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FAMA Private Equity
FAMA Private Equity: Felipe Aguirre and Mariana Afonso's São Paulo-based growth-stage tech investor, active in Brazil and Latin America since 2019.
FAMA Private Equity
Felipe Aguirre and Mariana Afonso founded FAMA Private Equity in São Paulo in 2019, drawing on their experience deploying personal and family capital into Brazilian growth companies earlier in the 2010s. The firm emerged as a response to what the founders saw as a gap in the local market: institutional capital willing to lead rounds for technology companies scaling beyond Series B in Brazil, while backing founders who sought more operational support than traditional funds typically offered. FAMA targets growth-stage technology investments across Brazil and, selectively, other Latin American markets including Mexico and Colombia. The firm invests through direct equity positions, typically leading rounds with ticket sizes that public records place in the $5 million to $25 million range. Portfolio activity includes confirmed participation in rounds for Brazilian fintech infrastructure platform Matera, digital health startup Cuidas, and enterprise SaaS provider Clicksign (per public filings, 2021–2023). The firm maintains a concentrated portfolio, typically holding fewer than twelve active positions at any time. FAMA operates a lean investment team based in São Paulo, with Aguirre and Afonso personally involved in every investment decision. May 2024: The firm participated in a $12 million Series B extension for a Brazilian B2B payments company, signaling continued deployment into fintech infrastructure (per public record, May 2024). The founders' personal capital remains co-invested alongside external limited partners, aligning incentives in a structure more common among family-backed vehicles than institutional managers. FAMA sits at the intersection of family office and institutional fund — the founders' own wealth is in the fund, and they lead rounds rather than passively allocating. This dual posture gives them credibility with founders who value operator-investors over pure financial sponsors, a meaningful differentiator in Brazil's mid-market growth landscape where many funds remain anchored to a venture-capital model with limited operational capacity.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
2019
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
Latin America
Country
Brazil
City
São Paulo
Corporate office
São Paulo, SP, Brazil
Principals
Felipe Aguirre
Founding Partner
Mariana Afonso
Founding Partner
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who leads investment decisions at FAMA Private Equity?
Felipe Aguirre and Mariana Afonso, the founding partners, personally make every investment decision. Both have backgrounds deploying family capital before founding FAMA in 2019, and they maintain a flat structure where both partners are involved in sourcing, due diligence, and portfolio support.
What investment stage does FAMA Private Equity target?
FAMA focuses on growth-stage investments, typically leading rounds for technology companies that have progressed beyond Series B. The firm writes equity checks that public records place in the $5 million to $25 million range, aiming to be the lead investor in most transactions.
Does FAMA invest outside Brazil?
While Brazil is FAMA's primary market, the firm selectively invests in other Latin American markets including Mexico and Colombia. The founding partners evaluate opportunities across the region but maintain a concentrated portfolio, with the majority of known positions in Brazilian companies.
How does FAMA Private Equity source investment opportunities?
FAMA relies heavily on the founders' personal networks in Brazil's technology and financial communities, built over a decade of investing their own capital before the firm's 2019 launch. The firm does not operate a proprietary sourcing platform; instead, Aguirre and Afonso cultivate relationships with founders, serial entrepreneurs, and local incubators.
Is FAMA structured as a family office or a traditional private equity fund?
FAMA occupies a hybrid position. The founding partners invest their own capital alongside external limited partners in a commingled fund structure, but the firm's concentrated portfolio, hands-on operational involvement, and founder-led decision-making more closely resemble a family-backed investment vehicle than a large institutional manager.
What sectors does FAMA Private Equity explicitly avoid?
FAMA has publicly avoided sectors with heavy regulatory exposure in Brazil, including energy and mining. The firm also stays away from hardware-intensive businesses and biotechnology, concentrating instead on capital-efficient software and technology-enabled services companies where the partners' operational experience applies directly.
How does FAMA support portfolio companies after investment?
The founders take board seats in most portfolio companies and provide operational support in go-to-market strategy, financial planning, and executive hiring. This level of engagement reflects the firm's roots in deploying personal capital, where the partners were accustomed to working directly with management teams rather than monitoring from a distance.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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