Startups to Watch & Tech Talents
#62 - Enter, Tempo, Natu, ex-Head of Data & AI at The Coca-Cola Company, ex-Managing Director & Country Head at Shopee, and much more...
Happy Wednesday!
I know it’s been a while since my last edition… While I truly believe this publication brings great value to the ecosystem, time has been the biggest constraint. Honestly, the lack of it is what’s been limiting my writing bandwidth. That said, whenever I do find a pocket of time, I’ll still be hitting “send.” Hope you enjoy this edition — and as always, feedback is more than welcome!
As a reminder, this series is dedicated to startups and founders from LatAm that have just entered or exited stealth mode.
It is written in partnership with Pedro Mesquita from Tech Talents and aims to use data-driven tools to foster the local tech ecosystem by helping founders connect with the right people who can contribute to their success.
In case you do not know, “stealth mode” founders are individuals who are building a new business but choose not to disclose details about their projects, often for competitive reasons. This term has been used for years in the US Venture Capital ecosystem but has only recently become more common in Latin America.
Expect to receive Startups To Watch & Tech Talents every other Wednesday, separately from my traditional weekly newsletter (and when I find any time to write)
This week, we have three startups that recently emerged from stealth — two in the AI field and one at the intersection of insurance and agriculture. In addition, we also have three other stealth founders with relevant profiles!
Read further to learn more about Enter, Tempo, Natu, and other stealth founders…
Note that there is no bias in the companies and founders featured – apart from the fact that we like their stories and backgrounds. I am not an investor, nor do I get any financial compensation to promote startups and founders featured. This is intended for informational purposes only, using my solid base of subscribers to share intel about good people doing cool things, thus fostering the ecosystem.
Also note that this is just a small section of what is featured in Pedro Mesquita’s Tech Talents newsletter. If you want to receive the complete version, as soon as he releases it, be sure to subscribe to his newsletter!
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Opinions expressed here are solely my own and do not represent those of people, institutions, or organizations that I may or may not be associated with in any capacity unless explicitly stated.
🎊 Startup Launches
Founders who have just publicly announced what they are working on.
Enter
Overview
Startup Description: Enter combines human expertise with AI efficiency to help large companies in Latin America optimize critical, high-volume, manual-intensive processes.
Industry: AI, SaaS
Team Size: 30
Time in Stealth: 1 year, 6 months
Funding Round: $5.5M Seed led by Sequoia Capital with participation from ONEVC and Atlantico | Announcement Post
Founders Profiles
Michael Mac-Vicar - Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer at Enter
Featured as a Stealth Founder in Tech Talents #3 over 7 months ago.
Founder Highlights: Serial Founder, Technical Founder, Top University, Ex-Big Tech, Unicorn Experience
Previous Experience: Ex-CTO and co-founder of Wildlife Studios, ex-Technical Staff Member at Groupon, ex-Energy Acquisition Engineer at Emel, ex-Advisor to the Minister of the Interior at the Ministério do Interior in Chile, former Project Engineer at SHIFT-UC, graduated in Electrical Engineering from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and in Computer Engineering and Operations Research from École Polytechnique.
Headquarters: Brazil
Ask for an Intro: Click here
Mateus Costa-Ribeiro – Co-founder and CEO at Enter
Founder Highlights: Masters, Top University
Previous Experience: Ex-Product at Quansa, ex-U.S. Associate at Milbank LLP, ex-Associate at Costa Ribeiro Advogados, Master of Laws - LLM from Harvard Law School, Bachelor of Laws - LLB from Universidade de Brasília, Honors in Mathematics from The Johns Hopkins University.
Headquarters: United States
Ask for an Intro: Click here
Henrique Vaz – Co-founder & Chief Product Officer at Enter
Founder Highlights: Serial Founder, Technical Founder, Masters, Ex-Big Tech, Scaleup Experience, Top University
Previous Experience: Ex-Chief Marketing Officer at Wildlife Studios, ex-Co-Founder at ScaleMonk, ex-Entrepreneur In Residence at Bessemer Venture Partners, ex-Software Engineer at Tesla, ex-Software Engineer at Wildlife Studios, Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Statistics from Harvard University, Master's degree course in Combinatorics, focus on Probabilistic Method from Instituto de Matemática Pura e Aplicada - IMPA.
Headquarters: São Paulo, Brazil
Ask for an Intro: Click here
Tempo
Overview
Startup Description: Tempo is a personalized assistance and payments platform that blends human support with AI to handle daily needs efficiently.
Industry: AI
Team Size: 31
Time in Stealth: 1 year
Funding Round: US$ 3.5M Seed led by Maya Capital
Founders Profiles
Eduardo Latache – Co-Founder and CEO at Tempo
Founder Highlights: Serial Founder, Ex-Investor, Top University
Previous Experience: Ex-General Partner at Base Partners, ex-Co-Founder at BeOnSpot, ex-Investments at Lakeshore Partners, Bachelor's in Business Administration from FGV.
Headquarters: São Paulo, Brazil
Ask for an Intro: Click here
Raul Fernandes Lima – Co-Founder & CTO at Tempo
Founder Highlights: Serial Founder, Technical Founder, Masters, Ex-Corporate
Previous Experience: Ex-Director of Software Engineering at Zup Innovation, ex-Co-Founder & CTO at Bankly, ex-Head of Software Engineer at Akna, ex-Global IT Technical Lead at Easy Taxi, ex-CEO & Co-Founder at Global Commerce, Bachelor’s in Computer Science from UNIP and an MBA from BBS.
Headquarters: São Paulo, Brazil
Ask for an Intro: Click here
Natu
Overview
Startup Description: Digital climate insurance focused on Brazilian rural producers.
Industry: Insurtech, Agtech
Team Size: 4
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.
Headquarters: São Paulo, Brazil
Ask for an Intro: Click here
🤫 Talents Entering Stealth
Talents with relevant experiences who have just entered stealth mode.
Julian M. – Founder at Stealth Startup
Founder Highlights: Masters, Ex-Consultant, Ex-Corporate, Unicorn Experience, Latitud Fellow
Previous Experience: Ex-Project Leader at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), ex-Managing Director & Country Head at Shopee, ex-Chief Revenue Officer at Leal, ex-CEO & Co-founder at Malva Partners, ex-Head of CPGs at Rappi, ex-Senior Associate at McKinsey & Company. MBA from Duke University, Master's in Finance and Industrial Engineering from Universidad de Los Andes.
Headquarters: Bogotá, Colombia
Time in Current Position: 1 year, 4 months
Ask for an Intro: Click here
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
Time in Current Position: 5 months
Ask for an Intro: Click here
Ivan de Souza – AI Product Builder | Founder at Stealth Startup
Stealth Description: Building AI-powered products and shopping experiences exploring LLMs, AI Copilots, and Conversational AI.
Founder Highlights: Serial Founder, Technical Founder, Ex-Big Tech, Ex-Corporate, Ex-Consultant
Previous Experience: Ex-Head of Data & AI - Global B2C e-Commerce at The Coca-Cola Company, ex-Founder of Geist Data, ex-Country Manager for Brazil & LATAM at Geofeedia, ex-Sales Director at Red Ant, ex-Senior Consultant at Kearney, ex-Chief Sales Officer at Sambatech, ex-Head of Mobile Business Unit at iMusicaCorp.
Headquarters: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Time in Current Position: 1 year, 8 months
Ask for an Intro: Click here