Canary: Investor Profile

Canary is a São Paulo-based venture capital firm built by entrepreneurs to back exceptional founders at the very start of their journey across Latin America. Since its formation in 2017, the firm has invested in more than 100 companies in the region, and its portfolio companies have in turn raised over $2.3 billion in follow-on investment, according to TechCrunch's 2021 reporting on the firm.

The firm's premise is that Latin America has an enormous pool of talented people who, with the right support and incentives, can build businesses capable of changing the region. Co-founder Marcos Toledo has described the firm's founding hypothesis as a belief that the region's tech market was still in its early stages, with many opportunities left to capture.

Thesis and focus

Canary is deliberately industry and business-model agnostic. Rather than chasing hot sectors, the firm looks for ambitious founders in large, underserved Latin American markets — fintech, health, education, mobility and consumer among them. It positions itself as a local partner for US firms seeking investments in the region, often leading the first institutional round, investing the largest amount of capital and defining the legal terms. As co-founder Florian Hagenbuch put it on the firm's own site, Canary was created because there was "no early-stage investor with an operator mindset in LatAm" — a fund the founders wished had existed when they started their first company, Printi.

Fund and stage

The firm raised Fund I at $45 million and Fund II at $75 million, then closed its oversubscribed Fund III at $100 million in commitments in late 2021. Toledo said the third fund would back around 50 new startups with ambitious founders. Canary typically writes the first institutional cheque — its team says it has invested in rounds as small as $250,000 and as large as $15 million, preferring to lead the earliest round. The firm generally raises a new vintage every two to two-and-a-half years. Current assets under management beyond the three funds have not been publicly disclosed.

Portfolio highlights

Canary's portfolio spans some of Latin America's best-known tech companies: Buser, the intercity bus platform; Trybe, the tech-education and careers platform; Hashdex, the crypto asset manager; Sallve; Facily; Alice, the digital-first health insurer; and Loft, the real estate platform — a company Canary's own founders helped originate. Follow-on rounds have typically come from firms such as monashees, Kaszek Ventures and Valor Capital Group.

People and programs

Canary was started by Marcos Toledo, Florian Hagenbuch, Mate Pencz, Patrick de Picciotto and Julio Vasconcellos — all operators and founders, including the team behind Printi and former Nubank leadership — and later brought in partner Izabel Gallera. Decision-making is deliberately fast: the firm is known for reaching a decision within two to three meetings and never taking more than 15% of a company at investment. Alongside capital, founders get ongoing mentorship and access to the firm's network of experienced Latin American entrepreneurs, talent and potential clients.