In a global environment that remains challenging for raising capital, the Brazilian alternative asset manager Spectra Investments has taken another step forward in its journey in the private equity and venture capital market.
The asset manager has just completed the first closing of its seventh fund. In just three months, it raised R$ 800 million, about half of its initial target of R$ 1.6 billion, with a hard cap of R$ 2 billion.
“Even in a more challenging environment for fundraising globally, we were able to move forward with Fund 7 because we maintained consistency in generating liquidity for investors,” Jamie Keller, partner at Spectra, told NeoFeed .
Spectra, which manages R$7 billion, expects to complete the fundraising by the middle of this year. If it achieves this goal, the new vehicle will maintain the consistent size of the last two rounds, which were around R$1.6 billion each.
The investor base of the new fund is composed mainly of Brazilian families (between 65% and 70% of the capital raised). Spectra, however, expects an increase in participation from institutional investors (between 15% and 20%) and foreign investors, especially from Asia. "In fact, we already have our first Asian investor in this initial closing ," says Keller.
The capital allocation strategy follows the parameters of the two previous funds, which combine "fund of funds," the purchase of shares in the secondary market, and direct co-investments in companies.
Like any fund, Spectra allocates part of its capital to what it calls a "drip," a novel strategy in which it invests a small amount to test the waters and see if it should scale up.
In Fund 7, the asset manager will reserve at least 5% of the fund's capital for allocation to angel investors, something unprecedented in the Brazilian market.
The inspiration for the strategy came from observing more mature markets, such as Israel and the United States, where funds have begun investing alongside angel investors or angel communities, like the Israeli platform iAngels.
“The funds started investing alongside these angel investors to secure a spot on the cap table . Spectra’s idea is to test whether this dynamic can also work in Brazil,” says Keller.
The thesis that Spectra wants to test is to enter the startup cycle even earlier, capturing the inefficiencies of these companies at a very early stage.
The strategy consists of allocating capital to angel investors in the Brazilian market and participating in all investments made by them. Only in subsequent rounds does Spectra decide whether or not to continue.
One example is an angel investor who has R$ 500,000 to invest in 10 startups. Spectra reserves another R$ 500,000 for this investor and participates in all of their investments.
The asset manager believes that, at this stage, valuations are not yet arbitraged, governance is poorly structured, and the capital structure is still flexible.
Furthermore, Spectra believes that, in this way, it will be able to access the deal flow that funds don't normally see – in other words, the "invisible startups" to venture capital managers. "Many of the best entrepreneurs start raising money with experienced founders, technology executives, and industry players," says Keller.
An angel investor has already received capital from Spectra – their name is being kept confidential. The expectation is to have a portfolio of up to three angel investors who can co-invest.
Last year, the asset manager conducted research to identify the main angel investors in the Brazilian market. This was already a way to determine how to allocate capital for the new investment thesis, although Keller did not confirm any names.
In this survey, the top 10 angel investors , in that order, according to Brazilian entrepreneurs, were David Vélez , founder of Nubank; Lucas Lameiras, scout at Andreessen Horowitz; Paulo Veras , former 99 employee; Sergio Furio , founder of Creditas; and Patrick Sigrist, founder of iFood and Nomad.
The list also includes Gustavo Ahrends, from Norte Ventures; Lucas Lima, co-founder of Men's Market; Zen Santoro, from Nameless, along with Juliana Haddad; and Brian Requarth, formerly of Viva Real and currently leading Latitud.
Strength in the secondary market
Despite testing the angel investor thesis, Fund 7's strategy should follow the logic that Spectra has built over the last six harvests.
Approximately 40% of the capital should go to secondary operations, purchases of stakes in private equity or venture capital funds in the secondary market. This operating model allows for faster exits, which has ensured a quicker return of capital to investors.
In 2025, for example, Spectra returned approximately R$750 million to its investors, the largest amount in its history, surpassing 2021 and 2022, when it returned R$550 million to investors. This year, it has already returned R$300 million.
“Throughout the history of Spectra's funds, approximately 70% of the invested capital has already been realized,” says Keller. “In cycles of lower liquidity, such as the current one, the secondary market tends to gain even more relevance.”
There were 42 total exits and four partial exits in 2025. Among them are Labsoft (co-investment via search fund); BR Media (in partnership with Bridge One), ClearSale (also with Bridge One, sold via the stock exchange), Sky.One (partial sale to Advent International); and Ademicon (co-investment made with TreeCorp , whose partial position was sold to 23S Capital and Auster Capital).
Spectra also reserves up to 30% of its capital for investment in funds, making it an anchor investor in major venture capital funds in Brazil, such as Big Bets, Cloud9 Capital, Bridge One, Outfield, and Laplace, among others. In this case, the target is increasingly niche asset managers, moving away from horizontal firms that invest in diverse investment theses.
The remaining capital is reserved for direct co-investments in companies. The asset manager also maintains other complementary strategies, such as search funds , of which Spectra is the main investor in Brazil, and special situations.
Increased competition
Spectra has dominated the secondary market in recent years, but competition is starting to intensify. Faced with a lack of liquidity – a shortage of IPOs and M&As – many funds have begun to operate in this area.
One example is Patria High Growth , a joint venture between Kamaroopin and Igah Ventures, which is raising a fund specifically to operate in this area. Headline has also raised a fund to invest in "dead equity," according to Romero Rodrigues , head of venture capital at XP.
Another player is Partners Group , a Swiss asset manager that is starting a growth strategy in Brazil and whose objective is to buy secondary stakes in other funds.
The first check went to Omie , an investment of R$ 850 million, the largest in Brazil in 2025, which provided a partial exit for all the funds that had invested in the startup founded by Marcelo Lombardo and Rafael Olmos. The idea is to make an investment of this size every year in Brazil for the next five years.
A manager at a large fund says that several venture capital funding seasons are reaching their limit, which will force many managers to divest. "That's why everyone is eyeing secondary companies," he says.
Exits are crucial to keep the venture capital wheel turning, as well as accelerating fundraising for new funding rounds. According to NeoFeed , there are over 40 venture capital firms in the Brazilian market raising capital. However, most of them have either failed to raise funds or have closed their funds below their fundraising targets.
Even so, asset managers with a track record and tradition in the market have managed to attract investors to their new funds. Examples include Astella Investimentos, Canary, Valor Capital Group, OneVC, Big Bets, and Volpe Capital .
