Canary is a São Paulo-based 'Operator Fund run and backed by entrepreneurs' that aims to be the best early-stage venture capital fund in Latin America. It partners with founders at the very first venture round, 'from pre-Power Point to Series A,' typically leading and defining terms. Canary backs people over business models and sectors, looking for great founding teams, BIG markets that can scale 50-100x, and healthy cap tables.
A problem the founder is uniquely positioned to attack, with deep founder-market-fit and genuine passion for the sector and customers.
“A great founder will choose wisely what ideas to pursue, taking into consideration his/her knowledge and passion about the business model, clients and sector.” — Canary FAQ
“This matters a lot, more than the business idea itself, and should be as important to the founders as it is to investors. A founder with a good market fit will feel more empathetic towards customers, more thoughtful about the market dynamics.” — Canary
“We learned from the best founders that execution is what makes a business successful, not the idea behind it and an NDA aims to preserve an idea.” — Canary
Technology-enabled solutions (not necessarily pure tech) that allow exponential growth; Canary will invest even at the powerpoint or pre-powerpoint stage if the founders are full-time and hypotheses are being tested.
“We are sector and model agnostic, but we invest in companies that can scale exponentially and take a huge market fast. Technology (not necessarily pure tech!) is what allows such an exponential growth.” — Canary FAQ
“We have already invested in quite a few powerpoint-stage businesses. However, a few validations before investing are always helpful. Are the founders full-time on the business? Have the business hypotheses been tested? Has the startup made its first hirings?” — Canary
“we love data so we will probably ask you to send us some info on your business – it will be easier for us to validate your convictions on the market or the business model with them.” — Canary
Markets large enough to support a 50-100x return over the fund's 8-10 year lifetime; the ability to scale exponentially and take a huge market fast.
“BIG markets (and potential to scale fast!): we look for startups that can grow at least 50-100x within the 8-10 years fund lifetime. If your market opportunity (or future vision) is not big enough to accommodate that, it might be an issue for us.” — Canary FAQ
“If your market opportunity (or future vision) is not big enough to accommodate that, it might be an issue for us.” — Canary
“we invest in companies that can scale exponentially and take a huge market fast.” — Canary
Not strictly required — Canary invests pre-traction and even pre-PowerPoint — but early validation signals (full-time founders, tested hypotheses, first hires, business data) strengthen a case.
“All I have is a pitch deck. Will you talk to me? Of course! We have already invested in quite a few powerpoint-stage businesses. However, a few validations before investing are always helpful.” — Canary FAQ
“Are the founders full-time on the business? Have the business hypotheses been tested? Has the startup made its first hirings?” — Canary
“Canary invested in Buser as something less than a PowerPoint. And all along the way, Canary has been extremely helpful.” — Marcelo Abritta
Great founding teams above all: founder-market-fit, grit/execution, and the ability to sell the dream with a genuine, compelling narrative. Canary explicitly backs people over business models.
“Great founding teams: venture capital is a people business. Our main job as investors (at least the way we see it at Canary) is not to be the smartest ones in the room, but to know a talented entrepreneur when we see one.” — Canary FAQ
“we need to see grit. We need to see hustle. The best founders we know won’t let it go and strongly believe they are the best people to solve the problems they are tackling.” — Canary
“We are looking for obsessed founders who are willing to go as far as it takes, rather than great ideas that are in fashion.” — Canary
“Our model is to invest in great people and not only in great business models.” — Canary
Sector and model agnostic, but the model must enable exponential scaling. Founders must show knowledge and passion about the business model, clients and sector.
“We are sector and model agnostic, but we invest in companies that can scale exponentially and take a huge market fast.” — Canary FAQ
“taking into consideration his/her knowledge and passion about the business model, clients and sector.” — Canary
“Technology (not necessarily pure tech!) is what allows such an exponential growth.” — Canary
Canary cares more about the people than the competitive landscape — it will invest in competing companies and bets on the founder to out-execute. A defensible founder-market-fit matters more than a tidy competitive map.
“Do you invest in competing companies? Yes. Our model is to invest in great people and not only in great business models.” — Canary FAQ
“We will, however, tell you if we are investing in a competitor. You can be sure that we never, ever share data or any sensible information between companies. Chinese wall mode is always on.” — Canary
“A founder with a good market fit will feel more empathetic towards customers, more thoughtful about the market dynamics and will probably be more resilient throughout the ups and downs of the entrepreneurial journey.” — Canary
A future vision big enough to justify venture scale, and founders prepared to trade short-term for long-term over a multi-year journey. Canary frames timing around the founder's long-term conviction rather than market hype.
“we look for startups that can grow at least 50-100x within the 8-10 years fund lifetime.” — Canary FAQ
“They understand early in their journey this path comes with a lot of sacrifices and they are prepared to trade the short term for the long term.” — Canary
“If your market opportunity (or future vision) is not big enough to accommodate that, it might be an issue for us.” — Canary
A first-check raise (rounds USD 250K to USD 15M+) that keeps the cap table healthy — founders should retain at least a 50% stake after Series A. Canary prefers warm intros and to lead with clean offshore SAFE structures.
“We partner with founders at the first venture capital round, from pre-Power Point to Series A. We’ve invested in rounds as small as USD 250K and as large as USD 15M+. We prefer and typically lead the first round, investing the largest amount of capital and defining the legal terms.” — Canary FAQ
“Healthy cap table: founders should keep ownership of their companies and avoid excessive dilution at an early stage. Ideally, the founding team should have at least a 50% stake after the series A. Too much dilution might be an issue for us.” — Canary
“We prefer warm intros, i.e., if you know somebody on our network that can introduce you to us (and we strongly recommend you go for it).” — Canary
“Why do you make investments using SAFE and not equity? Just to make things easier, cheaper and faster for both sides.” — Canary
“venture capital is a people business. Our main job as investors (at least the way we see it at Canary) is not to be the smartest ones in the room, but to know a talented entrepreneur when we see one.”
“founders should keep ownership of their companies and avoid excessive dilution at an early stage. Ideally, the founding team should have at least a 50% stake after the series A.”
“We invest in people. Our role is to identify and promote valuable connections.”