Big Bets

Co-founders Pierre Schürmann and Leo Guardado lead the investment committee. Schürmann serves as Managing Partner out of São Paulo. Guardado brings operating experience from Rappi, where he served as an early executive. The firm's lean structure means final decisions rest with the co-founders, who jointly evaluate every seed-stage commitment.

The firm originates deals through deep operator networks across Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico. Guardado's tenure at Rappi provides access to a diaspora of former Rappi executives now launching companies across Latin America. Big Bets also leverages its cross-border LP base — US and European funds that refer local deals needing on-the-ground diligence.

Big Bets invests almost exclusively through direct seed-stage deals. It does not operate as a fund-of-funds and is not known to make LP commitments into other venture funds. The firm will co-invest alongside US-based funds entering Latin America when those funds lack local origination and diligence capacity.

The firm targets seed-stage startups, writing first checks to founders who have not yet raised institutional venture capital. Big Bets then reserves significant capital for follow-on rounds through Series A and beyond, a structure that allows concentrated portfolio construction rather than broad index-style seeding.

Brazil remains the firm's core market, where it maintains its São Paulo headquarters. Big Bets has publicly expanded into Mexico, targeting fintech and enterprise software companies in Mexico City and Monterrey. Colombia, where co-founder Leo Guardado worked at Rappi, is a secondary focus. The firm does not invest outside Latin America.

Big Bets operates as a bridge fund: it sources and diligences deals locally in Latin America, then syndicates capital from US- and Europe-based limited partners. This structure allows international LPs to access LatAm seed-stage tech without building their own regional teams, while Big Bets retains investment discretion and portfolio concentration on the ground.

The firm has confirmed no explicit sector exclusions. However, its portfolio concentration in enterprise software, fintech, and AI/ML — and its public messaging around Latin America's digital infrastructure migration — suggests heavy underweighting of consumer social, gaming, hardware, and capital-intensive climate technology.