Brazil's Klabin family backs biotech venture builder Vesper in R$25M round
What's the deal? VesperDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a Brazilian venture builder focused on biotechnology, has raised R$25M from members of the Lafer family — part of the dynasty behind pulp and paper giant KlabinDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → — along with asset managers Rise Venture and ACNext. The company aims to raise an additional R$50M by year-end.
Founded in 2018, Vesper builds and manages biotech startups in healthcare and agriculture, typically taking 30%–35% stakes. It has eight portfolio companies holding 17 international patents and has previously raised R$200M from private investors and Brazilian federal innovation programmes through Finep and Embrapii.
"There's no culture of entrepreneurship among Brazilian scientists — many don't even know where to start," founder and chief executive officer Gabriel Bottós told Brazil Journal. "Our mission is to find, filter, and select ideas to build companies alongside scientists, based on decades of university research."
Why now? The new round — an extension of Vesper's Series A — will fund field validations for its agriculture startups and clinical trials for its human health companies. The goal: generate robust enough results to attract major international biotech VCs.
"We want to prepare our portfolio to play in the first league," Bottós said. "With sufficient proof and advanced clinical trials, we can go after large international funds that are strategic both for their expertise and their connections."
Two portfolio companies are nearing clinical studies. VyroDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, co-founded by USP geneticist Mayana Zatz, emerged from research on the Zika virus's potential to destroy brain tumour cells. Aptah Bio is developing mRNA therapies targeting Alzheimer's and glioblastoma multiforme; in vitro tests in Canada showed its drug could "rejuvenate" human neurons.
What could go wrong? Biotech is a notoriously long and risky game. Vesper expects five to seven years before it can exit its earliest investments. Clinical trials are expensive, slow, and have high failure rates — particularly in oncology and neurodegenerative diseases, where both Vyro and Aptah operate.
Brazil's biotech ecosystem remains nascent compared to the US or Europe, which could make attracting top-tier international VC dollars harder even with strong data in hand.
The signal: Biotech venture building remains rare in Latin America, making Vesper's model — and its ability to attract capital from an established industrial dynasty like the Lafers behind mature paper giant Klabin — a notable proof point for the region's deep-tech ambitions. With portfolio companies like Vyro still at the early growth stage and exit timelines stretching five to seven years, the round is a bet that Brazil can nurture globally competitive life-science startups if patient capital and commercialisation infrastructure fill the gap between university labs and international VC.
Read more: braziljournal.com
