Latin America’s venture capital landscape is navigating a significant contraction, yet certain investors continue to stand out for their strategic focus and portfolio strength. According to a new CB Insights report, the region’s startup funding environment has cooled considerably since its 2021 peak. Total funding dropped from $20.1 billion in 2021 to just $4.8 billion last year, while deal volume has fallen by more than half since 2022.
In this challenging climate, the gap between top-tier investors and the rest of the field has widened, rewarding those with high-quality portfolios and targeted strategies.
The ranking draws on CB Insights’ proprietary data, analyzing equity investments in private startups across Latin America from Q1 2023 through Q3 2025.
Key scoring criteria include deal volume, the presence of unicorns backed before reaching $1 billion valuations during the period, and the exit rate of portfolio companies invested in since 2018.
Government entities, accelerators, and incubators were excluded.
Portfolio health was further assessed using Mosaic scores (out of 1,000) for company potential and machine-learning-based M&A probability forecasts for the next two years.
Brazil has emerged as the clear anchor of regional activity.
Startups in the country accounted for 60% of all deals involving the top 50 investors, demonstrating remarkable resilience.
While average deal activity among these investors declined 18% year-over-year through Q3 2025, Brazilian deals fell only 9%.
Domestic focus proved protective: Brazil’s leading VCs directed 77% of their investments locally, shielding the ecosystem from broader cross-border capital pullbacks.
In contrast, younger markets like Chile experienced sharper contractions.
The country’s highest-ranked firms—Magma Partners, Fen Ventures, SQM Lithium Ventures, and Kayyak Ventures (all averaging just nine years old)—saw deal flow plunge 57% over the same timeframe.
AI has become a priority bet for leading investors.
The top three firms—Bossa Nova Investimentos, Redpoint Eventures, and DOMO.VC—allocated a quarter of their deals since 2023 to artificial intelligence companies.
Within that, 35% targeted sales and customer service applications. Standout examples include Octagora, an AI-powered customer service platform, and TuTo Digital, which develops AI agents for sales automation.
Portfolio quality also separates winners.
Monashees leads the region with the highest average Mosaic score of 695, driven largely by strong fintech holdings such as Clara (score: 865), a spend-management platform, and Nomad (score: 829), an international banking provider.
TechEnergy Ventures follows closely in second place with an average score of 669.
Exit potential is another bright spot. FCJ Venture Builder is projected to see the highest number of liquidity events in the coming two years, with its portfolio companies boasting an average M&A probability of 36%—well above the global benchmark of 21.6%.
Two portfolio standouts, compliance training firm AWTRA and recruitment platform Reachr, each carry a 75% probability of near-term M&A activity.
The report underscores a maturing LatAm VC ecosystem where selectivity, geographic focus, and sector bets like AI and fintech are paying dividends amid tighter capital conditions.
The full ranked list of 50 investors is detailed in the CB Insights report. These highlights illustrate how strategic positioning is enabling top players to thrive even as the broader market consolidates.
As Latin America’s startup ecosystem matures, investors who combine local expertise with forward-looking theses on emerging technologies appear best positioned for the next cycle.
