Brazil launches fund to invest in Internet of Things startups

Brazilian public and private sector actors have announced the launch of a $45 million venture capital fund focused on early stage investments in companies active in the Internet of Things (IoT) and connectivity space.

The fund was created by the Brazilian Development Fund (BNDES) and Qualcomm Ventures following a tendering process in 2019 to find a company to structure and run the vehicle.

In addition to the two organizations leading the initiative, Brazilian bank Banco do Brasil and Telefônica Ventures, the VC arm of telecoms firm Vivo, have also joined the pool of backers.

The fund will support up to 30 startups in Series A rounds over the next 10 years and it expects to close 7 deals in 2021.