(IGNIA) June 18, 2010 – IGNIA Fund I, L.P. Latin America’s first and largest impact investing fund, and Axial Gestão de Recursos Ltda. (Axial), a venture capital firm based in São Paulo, Brazil, announced today that they will jointly pursue investment opportunities in commercial enterprises at the base of the socio-economic pyramid (BoP) in Brazil. Specifically, IGNIA and Axial will focus on commercial enterprises engaged in activities with a disproportionate impact on poverty, such as healthcare, education, housing, and basic services for low-income populations.
“The BoP in Brazil constitutes 65% of its population, representing approximately 110 million people, making it a priority for all of us seeking to catalyze change in Latin America,” said Álvaro Rodríguez Arregui, Co‐founder and Managing Partner of IGNIA. “We are tremendously excited at the opportunity to deploy in this market in collaboration with professionals whom we first got to know through our respect for their work.”
“Axial is dedicated to creating a more sustainable world through investments that yield both social value and economic returns. Therefore, engaging in high-impact market solutions for the needs of the vastly underserved majority of Brazil is a natural extension of our work,” said André Vitti and Paulo Bellotti, partners at Axial. “We can now do so with full access to IGNIA’s extensive expertise in business at the BoP.”
The collaboration with Axial marks IGNIA’s first endeavor into a Latin American market outside of Mexico. “We believe in an investing model where local presence and capability are vital. At the same time, we feel that an effective partnership is grounded not only on similar business approaches but on shared personal values and objectives,” commented Michael Chu, Co-Founder and Managing Director of IGNIA. “With all this in place, we look forward to working together on joint projects that help fulfill the potential of Brazil’s BoP.”
IGNIA Fund I, LP is an impact investing venture capital fund based in Monterrey, Mexico that invests in promising entrepreneurs with scalable businesses that deliver high value propositions to the base of the socioeconomic pyramid.
Axial Gestão is a venture capital firm based in São Paulo, Brazil focused on investing in businesses which contribute to sustainable development.