Canary

As co-founders of the companies we back, we know how challenging and lonely the entrepreneurial journey can feel. And yet, during the Canary Summit, our 450 attendees proved just how powerful the right network can be. Canary’s invested founders, limited partners, and top tier global and local investors came together last Tuesday to discuss scaling and investing in world-class companies in LatAm, as well as enjoy a tailored networking moment. Our commitment to fostering innovation is enabled by our inspired community. It was time for us to innovate as well: our refreshed brand expression is grounded in our solid history and reflects the promising future that lies ahead. A future of shaping, together, the region's economy - and beyond.

No mais novo episódio do Canary Cast, Marcos Toledo Leite, co-founder e General Partner do Canary, recebe Caio Almeida, co-founder e CEO da Estoca, para uma conversa profunda sobre o início dessa jornada, os impactos da digitalização do consumo pós-pandemia e como a empresa vem redefinindo a logística de e-commerce no Brasil desde 2020. Caio nos contou mais sobre sua diversa trajetória empreendedora, desde suas primeiras empresas até sua experiência na Uber Eats, onde identificou que a velocidade de entrega era um fator determinante para a conversão de vendas de restaurantes na plataforma — um insight que se tornou um dos pilares da tese da Estoca. O episódio traz discussões aprofundadas sobre: 🔹 Por que sua "inexperiência" no setor tradicional de logística se mostrou uma grande vantagem competitiva 🔹 O impacto da tecnologia da Estoca no fluxo operacional dos seus clientes 🔹 O declínio do modelo de fullcommerce e por que as marcas estão optando por terceirizar a logística e manter o controle dos seus canais de venda 🔹 Como a Estoca está implementando agentes de IA para monitoramento de pedidos 🔹 O papel dos dados no futuro da logística e do e-commerce no Brasil. Ouça agora para entender como Caio, Rodrigo Cava e todo o time da Estoca estão tornando o e-commerce brasileiro mais ágil e eficiente, transformando dados em entregas melhores e mais rápidas. (Link nos comentários)

No Canary, aprendemos constantemente com os empreendedores da nossa comunidade que estão transformando suas indústrias com abordagens inovadoras. No último episódio do nosso podcast, o Canary Cast, Florian Hagenbuch conversou com Rapha Avellar, cofundador e CEO da BrandLovers, plataforma que permite que marcas e criadores de conteúdo colaborem em escala, removendo pontos de fricção fundamentais nesse processo e democratizando o acesso aos grandes orçamentos publicitários. Neste artigo, compartilhamos os principais insights desta conversa: 🔹As particularidades da Creator Economy no Brasil 🔹Perspectivas sobre um TAM em expansão 🔹Desafios na construção de um marketplace 🔹Aplicações de AI na plataforma Se você se interessa por Creator Economy, estratégias de marketplace e novas aplicações de AI, ouça agora o episódio completo. (Link nos comentários)

Canary portfolio company Grão Direto has successfully raised $15 million in a Series B funding round, led by KASZEK, marking their first investment in the agri sector. The round includes participation from Bradesco's venture arm, SLC Ventures, CME Ventures LLC, Scale-Up Ventures, and existing investors. We first invested in Grão Direto in 2018 with the vision to modernize grain trading. Now they are the leading digital grain trading platform in Latin America, with over 85,000 active users and the ability to process more than 40 million price points daily. With this new funding, Grão Direto will continue transforming the way farmers and buyers connect, enhance its platform with AI-driven solutions and expand its financial services, including receivables factoring and grain-backed credit cards. An aspect that stands out in Grão Direto's journey is its capacity to keep fostering unprecedented collaboration between agriculture industry giants—including previous investors like Bayer, ADM, Amaggi, Cargill, Louis Dreyfus Company, and BASF—all coming together alongside the new investors to create a neutral, open platform while maintaining the company's independence and innovation focus. We are proud to support Alexandre B., Fred Marques, Pedro Paiva and the entire team on this journey since the early days. Their commitment to empowering farmers and modernizing agribusiness is paving the way for a more connected and efficient agricultural ecosystem in the region. Learn more about their journey and future plans in the article below:

We are glad to announce a significant milestone for our portfolio company Niva as they secure a USD 5.5 Million investment from KASZEK. Kaszek joins the existing group of investors, including Canary, Gradient Ventures (Google’s AI-focused fund), Picus Capital, and Gilgamesh Ventures, as we collectively support Niva in their mission to make it effortless to trust businesses worldwide. This investment will accelerate Niva's international expansion and fuel the next phase of their growth. By automating business verification with Agentic AI, Niva is addressing a major bottleneck for financial institutions and global commerce, enabling businesses to establish trust instantly, accurately, and at scale. We have been supporting Abhinav Rai and Akhil Naini since our seed investment in 2023, and we are excited to continue by their side and see what lies ahead for Niva. Learn more about their journey so far and their future plans in the article below:

