When: Monday, Nov 2nd, 6pm-8:30pm
Where: Silicon Valley Bank, 2770 Sand Hill Rd, Menlo Park, CA
Founded by Nicolas Szekasy, MercadoLibre’s former CFO, and Hernan Kazah, MercadoLibre’s co-founder, Kaszek Ventures is one of the most active VC firms in Brazil and Latin America. Beleza na Web, Dress & Go, GetNinjas, GuiaBolso, GymPass, Netshoes and Nubank are some of the companies in Kaszek’s portfolio.
Last January, in the midst of economic crisis both in Brazil and Argentina, the firm raised a new fund of $135 million, surpassing its first one of $95 million back in 2011.
On Nov 2nd, join us to welcome the two founders of Kaszek Ventures. In a conversation with Andy Tsao, Managing Director of Silicon Valley Bank and BayBrazil Board Member, Hernan and Nicolas will talk about their latest investments, the opportunities they envision in the Latin American market and their perspective on Brazil’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Agenda
6pm Cocktail reception & networking
6:40pm Introductions & Q&A
8:30pm Adjourn
Speakers Bios:
Hernan Kazah is a co-founder and Managing Partner of Kaszek Ventures. Before Kaszek Ventures, he cofounded MercadoLibre (Nasdaq: MELI), Latin American largest commerce and payments online platform, where he worked for 12 years, as COO in his first 9 years and as CFO in his last 3 years. Prior to this, Hernan worked as Brand Manager at Procter & Gamble Co. and was a finance analyst at the United Nations Development Program and in a stock brokerage firm. He currently sits on the boards of several technology firms: Kekanto, PetLove, eOtica, BelezaNaWeb, HelpSaude, PedidosJa, MadeiraMadeira and GetNinjas. He is also an advisor to Oppa and a board member at Lavca (Latin American Venture Capital Association). Hernan received an MBA from Stanford University and graduated magna cum laude in Economics from the University of Buenos Aires (top 1% of his class). In 2004 he was awarded “The Outstanding Young Persons of Argentina” by the Junior Chamber International.
Nicolás Szekasy is a co-founder and Managing Partner of Kaszek Ventures, a Venture Capital firm focused in the technology industry in Latin America.
Nicolás currently sits on the board of several technology companies: ComparaOnline, Eventioz, GoIntegro, Netshoes, OpenEnglish, OQVestir, Restorando, SaferTaxi, VivaReal, and Zupcat. Before launching Kaszek Ventures in 2011, Nicolás was an Advisor to Tiger Global Management and an Angel Investor in 2010. Prior to that, he was CFO for 9 years at MercadoLibre (Nasdaq: MELI), Latin America’s largest online commerce and payments platform, where he led its $333 million IPO. Throughout his career, he has closed M&A deals and issued debt and equity capital exceeding $2billion. In 1998-1999, Nicolás was CFO of Supermercados Norte, and prior to that he worked for 7 years at PepsiCo, where he had CFO and Strategic Planning Director roles. He received an MBA from Stanford University in 1991 and graduated top 2% from the University of Buenos Aires with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics in 1988. In 2008, Nicolás was invited to the Stanford GSB as the Arjay Miller Distinguished CFO Lecturer. Nicolás is currently a Board Member of Endeavor Global, and an active mentor.
Watch the event coverage by our reporter Debora Silva. Music by Soraia Schmidt.
