Welcome to Tech Talents! In this newsletter, I share real-time key talent movements in the LatAm tech ecosystem, including founders entering and exiting stealth mode, executive-level movements in unicorns, and partner-level changes in local VC firms.
Here’s a quick look at what you’ll find in this week’s edition:
📖 Recent Reads: AI Application Spending Report, H-1B Visa Fee & more
🎊 Startup Launches: Rivio, ScaleRep
👀 Talents to Watch: ex-CEO at Scaleup (acq. by Corporate), MBA candidate with tech experience
🤫 Talents Entering Stealth: ex-Chief Executive Officer at Neon, ex-Global General Manager at Rappi, ex-Head of Engineering at UOL EdTech & more
🦄 Unicorn Movements: AI Tech Lead Manager at QuintoAndar
👋 Tech Talents Match: Looking for a co-founder or to network? Click here to be connected with top talent that matches your criteria
Let’s dive in…
📖 Recent Reads
My quick takes on interesting articles, news and data that I’ve come across recently.
Andreessen Horowitz released its AI Application Spending Report, offering several insights into the current state of enterprise AI. Using data from Mercury, a fintech that provides banking services primarily to startups, the firm analyzed spending patterns from over 200,000 customers and identified the top 50 AI-native application-layer companies. Key takeaways include:
Most vertical applications in the list remain copilots rather than fully autonomous agents.
The vast majority of apps are adopted first by individuals who later bring them to their companies.
There is still no clear winner among horizontal applications.
OpenAI launched Sora 2, a new video-generation model that is more physically accurate, realistic, and controllable than its predecessor. More notably, OpenAI also introduced a new social app alongside the model, where users can create and share AI-generated videos — similar to TikTok, but featuring only AI-generated content. The app quickly captured widespread attention online, surpassing even Meta’s Vibes app in terms of buzz.
An interesting recent fundraising round was Until Labs’ $58 million Series A. The company is developing reversible cryopreservation for patients in need of donor organs — a technique already used in IVF and stem-cell therapies, now being extended to human organs. Currently, most donated organs remain viable for only a few hours after procurement, resulting in thousands of lost transplants each year. Until Labs aims to change that, enabling organs to remain viable for weeks or even months through cryopreservation.
The US government recently announced a $100,000 fee for H-1B visas, a program widely used by startups and big techs to hire highly skilled immigrants. While the impact is expected to be mild for large companies that can easily absorb the cost (NVIDIA has already confirmed it will), the measure could have a significant impact on smaller, cash-constrained startups. Several industry insiders have criticized the decision, warning that it could undermine the United States’ long-term technological leadership.
🎊 Startup Launches
Founders who have just publicly announced what they are working on.
Rivio
Overview
Startup Description: Rivio is an Artificial Intelligence platform that manages hospital revenue end-to-end, from auditing to billing and post-billing.
Industry: Healthcare, AI
Team Size: 40
Time in Stealth: 8 months
Founder Profile
Ricardo Sales – Co-Founder at Rivio
Founder Highlights: Serial Founder, Masters, Top University, Ex-Corporate, Investor, Unicorn Experience
Previous Experience: ex-Co-Founder at isaac, ex-Vice President at General Atlantic, ex-Analyst at Goldman Sachs, MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business, B.S. in Electronic Engineering from Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica - ITA.
Headquarters: São Paulo, Brazil
Ask for an Intro: Click here
ScaleRep
Overview
Startup Description: AI videos for personalized communication. Talk 1-1 to clients with hyper-realistic AI videos and maximize engagement and conversion.
Industry: SaaS, AI
Team Size: 2
Time in Stealth: 4 months
Founder Profile
Daniel Alves - Founder at ScaleRep
Previously featured as a Stealth Founder in Tech Talents #30.
Founder Highlights: Technical Founder, Doctorate, Masters, Ex-Corporate, Ex-Consultant, Scaleup Experience
Previous Experience: ex-Tech Lead Data Scientist at PicPay, ex-Principal Data Scientist at Infosys, ex-Data Scientist at Ekantika Brasil, PhD in Theoretical Physics from UNESP, PhD in Theoretical Physics from University of California, Davis, Master’s degree in Theoretical Physics from Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Física, Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from Universidade Federal do Ceará.
Headquarters: Brazil
Ask for an Intro: Click here
👀 Talents to Watch
High-potential individuals likely to make significant career moves soon.
This section is exclusive to Pro subscribers — the go-to resource for top VCs, recruiters, and service providers who need to stay ahead of talent movements. Below is a snippet of the profiles we covered in the past two weeks. To view the full profiles, try Tech Talents Pro free for 14 days here.
On a sabbatical and exploring AI
Founder Highlights: Previous Exit, Ex-Corporate, Investor, Fintech
Previous Experience: ex-Investment Strategy Senior Head and Advisor at Corporate, ex-Chief Executive Officer at Scaleup (acq. by Corporate), Bachelor’s in Business Administration from Ibmec Business School.
Headquarters: Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Time in Current Position: 2 months
MBA candidate for almost 2 years with tech experience
Founder Highlights: Top University, Ex-Consultant, Ex-Corporate, Scaleup Experience, Healthcare
Previous Experience: ex-FP&A at Scaleup, ex-Acquisition at Scaleup, ex-Senior Business Analyst at Consulting, Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering from USP.
Headquarters: São Paulo, Brazil
Time in Current Position: 1 year, 9 months
🤫 Talents Entering Stealth
Talents with relevant experiences who have just entered stealth mode.
