Draper Fisher Jurvetson Launches Brazil-Based Affiliate

MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Draper Fisher Jurvetson ("DFJ"), a leading international high-technology venture capital firm, announced today that they are opening a Brazil-based Affiliate in partnership with FIR Capital Partners, a pioneering early stage Brazilian venture capital firm.

“We are excited about this opportunity to create a strong presence in Brazil”

This partnership is the newest addition to the DFJ Network. Over the past 16 years, DFJ has created a broad, collaborative network of venture capital partnerships. The DFJ Network is currently made up of more than 100 venture capital professionals, across 27 regions, with greater than 500 portfolio companies and over US$5 billion of capital under management. Recent DFJ Network successes include DivX, Skype, Mobile365 and Baidu.

The DFJ FIR Brazil Fund will enter the Brazilian market with an initial US$40 million fund, focused on funding extraordinary entrepreneurs with the vision to build leading global companies. "We are excited about this opportunity to create a strong presence in Brazil," said Tim Draper, Founder and Managing Director of DFJ. "Brazil is a leading emerging economy with favorable macroeconomics and a highly entrepreneurial culture that is creating a significant number of attractive high-tech investment opportunities. We are partnering with FIR Capital who has built the leading early stage venture capital fund in Brazil. The partnership with FIR Capital is key in our expansion into high growth, emerging markets."

"This marks the first time that a leading Silicon Valley venture capital firm has entered the Brazilian market," FIR Capital Partner Guilherme Emrich said.

"We believe that the partnership with DFJ will significantly expand our resources to assist Brazilian companies in accessing capital and business networks in the global market. DFJ's outstanding track record and extensive network will help us realize our vision of enhancing venture capital investing in Brazil", added FIR Capital Partner, Marcus Regueira.

The transaction, led by FIR Capital Partner Simon Olson, with the support of the entire FIR Capital team, took several months of intensive collaboration to close.

"This is a major victory for entrepreneurship in Brazil," an enthusiastic Olson remarked. "DFJ's entrance — consistent with their image as always being among the first to enter an emerging market — will go a long way toward helping Brazilian entrepreneurs access the world market."

As part of the agreement the two firms will launch a US$100 million fund, DFJ FIR Brazil Fund II, targeting offshore investors, which will invest in innovative Brazilian companies in high-growth industries.

About Draper Fisher Jurvetson

Draper Fisher Jurvetson is the leading venture capital firm with global presence through a network of affiliated funds, with offices in more than 30 cities around the world and more than $5 billion in capital commitments. DFJ's mission is to identify, serve and provide capital for extraordinary entrepreneurs anywhere who are determined to change the world. Over the past twenty years, DFJ has been proud to back approximately 500 companies across many sectors including such industry changing catalysts as Hotmail (acquired by MSFT), Baidu (BIDU), Skype (acquired by EBAY), United Online (UNTD), Overture (acquired by YHOO), Interwoven (IWOV), 411 (acquired by YHOO), Parametric (PMTC), and Digidesign (acquired by AVID). For more information, please visit: http://www.dfj.com.

About FIR Capital Partners

Founded in 1999 by Marcus Regueira and Guilherme Emrich, FIR Capital Partners is a leading Brazil-based venture capital firm. FIR Capital’s flagship fund, Fundotec I, was one of the first venture capital funds in Brazil. FIR Capital’s successes include the sale of Akwan SA to Google (GOOG). For more information, please visit: http://www.fircapital.com.