Primary Ventures

Diego Viruega is the General Manager of Primary Ventures and leads the unit's day-to-day operations, according to the firm's website. A3 Mercados senior executives — including CIO Sebastián Ferro and General Manager Diego Fernández — provide corporate oversight but are not listed as members of the Primary X investment team.

Primary Ventures is the corporate venture capital and innovation unit of A3 Mercados, an Argentine financial-services group. The firm operates under the Primary X brand and functions as a collaborative innovation lab, investing in startups while developing crypto and blockchain products for A3 Mercados itself.

Primary Ventures operates as a corporate venture capital unit, not a standalone fund. It invests from A3 Mercados' balance sheet and pairs equity with operational resources — compliance support, legal services, networking, and strategic planning. This model positions it closer to a corporate innovation lab than an independent venture firm.

The firm targets three sectors: fintech, crypto, and agrifintech. Website portfolio categories include digital compliance tools, credit marketplaces, virtual wallets, cryptocurrency platforms, and agricultural traceability infrastructure. There is no evidence of investment activity outside these three verticals.

While Primary Ventures is headquartered in Buenos Aires, its disclosed partnership network spans the broader River Plate region. Alliances include the Argentine Private Equity Association (ARCAP), the Rosario Board of Trade, and Uruguay's ANII innovation agency, suggesting active deal-sourcing in both Argentina and Uruguay.

Primary Ventures appears to invest solely on behalf of A3 Mercados, its corporate parent. The firm does not disclose any external limited partners, separate fund structures, or regulatory filings that would indicate third-party capital management.

The Crypto Lab, housed within Primary X, develops and executes A3 Mercados' crypto-asset strategy. It builds products around blockchain technology, real-world asset tokenization, and web3 infrastructure — functions that sit alongside the unit's direct startup investing, creating a dual mandate of external venture capital and internal product development.