Maya Capital Initiates New $100 Million Fund to Lead Startup Venture Capital Rounds

A Bold Move During a Market Downturn

MAYA Capital announced a new $100 million venture capital fund to invest in early stage Latin American startups, co-founders Lara Lemann and Monica Saggioro Leal announced this Wednesday (22 June).

Although early stage funding rounds have been less affected by tighter funding conditions than later rounds, valuations have also been adjusted and companies are streamlining operations to reduce cash burn and extend time before the next round with investors, Lara Lemann said today in an interview.

Founded in 2018, MAYA Capital has a portfolio of 29 companies. Among them the likes of unicorns NotCo from Chile and Mexican Merama. Also in the firm’s portfolio is agtech Clicampo, healthcare startups Alice and Nilo Saude and e-commerce firms Nana Delivery. MAYA Capital also invested in mobility startup Kovi and food techs Diferente.

Investors in the new fund are mainly family offices and high net worth individuals, and some institutional investors. MAYA plans to invest in 25 to 30 companies.

MAYA Capital believes today’s downturn in market sentiment is a great opportunity to find talented entrepreneurs willing to go the extra mile to prove their business models and ideas.

Differently than MAYA Capital‘s early strategies, the co-founders told the press that the firm will now lead many of the investment rounds which it intends to participate in.

The market as MAYA Capital $100 million fund kicks off

Some of Latin America’s largest unicorns – startups valued at $1 billion or more – such as EBANX, Vtex and 2TM have recently announced layoffs due to a smaller availability of capital. But co-founder Monica Saggioro still sees strong growth potential in the region. E-commerce penetration in Brazil, for instance, is only 10%, well below rates in developed countries, she said.