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Sai do Papel
Sai do Papel operates out of Rio de Janeiro as a hybrid investment platform built around corporate venture building and open innovation.
Sai do Papel
Sai do Papel operates out of Rio de Janeiro as a hybrid investment platform built around corporate venture building and open innovation. Founder Carlos Junior established the firm to translate paper-stage ideas into operational companies — the name itself means "get off the paper" in Portuguese — using a model that embeds the firm inside corporate innovation cycles rather than competing for proprietary deal flow on the open market. The platform runs dual commercial footprints through Arca Hub in Ipanema and the Energy Hub at Pier Mauá, each designed to co-locate startups with the corporate partners whose problems they solve. The strategy centers on sector-specific venture building in collaboration with Brazilian industrial anchors. The Energy Hub Ventures program, run with FCJ Group, is a corporate venture builder sponsored by Petrobras that sources startups addressing energy-sector operational challenges. BNDES — Brazil's national development bank — partners with the firm on innovation programs that convert public development mandates into structured venture exposure. The firm also operates open innovation programs alongside 100 Open Startups, creating a pipeline that allows large corporates to run structured startup engagement cycles without building internal venture teams. Investment structures lean toward direct venture building and equity-for-services arrangements rather than blind-pool fund commitments. Sai do Papel maintains deep ties to the Rio startup ecosystem. Carlos Junior sits on the board of MIT REAP Rio, the MIT Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program focused on accelerating innovation-driven economic development in the Rio metropolitan region. The firm also serves as an ecosystem partner for the Founder Institute's Rio de Janeiro chapter, sourcing early-stage founders through the global accelerator's local pipeline. These institutional relationships position the firm as a node between government development programs, corporate R&D budgets, and seed-stage technical founders targeting energy and industrial technology. The structural distinction is the venture-builder model itself. Rather than raising external limited partner capital and deploying it against a stated fund strategy, Sai do Papel generates deal flow by operating the innovation programs that corporate partners fund directly. This creates a different principal-agent alignment: the firm's economics derive from program fees and equity stakes in the ventures it helps build, not from management fees on committed capital. The result is a platform that looks more like a startup studio with corporate underwriting than a traditional venture capital firm.
General information
Firm type
Generalist
Year founded
—
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
Latin America
Country
Brazil
City
Rio de Janeiro
Corporate office
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Principals
Carlos Junior
Founder and CEO
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
How does Sai do Papel make money?
Sai do Papel earns program fees from corporate partners for running innovation programs under the Energy Hub and Arca Hub banners, and takes equity in the startups it helps build through these structured engagements. The firm does not operate as a traditional venture capital fund raising outside LP capital. This venture-builder model means the firm's economics are tied to program execution and the success of venture equity positions, not to management fees on committed capital.
What is the relationship between Sai do Papel and Petrobras?
Petrobras serves as a sponsor and challenge proposer for the Energy Hub, the venture-building program Sai do Papel runs at Pier Mauá in Rio de Janeiro. Through the Energy Hub Ventures program operated jointly with FCJ Group, Petrobras sources startups that address operational and technological challenges in the energy sector. The relationship positions Sai do Papel as an intermediary connecting the state-controlled oil giant with early-stage innovation.
Is Sai do Papel a fund or an operating company?
Sai do Papel is structured as an investment company operating a corporate venture builder — closer to a startup studio with corporate underwriting than a traditional fund. The firm runs physical hubs (Arca Hub and Energy Hub) and operates open innovation programs for corporate partners including BNDES and Petrobras, generating deal flow through program sponsorship rather than deploying a blind pool of LP capital. The name literally translates to 'get off the paper,' reflecting the firm's focus on building operational companies from concept stage.
Does Sai do Papel invest its own balance sheet or manage external capital?
The firm operates primarily through corporate-sponsored innovation programs, with capital for venture building sourced from program partners including BNDES and Petrobras alongside its own co-investment. Sai do Papel has not publicly disclosed a traditional fund structure with outside limited partners. Its model is closer to a fee-for-service venture builder that also takes equity in the companies it helps create, with corporate partners providing the development capital and problem statements.
What is the Energy Hub and how is it related to Sai do Papel?
The Energy Hub is a corporate venture builder located at Pier Mauá in Rio de Janeiro, operated by Sai do Papel and FCJ Group with Petrobras as the anchor sponsor. It sources startups targeting energy-sector operational challenges and provides them with corporate partnership access, development resources, and venture-building support. The program converts Petrobras' R&D and operational challenges into structured startup engagements, with Sai do Papel coordinating the innovation pipeline between the corporate sponsor and the startup ecosystem.
Who makes the investment decisions at Sai do Papel?
Founder Carlos Junior is the named decision-maker, serving as Founder and CEO of the firm. He also represents Sai do Papel on the board of MIT REAP Rio, the MIT Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program focused on the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan region. The firm's venture-builder structure means investment decisions are made jointly with corporate partners whose challenges define the startup selection criteria.
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