The Rio de Janeiro-based fund will back startups making the the oil and gas value chain more efficient.
Brazilian oil and gas producer Prio has launched a ventures fund to invest across the oil and gas value chain.
The new fund, to which $21m has been allocated, will focus on investments that increase the parent company’s operational efficiency, backing technologies that have scalable potential, the company said in a statement.
Citrino Ventures, the VC arm of asset manager Citrino Gestão, will be managing the fund. On Prio’s side, the VC team includes Vitor Hugo Oscar – an alumnus of Embraers CVC team – who is serving as corporate venture capital specialist.
It will deploy capital in startups primarily involved in the development and operations of subsea activities, as well as sustainability and digital transformation. These include predictive maintenance, energy efficiency, AI, logistics, advanced recovery and equipment monitoring.
“We understand that PRIO is at a favourable moment to encourage the creation of new technologies, supporting our partners on this journey. Fostering innovation has always been part of our strategy and we are currently taking an important step on this journey by seeking out startups that have the potential to transform the oil and gas industry,” said Bruno Menezes, Prio’s chief new business officer.
Fernando Moncada Rivera
Fernando Moncada Rivera is a reporter at Global Corporate Venturing and also host of the CVC Unplugged podcast.
