Paco Illueca, director de Inversiones de GVC Gaesco, Patricia Pastor y Rubén Colomer, cofundadores de Next Tier Ventures.
Latin America’s entrepreneurial ecosystem is on the radar of European firms GVC Gaesco and Nex Tier Ventures, who recently announced the launch of a new $50 million investment fund. This time, it was artificial intelligence (AI) startups that caught the attention of European investors.
The focus is on companies from countries such as Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Chile, and the investors are looking to provide selected startups with support from their initial phase to their maturation.
“These countries stand out not only for their talent, but also for the level of maturity of their startups in the artificial intelligence market,” said Patricia Pastor, general partner of Next Tier Ventures.
The association has explained that, in the coming months, a fund raising will be carried out, mainly aimed at Spanish and international family offices and private investors.
Startups that use AI in their solutions
Under the company Next Tier GVC Gaesco SCR, the entity is expected to carry out between 30 and 35 investments in B2B startups of artificial intelligence. The goal is to find those projects where people’s lives are positively impacted through the use of technologies such as AI.
“Our goal is to find those projects that from technology seek to improve the lives of people and our industries,” Pastor explained.
Pastor has managed a portfolio of more than $100 million in investment funds and has supported hundreds of entrepreneurs and startups in their growth and scaling throughout her career.
With this new fund, they will also seek to reach markets in Europe as well as in the United States and Latin America, with the objective of optimizing investment returns through a rigorous selection process.
Currently, GVC Gaesco develops its venture capital activity through Zamit I (multi-sector), Zamit Energy (focused on consolidated industrial companies in Spain with growth potential) and Itucap (investment in venture capital in early stages of development).
“Our partnership with Next Tier Ventures represents a further step in GVC Gaesco’s firm commitment to venture capital, thus completing our range of investment products and responding to a growing demand from our clients,” says Paco Illueca, chief investment officer of GVC Gaesco.
For the selection of these companies in Latin America, a collaborative approach will be used, relying on the network of allied funds and institutions such as WeInvest Latam, a community of women with decision-making power in investment funds, family offices and as angel investors in the region.
“Countries that invest in AI will be more competitive and grow faster,” says the general partner of Next Tier Ventures.
The AI market in Latin America
Endeavor’s latest report shows that Brazil is leading the way in the growth of AI-based companies between 2018 and 2024, as the number of companies increased from 124 to 728 in that period.
Meanwhile, Mexico ranks second, going from 34 ventures to 362 in that same period. According to the report, these companies together had investments of more than $500 million dollars in 2022 and 2023.
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