University of Minnesota is part of a list of limited partners that provided $150m for Brazil-based venture firm Monashees to close its eighth fund.
Monashees VII’s LPs also included online lending platform CreditEase, Singaporean state-owned investment firm Temasek, Brandywine Trust Group, S-Cubed Capital, IDG Capital, Horsley Bridge Partners, private investor Mike Krieger and 15 high-net-worth Brazilian groups and families.
Founded in 2005, Monashees invests in early-stage companies based in Latin America, targeting sectors such as healthcare, financial services, transportation and logistics. The close of its latest fund brings the total money raised by the firm to $430m.
The firm’s existing investors include same-day delivery service Loggi, on-demand e-commerce platform Rappi and 99, the ride hailing platform in which Didi Chuxing invested $600m in January this year to take a majority stake.
Stuart Mason, chief investment officer at University of Minnesota, said: “Monashees brings a truly unique set of skills to the table, with a disciplined investment strategy, as well as the unmatched local expertise and knowledge that leads the team to identify and invest in the region’s best founders.
“The recent billion-dollar acquisition of 99 by DiDi is not only a milestone for the local ecosystem, but validation of this sentiment and suggests that there’s no liquidity hurdle for great companies in Latin America. We are excited to partner with Monashees as it continues to find and nurture the best opportunities going forward.”
– A version of this article first appeared on our sister site, Global Corporate Venturing.