The Brazilian venture capital market is undergoing a period of transformation. After years of accelerated investment and successive records, local firms have slowed the pace of capital deployment, while foreign investors have virtually disappeared from early-stage rounds. Despite this more restrictive environment, the anticipated wave of startup failures has not materialized. This reflects the resilience of entrepreneurs, who have managed to adjust their operations, reduce cash burn, and maintain growth.
The past two years have been challenging for the industry, with R$ 7.3 billion invested in 2023 and R$ 9.1 billion in 2024, across 227 and 125 companies, respectively. These figures fall far short of the 2021 peak of R$ 51 billion in volume or the 678 companies funded in 2022 [1]. On the other hand, the amount of capital available for investment by local venture capital funds reached R$ 16 billion in 2024 — 40% higher than in 2022. However, capital concentration has increased [2].
The relationship between entrepreneurs and venture capital managers is essential to the development and success of startups. Entrepreneurs seek capital to turn ideas into scalable businesses and view venture funds as one of the main sources of financing. Beyond capital, managers can provide access to networks and resources that accelerate growth.
This research analyzes the assessments, expectations, and opinions of entrepreneurs regarding venture capital funds in Brazil. The study was based on the voluntary participation of 250 entrepreneurs who responded to an online survey conducted between March and April 2025.
Chart 1 shows the distribution of respondents based on the year their startups were founded. The distribution over the years is relatively balanced. Founders of startups created in 2019 or earlier represent 38% of the total, while those who started their businesses between 2020 and 2022 account for 37%. Entrepreneurs who founded their startups more recently, between 2023 and 2025, make up 25% of the sample.
Chart 1. Year the respondent’s startup was founded
Chart 2 presents the distribution of respondents by the startup’s industry, also considering the founding year and entrepreneurial experience. SaaS startup founders represent 45% of respondents, followed by the Fintech sector with 33%. Startups in Marketplaces & Platforms represent 6% of participants, while Health Tech, AI & Deep Tech, and other sectors account for 4%, 4%, and 8% of respondents, respectively. Thus, there is a clear concentration of respondents in the SaaS and Fintech sectors.
Chart 2. Distribution of Respondents by Startup Sector
Entrepreneurs were asked to select the three most important traits that make a venture capital manager highly respected (Table 1). The most mentioned quality was being entrepreneur-friendly, followed by offering support in product and go-to-market areas, and team quality. Other competencies related to direct support to the portfolio company — such as participation on the board with strategic insights, assistance with fundraising, and help with hiring — came next.
In contrast to the 2023 edition, the reputation or brand of the manager, which previously ranked first, dropped to seventh place. Another notable change was the decline in the importance of “entrepreneurial experience of the managers,” which fell from fourth to tenth place. Finally, attributes like sector expertise, strategic vision, and size of the fund under management appeared in the last positions. The main shift observed this year is the greater appreciation of hands-on support that VC managers can offer their portfolio companies — these have become more relevant than in previous editions of the survey.
Table 1: The Most Important Characteristics to be the Most Respected Manager
Founders’ preferences vary depending on the founding stage of the company (Table 2). Regardless of company maturity, entrepreneur-friendly remains the most important attribute, reflecting the central role of a close and collaborative relationship between founder and investor. For startups founded between 2020 and 2025, there is growing emphasis on product and go-to-market support, which ranks second across all time brackets — highlighting the value placed on operational help in building and commercializing solutions.
Team quality remains a top criterion, while attributes such as board support with strategic insights and help with future fundraising are increasingly demanded by younger startups. Compared to 2023 data, important changes were observed in founders’ preferences: Reputation, Track record, and Entrepreneurial experience have lost prominence. These changes indicate a shift in perceived value from symbolic and institutional attributes to relational and operational qualities.
Table 2: Most important characteristics according to the year of the startup’s foundation
Table 3 presents the importance of each trait in the decision-making process when selecting a venture capital manager. Respondents rated each factor on a scale from 1 (not relevant) to 5 (very relevant). The most relevant trait is being entrepreneur-friendly; team quality and reputation/brand round out the top three.
