By Brazil Stock Guide – Brazil’s development bank BNDES and innovation agency Finep have selected Monashees, one of the country’s best-known venture capital firms, to manage an artificial intelligence fund targeting as much as R$500 million in commitments.
The vehicle could receive up to R$205 million from public-sector anchor investors, with additional capital expected to come from private investors. The initiative is part of a broader government effort to build domestic capabilities in artificial intelligence rather than leave Brazilian companies primarily dependent on technologies developed abroad.
Monashees was selected after a public call attracted 17 proposals, BNDES and Finep said on Sept. 14. The proposal will now go through analysis, due diligence and structuring before the fund is formally established and investments begin.
The choice puts one of Latin America’s most established venture capital houses at the center of Brazil’s effort to build a domestic AI industry.
Founded in São Paulo in 2005 by Eric Acher and Fabio Igel, Monashees was an early investor in some of Brazil and Latin America’s best-known technology companies, including ride-hailing company 99, e-commerce group MadeiraMadeira and real-estate platform VivaReal. Its portfolio has also included companies such as Loggi, Neon, Nomad, Petlove and Jusbrasil.
Acher, a former General Atlantic investor and McKinsey consultant, remains Monashees’ co-founder and managing partner and leads the firm’s investment strategy. Igel, a member of the family associated with Brazilian conglomerate Ultra, stepped down from a full-time partnership role in 2020 and remains a partner emeritus and adviser to the firm.
Monashees describes itself as Brazil’s largest venture capital firm and operates from São Paulo, Mexico City and San Francisco. U.S. regulatory filings show the investment manager had about $1.4 billion in regulatory assets under management as of March 31, 2026.
Artificial intelligence has also become a more explicit part of its investment strategy. Monashees has backed AI-focused businesses and is running a co-investment program with Google’s AI Futures Fund aimed at pre-seed and seed AI-native startups.
Public money as anchor capital
Under the new Brazilian fund, BNDESPAR, the development bank’s equity investment arm, may commit up to R$125 million, while Finep, through the National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development, or FNDCT, may contribute as much as R$80 million.
Together, the two institutions could therefore provide as much as R$205 million. The remainder of the fund’s targeted R$500 million would have to be raised from other investors.
Each anchor investor’s participation will be capped at 25% of the fund, a structure designed to use public money as catalytic capital and attract additional investors rather than have the government finance the vehicle alone.
The fund will target Brazilian startups whose competitive advantage depends on artificial intelligence and where AI is central to the product, service or business model.
Eligible companies may require capital for proprietary data, AI models, computing infrastructure and specialized technical staff to develop, adapt and operate their technology. Companies that merely use commercially available AI tools as an ancillary part of their operations fall outside the investment profile outlined by BNDES and Finep.
The program is not designed simply to encourage Brazilian companies to consume more artificial intelligence, but to finance businesses capable of developing technology and intellectual property themselves.
The fund is part of the Brazilian Artificial Intelligence Plan, or PBIA, which seeks to expand the country’s technological capabilities and use AI to raise productivity and improve public services and social welfare.
BNDES President Aloizio Mercadante said the initiative was intended to foster new technology companies, retain skilled workers in Brazil and lift productivity.
“This fund will create conditions for new innovative companies to emerge, for talent to be developed and retained in the country, and for productivity in the Brazilian economy to increase,” Mercadante said.
Finep President Luiz Antonio Elias said Brazil’s challenge goes beyond adopting technology developed elsewhere.
“Artificial intelligence is one of the most transformative technologies of our time, and Brazil’s challenge goes beyond using it: we need to develop domestic capabilities to create and apply these solutions in line with our strategic interests,” Elias said.
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