Office

São Paulo

Deep History and Market Leadership in the Region

Since 2006, Gunderson Dettmer has supported entrepreneurship and venture capital investment in Latin America and is proud to have played an important role with many of the region’s most impactful companies and transactions. Our Latin America team has a thriving practice representing 200 of the region’s most innovative high-growth companies and dozens of the leading investors in Latin America. Our São Paulo office serves as the firm’s hub for its thriving Latin America practice, for which the firm has earned accolades from PitchBook and others for handling more venture financings in the region than any other law firm in the world.

Gunderson Dettmer is known for its extensive experience negotiating financing transactions for emerging companies and their investors. Our Latin America practice is no different, and we handle more venture financings in the region than any other law firm in the world. The financings handled by Gunderson Dettmer in Latin America included nearly 100 companies, more than 550 investors and over $3.5 billion raised for the most promising companies in the region, according to PitchBook. We have represented companies in more than $3.8 billion in mergers and acquisitions transactions in Latin America since 2014, including the acquisition of 99 Taxis by Didi in 2018, the acquisition of Vivareal by OLX Brasil in 2020, the acquisition of Cornershop by Uber in 2020, the acquisition of Elo7 by Etsy in 2021, and the acquisition of Neoway by B3 in 2021, and the acquisition of Technisys by SoFi in 2022.

Uniquely Positioned to Bridge Latin America and Venture Capital

Our focus on the technology and venture capital market means that we are uniquely qualified to help founders, management, boards and investors achieve their goals – whether raising capital, signing an important customer deal, achieving a successful M&A outcome or transitioning to the public markets. Whether the client is a company or a fund, we can help them navigate the next stage of their growth because we have seen it play out hundreds of times before across the globe.

In addition to world-class transactional experience, our Latin America clients benefit from unique attributes of our practice:

  • Exceptional attorneys and staff. Our Latin America team includes numerous members who are native or fluent Portuguese or Spanish speakers. Many of them were licensed and practiced law in Latin America before becoming U.S. lawyers. Further, our Latin America team includes multiple partners in Silicon Valley and New York, all of whom have strong cross border experience and deep local ties.  Our entire team has spent considerable time developing best-in-class legal know-how and technology that is tailored to the needs of our Latin American client base.
  • Unmatched investor relationships. Our firm represents over 500 venture capital and growth equity firms worldwide in their own fund formation and capital raising activities, including the leading funds investing in Latin America. We not only understand how to support funds, but also how to help companies attract investments from those funds. We are in a unique position to make targeted connections between VCs and emerging companies seeking capital and to provide tailored advice in the fundraising process.
  • Embedded in the Latin America venture ecosystem. Our attorneys are regularly sought out as speakers at key industry events in the region. In recent years, we have presented at LAVCA (Latin America Venture Capital Association), COFECE (Comisión Federal de Competencia Económica), Cubo, Latitud and Endeavor events, among others, and have been quoted by Reuters and other media outlets seeking insights into the venture market.
  • Relationships with key government bodies. We have experience partnering with key government bodies in Brazil, including BNDES (Brazilian Development Bank), as well as COFECE in Mexico, CORFO (Corporación de Fomento de la Producción) in Chile, Innpulsa in Colombia, and the Ministerio de Produccion of the Argentine Republic, among others. These relationships provide real-time knowledge of the business environment in each country and developments that will affect emerging companies.