At a time when the venture capital market is beginning to show signs of recovery, Upload Ventures is splitting into three management companies, NeoFeed has learned from market sources.
Rodrigo Baer is creating 14b, which will focus on early-stage startups. Carlos Simonsen is behind Upstream, which will operate in growth and credit. And Mario Moraes will have UVP (Upload Ventures Growth), which will manage the US$50 million fund anchored by TIM.
The split comes amid disagreements between the partners regarding strategies, as well as to allow them to focus on their respective theses without conflicts of interest.
14b, for example, was born with the early-stage startup portfolio of Upload Ventures. The first fund, of US$108 million, was anchored by Softbank and has invested, so far, in 22 startups. Among the companies are names like BotCity, Digibee, Medway, Raiô, and Salú.
The thesis remains the same: to make seed and Series A funding rounds for B2B startups that can compete globally. The investment firm still has capital to invest, but, according to sources NeoFeed spoke to, a new funding round is on the horizon for 2026.
Upstream, in turn, will bet on a strategy that involves equity and debt . The goal is to lend money to startups that are in a fundraising limbo, but which are good businesses, are in an advanced stage, and generate cash.
This is a largely untapped market in Brazil with great potential, as it is underserved by traditional banks, which do not understand the unit economics of startups and generally do not extend credit to these companies.
Upstream's plan is to use its own funding . Sources familiar with the firm's plans say the company could raise up to R$300 million in 2026 using this strategy.
On the other hand, in the growth area, Upstream's plan is to do more single deals , seeking resources from investors for each deal, without the need to raise a fund – which could happen sometime in 2026.
Moraes, who inherited the fund anchored by TIM, will focus on growth. His portfolio includes companies such as Topsort, Simetrik, orq, and Tractian, the latter valued at R$4 billion in a November 2024 funding round led by the American investment firm Sapphire Ventures.
The team of partners at each asset management firm also gains new names. In the case of 14b, whose inspiration is Santos Dumont's 14 Bis airplane, Thomas Kuczynski, Carlos Lino, and Allan Panossian Kajimoto join Baer and Marco Camhaji.
In addition to Simonsen, Upstream's partners include Alfredo Hahn and Enrico Katz. Moraes' UVP, in turn, is expected to take the strategy to Mission Co., an asset management firm founded by André Marafon, Leonardo Damião, and Peter Marotta Gudme, former partners at Gávea Investimentos.
During the venture capital boom of 2020 and 2021, many venture capital firms emerged, taking advantage of the high liquidity and ease of raising capital.
According to one source, there are over 40 funds raising capital from investors in Brazil. And most of them are having considerable difficulty reaching their proposed goals. Only those with a track record are able to move forward.
Changes in leadership at venture capital firms are more common than you might think. The reasons are varied, but generally, partners begin to have differing views on the direction of the business and decide to separate.
This was the case with Astella, where Edson Rigonatti and Laura Constantini decided to go their separate ways. Another example is Redpoint Eventures, whose three partners, Anderson Thees, Manoel Lemos, and Romero Rodrigues, also separated.
Rodrigues, in turn, created the investment firm Headline and raised R$ 916 million, already boasting a portfolio of 17 invested companies. This year, the firm also raised a fund to invest in secondary funding rounds for startups.
Contacted for comment, Baer and Simonsen declined to comment. Moraes did not respond to requests for an interview.
