At a time when many corporations are reducing or ending corporate venture capital initiatives, Banco do Brasil has decided to double down on this strategy.
The bank is creating BB Ventures II and investing an additional R$ 300 million in this strategy, raising its committed capital in CVCs to R$ 500 million. The first vehicle had R$ 200 million.
“We managed to extract some strategic and financial value from the portfolio. And there are startups that will be doing new funding rounds. We needed dry powder to keep up,” says Jean Martinelli, the executive responsible for open innovation at Banco do Brasil.
MSW Capital and Vox Capital, which were selected to manage the resources of the first fund, have once again been chosen to handle the investments. The former will receive R$ 115 million, and the latter R$ 140 million. Approximately R$ 30 million will be allocated to other funds as a shareholder.
CVC's increased investment was driven by three factors. The first is the need to monitor new rounds of investments in startups that have already received investment. The second is the identification of opportunities at more mature stages. The third is the formalization of the ESG agenda as a cross-cutting axis of the thesis.
Banco do Brasil's strategy is to invest in fintechs, govtechs, and agtechs. The investment is expected to grow, as in addition to late seed and Series A investments—the majority of its funding profile—the goal is also to participate in Series B rounds.
MSW Capital, the manager of BB's first fund, will play a central role in the new phase. It will be responsible for a new R$115 million fund, larger than the previous one and with significant changes in strategy.
Fund 1 invested in five startups, such as PayFy, and still has resources reserved for follow-on investment. According to Richard Zeiger, partner at MSW Capital, the performance of the first fund was decisive for the renewal. “We were able to show that CVC can generate strategic and financial value. The bank saw this in practice,” says Zeiger.
MSW Capital has expanded its mandate. In addition to fintechs, govtechs, and solutions for agribusiness, the new fund will be able to invest in Series B funding, something that was not previously permitted.
“I used to receive Series B funding opportunities and reject them due to my mandate. Now it makes sense to have an open door, as long as there is strategic synergy,” says Zeiger. The management company plans to make 6 to 8 investments, with checks ranging from R$ 5 million to R$ 15 million, potentially reaching R$ 20 million in specific cases.
Moises Swirski, a partner at MS Capital, also comments on the current market situation. "The hype surrounding CVC has passed. Now corporations are trying to make sense of what they've invested in," he says.
According to him, the sector is moving towards a phase where consolidation will come with the resumption of exits , still limited by the absence of IPOs and the reluctance of strategic buyers. MSW Capital cites two previous exits — Olivia, sold to Nubank, and Card10, acquired by WebMotors — as examples of completed cycles that help calibrate the current strategy.
Vox Capital, which already managed an R$80 million fund for Banco do Brasil, will now manage a new R$140 million fund. The asset manager maintains three main verticals — financial services, agribusiness, and govtechs — and adds a fourth: biodiversity and bioeconomy, including technologies for environmental monitoring, carbon, and land use.
“The bank has matured its capacity for integration with startups. There is an ongoing validation process with internal areas,” says Rafael Campos, director of venture capital at Vox. The management company anticipates between eight and twelve investments and has already begun prospecting, including a public call for bioeconomy startups during COP.
The expansion of BB Ventures comes at a time when the CVC market is undergoing adjustments. There are fewer active programs, but the checks have become larger and more concentrated.
The downturn in 2022 and 2023 led many corporations to end initiatives, while others opted to strengthen their strategies. Banco do Brasil positions itself in this second group.
With new funds, strengthened governance, and a focus on integration with internal areas, the bank believes that the CVC will continue to be a relevant tool for accelerating products, accessing technologies, and expanding its operations in strategic segments.
Examples of this are PayFy and Aprova. In the first case, the startup, invested in via MSW Capital, develops a corporate expense management platform. BB decided to use the solution in white label form and incorporate it into its corporate card.
“If we were to develop it internally, the time to market would be longer and the competition for IT resources would be greater,” says Martinelli, from BB. The product is already generating additional revenue for the bank, something that didn't exist before the integration.
In the case of Aprova, a govtech company from Cascavel that digitizes administrative workflows for municipalities, the bank integrated the solution into its revenue collection agreements and began offering it as part of its commercial package to municipalities.
In just a few months, the tool reached more than 140 municipalities, with about 20 of them also using the bank's functionalities. The integration generated an increase in cross-selling and expanded BB's presence in the public sector.
