-Pilot emerged as an early use case, enhancing coding productivity by 30%-50%.
By 2021, generative AI for code jumped from 0% to 72% usage among developers.
Blurring the Lines Between Human and Algorithmic Capabilities:
Tools like Runway and Sora have revolutionized video creation.
Harvey serves as a legal aid.
Tome converts text to PowerPoint presentations.
Perplexity is pioneering the next generation of search engines, poised to be a 'new Google.'
MedPalm by Google, aimed at clinical decision-making, challenges the traditional trust in human-only medical expertise.
Data and Trust in AI:
Despite massive data used for training AI, specific applications like medical tools require cautious, targeted training.
The trust paradigm is shifting, prompting a reevaluation of what and how we trust—extending even to AI-assisted decisions in critical areas like healthcare.
Questioning Traditional Notions of Trust: Encouraged to rethink what it means to trust, echoing the age-old advice from parents about trusting one's senses—now challenged by AI capabilities.
How CEOs should think about AI with Tom Siebal, Founder and CEO at C3 AI
Three Key Aspects of AI for CEOs:
Social Media: The impact of AI on social media platforms. CEOs should think about how to use it to positively impact the brand and the organization.
Artificial Generative Intelligence (AGI): CEOs shouldn't worry about AGI in the near future.
Enterprise Applications: Focused on tools like CRM and ERP systems. This should be the main focus.
Role of Enterprise Applications:
Current systems, such as relational databases and development tools, primarily provide historical data or metrics.
The global market for enterprise application software is valued at approximately $600 billion.
Transformative Impact of AI:
Adding an AI layer can make these applications predictive, not just descriptive.
Future-oriented leadership: CEOs will soon need to discuss future prospects rather than past performances.
C3 AI Platform:
Utilizes enterprise applications to develop software across various industries that can predict future trends.
Example provided: C3 AI Smart Lending.
AI Technology Stack:
Includes silicon, infrastructure, learning models, and AI applications.
Practical Usage of AI:
The complexities of how AI systems like LLMs work are often not fully understood, even by their creators.
Effective AI usage will become so integrated that users may not realize they are engaging with AI.
AI tools are designed to be user-friendly for non-data scientists.
Misconceptions and Enterprise Challenges:
AI in enterprise faces challenges such as unpredictable responses, lack of source traceability, and cybersecurity risks.
There are also issues with access controls, risk of data leaks, proneness to errors (hallucinations), and intellectual property liabilities.
Unique Features of C3 AI Platform:
Described as an "Omni model" that creates a layer between large language models (LLMs) and the data.
Importance of AI Adoption:
Avoiding AI in modern business is likened to the past hesitance to adopt CRM, ERP, or cloud technologies. It's essential for all businesses.
Moving on, the Latin America Tech Forum (LTF), organized by Riverwood Capital, is a premier event I always look forward to. Established in 2011, this exclusive invite-only gathering is reserved for founders and CEOs within the Latin American tech sector. It serves as a significant meeting point for the region's key influencers, including heads of major global tech firms and notable figures in technology and investment. The forum's purpose is to foster collaboration and trust among these leaders, encouraging relationships that drive economic growth and technological advancement across Latin America. Held annually, LTF features a series of executive sessions, fireside chats with global leaders, and various activities designed for a small, select group of attendees. This setting ensures optimal conditions for meaningful networking and strategic discussions, contributing to the ongoing development of the Latin American tech ecosystem.
The event is off the records, and that is one of the reasons that make it so special. With that, I can’t share actual content, but I am able to share about a pre-event dedicated to women. This event, the LTF Women in Tech, is organized annually by Itau BBA and Mattos Filho with support from Riverwood Capital. This year, the event featured a serene sunrise yoga session on Miami Beach, followed by an inspirational breakfast hosted with Susan Segal, President and CEO of the Americas Society and board member at Mercado Libre. The gathering provided a calming yet energizing start for the attendees, followed by enriching discussions where Susan Segal shared her experiences and insights, making a profound impact on the group. The event was attended by 30 women, with hopes of increasing participation in future gatherings! Thank you for all those powerful women that attended!
General news:
Dan Schulman, who stepped down last fall as PayPal's CEO after a nine-year run, has joined venture firm Valor Capital Group as a managing partner.
Pix surpasses 200 million transactions in a single day. The milestone, reached on the fifth business day of April, coincided with instability in carrying out Pix transactions across various banks.
Nuvemshop brings former Nubank executive to lead fintech vertical projects. Marina Engler joins the company as Senior Manager of Projects and Operations for financial services initiatives.
