Newtopia VC, an early-stage venture capital fund, launched Monday with $50 Million to invest in Latin American tech startups.Fund will invest between $250,000 to $1 million in seed stage startups to help them reach milestones on their path to Series A.Five major players from the regional entrepreneurial community are leading Newtopia:Patricio Jutard is co-founder of MURAL.Mariano Mayer, ex-national secretary for entrepreneurs and SMEs of Argentina and founder and CEO of Marea Venture Partners.Sacha Spitz is co-founder and partner at Yavu Ventures, and was previously director of the Universidad de San Andrs incubator program.Jorge Aguado is the former secretary of national science, technology, and innovation in Argentina.Juan Pablo Lafosse, founder of Almundo and former CEO.The group has invested in startups in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico.TechCrunch spoke to Mayer about the great moment in Latin America, where global venture capital firms such as Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz are making bets on the region. This is especially true for investments in the later stages. Home-grown venture capital firms are also doing well, citing the Kazeks $1 Billion funds.He said that there is a gap between investments in seed and those going to Series A. We want to support entrepreneurs at these stages. Newtopia was born out of conversations that took place during the pandemic. Now we see great momentum in the transformation of traditional industries and the talent to create businesses from these opportunities.Newtopia offers both mentorship and investment to help startups grow locally or globally. Already, the fund has a network of over 70 founders who are available to advise, invest and become venture partners for portfolio companies.The Newtopia 10-Week program works with companies to identify product-market fit, set goals and establish a foundation for future growth. The call was open for applications and the firm will select 10 startups to be part of the program. Each startup will receive $100,000.Mayer stated that by taking an early-stage lead, it will help the other venture capital firms doing later-stage investment.He believes that investments in Latin America are growing every year. In July, there was a record of $4 billion in the region. This has made some companies unicorns like Jutards Mural which raised $50 million. Mayer said that this has more than confirmed the fact that there will continue to be more money in the future.Jutard stated that the fund founders were investing in or mentoring companies by themselves, but that the new funding will allow them to provide assistance to hundreds of startups instead of just a few.Jutard said that early-stage companies experience an emotional rollercoaster, where they feel isolated, face times when it's difficult to recruit or sell their product. Jutard explained that we focus on building a support network.
