Understanding the jabuticaba factor: How QED’s Camila Vieira mastered local nuance in Latin American fintech investing
- Camila Vieira explains the "jabuticaba factor"—understanding local market nuances that only emerge from staying committed to Latin America through multiple investment cycles, rather than chasing peak valuations.
- QED's portfolio approach has evolved from early B2B banking to vertical SaaS plus embedded finance, powered by improved infrastructure like Brazil's Pix system, expanding talent pools, and AI enabling previously impossible business models.
Today, we’re joined by Camila Vieira, a Partner at QED Investors focused on Latin America. Camila brings a wealth of experience to our conversation, having established herself as one of the region’s most influential fintech investors.
Camila joined QED in 2022 as the company’s first employee based in São Paulo, Brazil, where she focuses on early-stage investments. As an investor and operator with experience working across different regions, she brings a well-rounded perspective to the table, connecting founders and startups to valuable resources while leveraging QED’s deep fintech expertise.
Prior to joining QED, Camila built her career at the intersection of technology and financial services. She started at Moody’s, a credit rating agency, before joining Goldman Sachs to focus on corporate credit and economic risk. Later, as part of Goldman’s investment banking division, she helped fintech, software, and e-commerce companies raise capital and navigate the transition from private to public markets.
She went on to join the global strategy and corporate development teams at Ceridian, a global software company servicing more than 160 countries. More recently, Camila spent time at Hotmart, a Brazilian tech unicorn whose platform facilitates sales of digital products, enabling creators to build, monetize, manage, and grow globally. There, she led strategy and operations, ESG, and investor relations.
Today, we’ll explore the dynamic Brazilian fintech ecosystem, discuss cross-border investment opportunities, and uncover lessons that US investors and financial professionals can apply when looking to diversify their portfolios into these high-growth regions.
Before we jump in, I just want to tell you about a new initiative we’re running at Tearsheet.
4dFI is an exclusive group of out-of-the-box builders and investors knitting together a community to invest in the next wave of fintech startups.
We’re bringing together current and former banking executives interested in investing in and learning about emerging market fintech startups. 4dFI’s network will be able to help new companies reach maturity faster, while startups can provide new ways of thinking to our community members.
At 4dFI Capital Partners, I’m joined by Russell Weiss, an experienced product and startup builder, and Josh Liggett, who has led fintech and blockchain diligence, investments, and strategic partnerships at OurCrowd.
If you are interested in learning how emerging market fintechs are changing the financial services landscape around the globe and would like to play a part in crafting this new future, sign up on https://tearsheet.co/4dFI.
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Staying committed through market cycles
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