Five years after the height of euphoria in the Brazilian startup market, the corporate venture capital (CVC) ecosystem began to adopt a more selective and disciplined stance, with less FOMO – an acronym in English for Fear of Missing Out or fear of being left out – and more strategy. The conclusion is in the CVC in Brazil 2025 study, developed by EloGroup in partnership with ApexBrasil, ABVCAP e Global Corporate Venturing (GCV).
According to the research, presented during the Maravalley WeekBrazilian CVC funds participated in 66 investment rounds between July 2024 and June 2025, totaling around US$700 million invested. Of this total, 26 were Seed rounds, which represent the majority of contributions. However, startups in more advanced stages had a relevant proportion of deals, with 14 in Series A and 18 in Series B.
The survey also shows that 30 of these 66 rounds were led by Brazilian CVC funds, pointing to a greater role for these investment vehicles.
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For Jaime Frenkel, partner at EloGroupthis movement is a reflection of a more mature market that is convinced of the strategic role of investing in startups. “Companies are testing and learning. So if in the first two years they made investments following someone, now they feel more comfortable taking on a leadership role in the relationship with startups”, he explains, in an interview with Startups during a Maravalley Week.
Another conclusion of the research is that the CVC has worked for corporations less as a bet and more as an anticipation. In sectors where the future does not yet have a defined shape, such as the energy transition, which continues to be a dispute between different technologies and business models, the CVC allows these companies to test several paths at the same time, without having to choose a single winner ahead of time.
“The tone of the conversations we had four years ago with company boards is very different from what we have now. Four years ago, there was a rush, a rush by companies to create their ecosystem. And the CVC came as a simple and quick response. In 2021, when the CEO said he was going to invest in startups, the stock rose. Today, if he says that, the stock drops”, recalls Jaime.
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This change in the perception of value regarding investments in startups, according to him, was a factor that made corporations start to opt for CVC less as a hype and more as a strategy.
“Now I have to go back to the market, say what my strategy is, what I did with the startups I invested in, whether I managed to collaborate with them or not”, he observes.
In this sense, having a greater participation in the equity of startups also makes more sense, as it guarantees the company greater influence on the company’s decisions. “When you take a leadership role in the round, not that this is a sine qua non, but it helps you build a deeper relationship and gain more of that entrepreneur, that founder’s time to interact with you”.
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