Bossa Nova announced a partnership with Brazilian retail specialist Gouvêa de Souza to launch a fund aimed toward local retail startups. 

(Press Release) A strategic and innovative partnership promises to shake the national retail market. The reason is Bossa Nova Investimentos – a benchmark company in Micro Venture Capital in Latin America led by João Kepler and Pierre Schurmann – has teamed up with the GS & MD Group – Gouvêa de Souza – Brazil’s largest retail specialist, to create a business potentializer focused in the segment.

The first big innovation of this partnership is the name itself, in Brazil it is very common to hear talk in incubator, accelerator, corporate venture, among other nomenclatures, but the term potentializer is new here. “We chose to use this name because a single word sums up our major goal with this project which is to empower and help develop startups in a solid way and with all the backing and infrastructure that GS & MD and Bossa can offer. And why is it more than an acceleration? Because it will not work the business model, but will stimulate what the most mature startup needs: Marketing, Sales, Connections and Customers”, explains João Kepler, a partner at Bossa Nova Investimentos.

As soon as the partnership was disclosed, the entrepreneurs have already begun to express themselves, Tania Gomes – CEO of startup 33 and 34 commented on the importance of the initiative. “For startups in the retail, consumer and tourism segments, there are fewer groups that have these deals as a focus, which reduces our access to VCs. When Bossa and GS & MD work together, the likelihood of these markets growing dramatically increases. This is because Gouvêa has a complementary characteristic to Bossa: they are inside the market. So mentoring, consulting, whatever it is has the ability to leverage business that makes a difference. ”

Regarding the businesses that will be selected, GS&UP – name of the new company created to potentiate them, look at startups that already have some traction, that is, companies in operational phase, with revenue and a strategic project. Startups should present their pitches to a Curator Committee, which will select and approve companies that will be integrated into the GS& group’s ecosystem.

The partnership generated a fund of R$ 6MM and in addition to the investment and the deep industry and business expertise of the GS & MD Group and Bossa Nova, the startups that will be part of the potentializer will have unparalleled access to a network of relationships, events and content.

According to Maurício Sucasas – CEO of GS &, the selected startups will also be able to benefit from the infrastructure of the new headquarters of the GS & Gouvêa de Souza Group, at Paulista Avenue, in São Paulo, with space dedicated to innovation and coworking. “They will have shared access to services such as CRM, administrativefinancial, coaching, mentoring, sales and marketing, corporate communication and PR,” he concludes