Carlos Andrés Aldana – Co-Founder at Stealth Startup
Founder Highlights: Serial Founder, Masters, Previous Exit, Top University, Ex-Corporate, Investor, Unicorn Experience, Scaleup Experience
Previous Experience: ex-Global General Manager, Quick Commerce – Turbo at Rappi, ex-Global Head of Rappi Pets, ex-Co-Founder & CEO at Petsology, MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Bachelor’s in Industrial Engineering from Universidad de Los Andes.
Headquarters: Colombia
Time in Current Position: 4 months
Ask for an Intro: Click here
Francisco Aguiar – Co-Founder at Stealth Startup
Stealth Description: Building the next-gen infrastructure for credit and structured funds.
Founder Highlights: Investor, Latitud Fellow, Top University, Ex-Corporate
Previous Experience: Ex-Strategy, Finance & IR at Celero, ex-Founder (Takeoff program) at Canary, ex-Equity Analyst at Forpus Capital, ex-Investor Relations Sr Manager at Sinqia, Latitud Fellowship (LF8), Stanford Ignite, Postgraduate in Business Management from ESPM, Bachelor of Business Administration from FGV.
Headquarters: São Paulo, Brazil
Time in Current Position: 4 months
Ask for an Intro: Click here
Jean Sigrist – Co-founder at Stealth Startup
Founder Highlights: Serial Founder, Previous Exit, Ex-Corporate, Investor, Unicorn Experience
Previous Experience: ex-Chief Executive Officer at Neon, ex-Chief Operating Officer at Neon, ex-Co-Founder at Guide Investimentos, ex-MD/CEO/COO at Banco Itaú, Advanced Management Programme at INSEAD, Bachelor’s in Economics from PUC São Paulo.
Headquarters: São Paulo, Brazil
Time in Current Position: 6 months
Ask for an Intro: Click here
Michel Nunes – Founder at Stealth Startup
Founder Highlights: Top University, Ex-Corporate
Previous Experience: ex-Senior Product Manager at Webmotors, ex-Product Manager - E-commerce / Pricing at Movida Aluguel de Carros, ex-Auditor Sênior at KPMG Brasil, Bachelor’s in Business Administration from UFRJ.
Headquarters: São Paulo, Brazil
Time in Current Position: 9 months
Ask for an Intro: Click here
Milton Mazetto Junior – Co-founder at Stealth Startup
Founder Highlights: Technical Founder, Masters, Doctorate, Top University, Ex-Corporate
Previous Experience: ex-Sr AI Engineer at iConnections, ex-Head of Engineering at UOL EdTech, ex-Senior Engineering Manager at Qulture.Rocks, Doctorate in Cultural History from Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Postgraduate in Instructional Design from Senac Brasil, Master’s in Social History from USP, Bachelor’s in History from USP.
Headquarters: Campinas, Brazil
Time in Current Position: 4 months
Ask for an Intro: Click here
Persio M. De Luca – Founder, Investor & Mentor at Stealth Startup
Stealth Description: Focused in disrupting XXX in Brazil, the company is still in stealth mode but moving fast to soft launch in January 2026 with the MVP.
Founder Highlights: Serial Founder, Technical Founder, Top University, Previous Exit, Ex-Big Tech, Ex-Corporate, Investor
Previous Experience: ex-Regional Vice President of Marketing Channels, Operations and Business Development at Oracle, ex-Regional Insights Manager - Latin America at Microsoft, ex-Diretor de Tecnologia (Ometz Group) at SOMOS Educação, BA in Business Administration from FGV.
Headquarters: São Paulo, Brazil
Time in Current Position: 2 months
Ask for an Intro: Click here
Danny Ng – Stealth Startup at Stealth Startup
Founder Highlights: Technical Founder, Top University, Ex-Big Tech, Ex-Consultant
Previous Experience: ex-Chief Product & Operations Officer at moray.ai, ex-Chief Operations Officer at SpaceTime Labs, ex-Program Manager - Product and Channels Strategy at Uber, ex-Senior Consultant at Oliver Wyman, Bachelor of Science in Computing Engineering from Universidade Estadual de Campinas.
Headquarters: São Paulo, Brazil
Time in Current Position: 1 month
Ask for an Intro: Click here
🦄 Unicorn Movements
Promotions, new hires, and other movements in local unicorns’ executive-level.
Oriel Zambrano – AI Tech Lead Manager at QuintoAndar
Previous Role: ex-Head of Data, AI & Analytics at Cayena
Previous Experience: founder at Renegui, ex-Senior Data Scientist at Itaú Unibanco, ex-Data & Partner at Lulo Data, Specialization in Big Data – Data Management Intelligence from USP, Bachelor's in Economics from Universidad Nacional de Colombia.
Headquarters: São Paulo, Brazil
Time in Current Position: 5 months
👋 Co-Founder Matching
Looking for an early or late-stage co-founder?
In case you missed it, I recently launched a co-founder matching platform focused on the Brazilian market. The platform is independent of any VC or accelerator, completely free (zero equity, zero cost), always active, and carefully curated based on experience and matching preferences.
👉 Click here to be connected with top talent that matches your criteria.
You can get started in three simple steps:
Define your preferences (technical, business, industry, timing, etc.).
Receive compatible profiles via email or on the web platform.
Send and accept connection requests with those who interest you most.
Here’s a quick demo video of the platform:
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