We are thrilled to share more exciting news from our portfolio! Capim has successfully raised a USD 26.7M Series A round, led by Valor Capital Group and QED Investors, with participation from existing investors Canary, ONEVC, and NXTP Ventures, as well as new ones such as Endeavor Catalyst, Saison Capital, and Actyus. Founded in 2021, Capim offers a Vertical SaaS for Dental clinics, with embedded financial products, including BNPL (buy now, pay later) and other Payments solutions. Fueled by the ambition of making healthcare accessible to all, these solutions empower dental clinics to operate more efficiently, treat more patients, and enhance the quality of care provided. With this new capital, Capim aims to launch its POS (point-of-sale) solution, accelerate go-to-market and develop AI-powered tools to optimize clinic operations and enhance patient care. We are proud to have supported Marcelo Lutz and Roberto Biselli since the beginning of their journey. Their dedication and vision have already made a significant impact in the healthcare sector, and we look forward to seeing what lies ahead for Capim. Learn more about their journey and future plans in the article below:

We are thrilled to announce our first investment in Advolve.ai and welcome João Sobreira, Djary Veiga, and João Paulo Marinho Martins to our community of founders! Advolve has successfully raised a US$5M Seed Round led by Canary, with participation from Valor Capital Group, Valutia, Prosus Ventures, and Endeavor Scale-Up Ventures. This marks Prosus Ventures’ first investment outside the US and Europe, reinforcing the potential of our portfolio to attract high-quality global investors to the region. Founded less than a year and a half ago, Advolve is revolutionizing digital ad operations with their AI-powered stack. Their innovative platform is transforming how businesses engage with their audiences by automating the entire digital acquisition process, allowing teams to focus on strategic priorities. Advolve is already making significant strides, serving major clients like Cogna Educação and iFood. If you're curious about learning more about how Advolve’s solution can transform your performance marketing, we'll leave the link for you to contact their team in the comments. Learn more about their vision and journey here:

Novo episódio do Canary Cast no ar! Neste episódio, Florian Hagenbuch, cofundador e sócio do Canary, bate um papo com Rapha Avellar, cofundador e CEO da BrandLovers, plataforma que está redefinindo como creators e marcas se conectam no Brasil. Durante a conversa, Rapha compartilha sua jornada empreendedora, iniciada aos 23 anos, sua introdução ao marketing digital e como a evolução da Creator Economy despertou seu interesse, levando-o à decisão de empreender no espaço. No episódio, eles se aprofundam em: 🔹 Os aprendizados e desafios na construção de um marketplace; 🔹 Por que o Brasil tem a oportunidade de ser protagonista na Creator Economy; 🔹 O impacto da AI na escalabilidade e eficiência das campanhas de marketing; 🔹 O crescimento da Brandlovers e como estão transformando a vida dos criadores de conteúdo e a experiência das grandes marcas. Ouça agora e descubra como Rapha e seu time estão revolucionando o ecossistema de creators, criando novas oportunidades para criadores de conteúdo e fortalecendo sua conexão com grandes marcas. (Link nos comentários)

At Canary, we’re committed to learning from the founders in our community who are reshaping their industries with fresh perspectives and innovative approaches. On our podcast, Canary Cast, we highlight our founders’ personal and professional journeys, how they developed their theses, and their insights into the future of their businesses and markets. In our latest episode, our General Partner, Florian Hagenbuch, sat down with Christophe Gerlach, founder of Comp, an AI-driven Service-as-a-Software company that is disrupting the HR tech space. In this article, we share five key takeaways from our conversation—all of which offer valuable lessons. If you enjoyed this article or are tackling challenges in compensation—or exploring innovative solutions in this space—don’t miss this insightful episode! (Link in the comments.)

It's still early in the year, and we are already seeing exciting news across our portfolio. Alice has just announced a USD 22M Series C extension round to further expand its healthcare offering to large enterprises. Canary, KASZEK, ThornTree Capital Partners, and Globo Ventures participated in the round, reinforcing our confidence in Alice’s continued growth. We first invested in Alice in its seed round in 2019, but our partnership started even earlier. Canary played a key role in its formation, introducing the founders to each other and helping build the founding team. At that time, while the business model—or even the name—had yet to be defined, we deeply believed in the founders’ experience and ability to create something transformational in Brazil’s vast and underserved healthcare market. Since then, Alice has been redefining private healthcare in Brazil through a tech-driven, patient-centric approach. Since 2023, it has expanded its client base from 300 to 12,000 companies and reduced its loss ratio to 60%, significantly below the market average of 82.3%. Now, the goal is to reach 70,000 lives seeking a more complete and integrated healthcare experience. We are glad to see a company co-founded with us reaching this level of growth and impact. André Florence, Matheus Moraes, and Guilherme [Gui] Azevedo, thank you for the journey so far—we are proud to have supported you from day one and look forward to seeing what lies ahead.