Cloud9 Capital Research
Investment Thesis
Cloud9 Capital is a Brazilian venture capital manager founded in February 2022 by three former SoftBank Latin America executives: Felipe Affonso, Noah Stern, and Rafael Serson. The firm's stated mission is to back "execution-first, not fundraising-first" entrepreneurs, explicitly positioning itself against the traditional Faria Lima venture circuit in São Paulo. Cloud9 looks for Brazilian technology companies that have already proven product-market fit, generate real revenue, and run efficient, capital-disciplined operations rather than high cash-burn growth models. Founding partner Rafael Serson has publicly framed the firm's edge as finding founders who are "outside the radar" of mainstream VCs but already running scalable, profitable-minded SaaS and fintech businesses.
Sector Focus
Cloud9's portfolio skews toward vertical B2B SaaS and fintech infrastructure serving the Brazilian market:
- Healthcare and clinic management software (Clinicorp)
- Insurance infrastructure for the Brazilian auto insurance market (Cilia)
- Corporate travel and expense management SaaS (Onfly)
- B2B payments and accounts-payable automation (V360)
- Cashless payments and ticketing infrastructure for entertainment venues (Zig)
- Gym and fitness business management software (NextFit)
- Legal AI / legaltech (Inspira)
- Field service management software (Auvo)
The common thread is capital-efficient, cash-generative SaaS and fintech businesses rather than pure consumer or hardware plays.
Stage Focus
Cloud9 describes itself as a growth-stage investor, generally entering after a company has demonstrated product-market fit, though it has also led earlier Series A rounds (V360, Inspira). It does not appear to write pre-seed or seed checks based on available deal history.
Check Size
Founding partner Rafael Serson stated publicly (June 2025, Auvo investment) that Cloud9's typical check ranges from R$35 million to R$110 million (approximately $6.6M-$20.8M USD at current exchange rates). This is corroborated by round sizes observed in the portfolio: the R$110M Zig Series B (April 2024) and the R$40M V360 Series A (February 2025), both led by Cloud9.
Lead Tendency
Cloud9 has led or co-led the majority of its disclosed rounds, including V360's Series A (February 2025) and Inspira's round (June 2026). Public statements consistently describe Cloud9 as the lead investor rather than a passive follower.
Recent Activity
Cloud9 has been actively deploying capital through 2025 and into 2026:
- June 2026: Led a R$15M round in Inspira (legal AI platform), with participation from Vivo Ventures
- June 2025: Invested in Auvo Tecnologia (field service management), the firm's 7th disclosed investment
- February 2025: Led a R$40M Series A in V360 (B2B payments automation), with Honey Island by 4UM, Carpa, and Allievo
- April 2024: Participated in a R$110M Series B for Zig (cashless payments/ticketing), alongside Across Capital and Endeavor Scale-Up Ventures
Portfolio Highlights
Disclosed portfolio companies include Clinicorp, Cilia, Onfly, V360, NextFit, Zig, Auvo, and Inspira. Notably, portfolio company Onfly (corporate travel/expense management) separately raised a $40M Series B led by Tidemark with participation from Left Lane Capital and General Catalyst, serving 2,000+ enterprise customers including Vivara, Vtex, and Hotmart — a strong signal of Cloud9's ability to source into companies that go on to raise from top-tier US growth investors.
Team
- Felipe Affonso, Founding Partner — 11+ years in private equity and venture capital; previously Director at SoftBank Latin America Fund (healthtech, SaaS, wealth management deals) and Vice President at GIC (Singapore's sovereign wealth fund) covering technology, education, healthcare, and consumer in São Paulo, New York, and Singapore. Began his career in private equity at GP Investimentos.
- Noah Stern, Founding Partner — Spent the majority of his career at Goldman Sachs; part of SoftBank's first Latin America investing team alongside Felipe Affonso.
- Rafael Serson, Founding Partner — Economist from Insper; previously in the private equity group at Kinea.
- Guilherme Colasante — Investment team.
- Felipe Pettenatti — Investment team.
- André Junqueira — Investment team.
- Luiz Feres — Investment team.
- Guilherme Lacerda — Investment team.
- Jessica Lourenço — Legal, Compliance & Operations.
- Gustavo Barros — Operations.
Decision Process
Cloud9 is a multi-partner firm (three founding partners plus an investment team), consistent with a partnership-style decision process rather than a solo-GP model.
Founder Preferences
Cloud9 explicitly favors "execution-first" founders running proven, revenue-generating businesses over pre-revenue teams optimizing for the next fundraise. The firm markets itself to founders who are strong operators but may not have deep pre-existing ties to the traditional São Paulo VC circuit (Faria Lima).
Geographic Focus
Exclusively Brazil. All disclosed portfolio companies and team members are Brazil-based, with the fund headquartered in São Paulo.
AUM and Fund Status
Cloud9 launched its first fund in February 2022 with an initial closing of R$280M (targeting R$400M at final close). As of mid-2026 the firm is reported to manage approximately R$500M (~$94M USD) across its vehicles and remains actively deploying capital, having made at least 8 disclosed investments including two in the first half of 2026.
Website Note
The website URL provided at intake, https://cloud9.cap/, does not resolve (NXDOMAIN). This research was conducted against the firm's actual live website, https://www.cloud9capital.com.br/, which was identified via cross-referencing PitchBook, Crunchbase, Tracxn, and LinkedIn profiles that all match this firm's name, founders, and Brazil-focused SaaS/fintech portfolio. The firm record's domain and website fields have been corrected accordingly.