Support-oriented characteristics, such as help with go-to-market, fundraising, and strategic insights, follow closely. Interestingly, alignment with the manager and the quality of the investment team are also among the top priorities. Surprisingly, reputation ranks only fourth, and the fund’s track record appears in eighth place. Day-to-day support, often highlighted by managers as a strength, came second to last.
Table 3: Ranking of Characteristics for Choosing a VC as Investor
Entrepreneurs were asked to name the three most respected local venture capital firms. To avoid potential bias, votes from founders whose startups had received investment from a given firm were excluded. The five highest-ranked firms were Kaszek, Monashees, Astella, Valor, and ONEVC. Additionally, Table 4 presents the top three traits most associated with each of the ten most-mentioned firms. Kaszek stands out for traits such as track record, reputation, and product support. Across the top five, the most commonly cited qualities include being entrepreneur-friendly, team quality, and support on the board or in product development.
Table 4: Most Respected VC Firms and Their Main Attributes
Table 5 shows a second cut in the ranking, this time segmented by the respondent’s startup sector. Among SaaS founders, the top five most respected firms were Kaszek, Monashees, Astella, ONEVC, and Canary. Among fintech founders, Kaszek also led, followed by Valor Capital, Astella, Monashees, and ONEVC. It’s worth noting that some firms not ranked in the overall top five gained prominence in specific sectors — for example, Norte placed sixth among fintechs, and Atlantico appeared in eighth place in both groups. This suggests that perceived value may vary depending on the startup’s industry.
Table 5: Most Respected VC Firms by Startup Sector
In this survey, we asked founders to state their explicit preference using the question: “If you received the same term sheet, which VC would you choose as your first, second, and third option?”. The five most chosen firms were Kaszek, Monashees, Valor, Astella, and Upload. This result largely reflects a reordering of the “most respected” ranking, with the addition of Atlantico (Table 6).
Table 6: Founder Preferences Assuming Equal Term Sheets
Table 7 presents the evaluation made by portfolio companies regarding the support provided in four areas: Commercial relationships, Fundraising for future rounds, Day-to-day operations, Business model development. Founders rated the VC firms on a scale from 1 (little support) to 5 (strong support) for each area. Only managers with at least eight portfolio companies participating in the survey were considered in this analysis. NXTP stood out with the highest overall score across the categories. Atlantico ranked second, while SaaSholic, Monashees, and Caravela rounded out the top five based on the feedback from their portfolio companies.
Table 7: Portfolio Company Ratings for Support in Each Area
Table 8 lists the angel investors who were most frequently recognized as respected and value-adding by the founders. David Vélez, Lucas Lameiras, Paulo Veras, Sergio Furio, and Patrick Sigrist occupy the top five positions — notably, four of them are unicorn founders.
Table 8: Angel Investors Most Respected and Seen as Value-Adding
The Brazilian startup ecosystem has evolved rapidly in recent years. Available investment capital has grown more than fourfold, and the number of funded companies and success cases has also multiplied. A fundamental part of this progress is the increase in the number of local venture capital managers — from only 16 in 2010 to over 100 by 2025. In an increasingly competitive environment, managers seek ways to differentiate themselves to attract high-quality deal flow and invest in the best entrepreneurs.
This survey gathered input from 250 founders who voluntarily shared their views on what makes a VC manager respected, which firm attributes are most valued, and which players are most admired in the ecosystem. The most valued trait in a venture capital manager is being entrepreneur-friendly, followed by team quality and support in product and go-to-market. Reputation and brand, while still relevant, have lost prominence compared to earlier editions.
We presented the ten most respected VC firms and the top three traits associated with each. Reputation and track record are important traits for the top-ranked firms, along with entrepreneurial experience, being entrepreneur-friendly, and having strategic vision. Lastly, founders evaluated the managers who had invested in their startups based on the support they provided.