After about two years of working to increase efficiency and cut costs, Liv Up stopped burning cash at the turn of the year and has just closed its first profitable quarter. With current revenue at R$150 million, the platform has improved its gross margin to over 50%
Deals:
Investidores.vc, an angel investment platform in startups, has just completed a new fundraising round, raising R$ 2.5 million from its own network. The investment pool included 114 investors, including names such as Alfredo Soares (partner at VTEX) and David Ledson (former Sympla and Sólides and current co-founder of GarantiaBR), as well as executives from companies such as Suno, G4 Educação, Monte Bravo, Coco Bambu, and Tailor Partners.
Nubank has just raised US$ 150 million for its operations in Colombia, where the digital bank currently has 800,000 customers and has already opened the waitlist for its Cuenta Nu. The funding was obtained from the International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) – similar, but not the same as the World Bank's IFC – a US government development agency that invests in socio-economic development operations in emerging countries.
Smart Doctor, a Peruvian telemedicine startup, is raising a $2 million funding round to improve its platform and expand in Mexico, Peru, and Colombia. The company will strengthen its B2B channel while also offering B2B2C and B2C services, aiming to triple its user base to 230,000.
General news:
At its Cloud Next conference, Google unveiled Gemini Code Assist, its enterprise-focused AI code completion and assistance tool. If this sounds familiar, that’s likely because Google previously offered a similar service under the now-defunct Duet AI branding. That one became generally available in late 2023, but even then, Google already hinted that it would move the service away from its Codey model to Gemini in the near future. Code Assist is both a rebrand of the older service as well as a major update.
Deals:
Matera, a software company that provides digital banking infrastructure to clients, has just acquired InfoTreasury, a SaaS platform that handles more complex treasury operations such as hedging, derivatives, and COE. The value of the deal was not disclosed. InfoTreasury, founded in 2000, generated revenue of R$12 million last year and employs 12 staff members.
The São Paulo-based company Intelligenza, which has been operating since 2008, assists in digital transformation by listening to the needs of HR departments and establishing digital processes to address those needs. Now, after 16 years, the company is taking a new step. It has just been acquired by the French company HR Path, a conglomerate of human resources services with over 2,000 employees and €215 million in revenue last year -- approximately R$1.1 billion.
General news:
After Brazil, Revolut is set to launch operations in Mexico. The digital bank secured a banking license from the Mexican CVM ahead of its rival Nubank and will offer international transfers.
After focusing on startups, Stark Bank now aims to gain traction in the middle market. With over R$ 400 million in cash, the Brazilian fintech backed by Jeff Bezos already serves 22% of its client base from medium-sized enterprises. Founder Rafael Stark shares the company's plans to advance in this sector.
General News:
Innzpira, a startup that develops psychological profiles using AI, lands in Europe. The Chilean firm, which creates algorithms with machine learning to understand workers, clients, and users of companies and institutions, has just opened an office in Valencia, Spain.
Brazil Cash has received authorization from the Central Bank to become a payment institution. The fintech specializes in payment solutions for small merchants and independent professionals.
Clarissa Morrison assumes the role of Global Chief Financial Officer at Clara, replacing Rodrigo Aparício, who transitions to the role of advisor. With over two years of experience at the fintech, Morrison brings valuable expertise to her new position.
QuintoAndar discontinues Benvi brand and overhauls operations in Mexico. Projections indicate that within five years, the Mexican operation will achieve numbers similar to those currently recorded in Brazil.
Deals:
Spectra, which manages over R$ 7 billion in alternative investments, has struck a deal with OutField Ventures, a sports-focused asset manager, to anchor its funds and become a minority shareholder in the firm. Spectra will invest R$ 50 million in OutField's funds and gain an undisclosed stake in the manager's equity.
General News:
Bamboo, the debt structuring and distribution platform, anticipates tripling its operations in 2024 to 18 offerings and reaching breakeven point.
BZCP, Brazilian law firm focused in technology and M&As, turns three and becomes a reference in the region, having already advised 400+ deals.
GetNinjas announces its first partnerships in a new business model to expand service offerings. The company has signed agreements with the startups Suppo7, Repfy, and Destrave to offer professionals in technical assistance services, furniture assembly, and vehicle assistance on its platform.
What am I reading?
Book: The Creative Act by Rick Rubin - gift from my dear friend and also newsletter writer
Marcella Falcao (Head of Investors at Cubo) BSV Key Takeaways
What am I listening to? What am I watching?
Quote of the week:
“In many ways, leadership is about defining reality and inspiring hope, but if you have these great people around you and they know that what they do is going to be recognized, it can be incredibly powerful.”
Dan Schulman