Positive Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Positive Ventures is a pure-play, impact-driven venture firm with roots in São Paulo and a second office in San Francisco (Shack15). Its stated position is that investing for nature and people is not philanthropy but strategic business. It backs what it calls underdogs and contrarians with the audacity to fix the world at scale, and it wants both exponential impact and financial returns from every company. The firm is sector-agnostic on paper, but the portfolio clusters around two labels on its site: Nature Positive and People Positive. It positions itself as a bridge between the Global South and the Global North, bringing Latin American founders to Silicon Valley networks and capital, and bringing Global South solutions to international markets.
Stage Focus
Pre-seed and seed are the core. The portfolio page filters by Pre-seed, Seed, Series A and Growth, and the firm has made at least one Series A extension investment (Rivio, February 2026, per a third-party tracker). In a 2023 TechCrunch interview, partner Fábio Kestenbaum said the firm wants to team up with founders as early as possible and be founder-centered.
Check Size
Per TechCrunch (June 2023), the average pre-seed check is about $250,000 and the average seed check about $600,000. The firm also explored minority stakes of 5% to 10%. The plan for its second fund was 20 to 25 companies at pre-seed and seed.
Lead Tendency
Mixed. It co-led the Ruuf pre-seed alongside Collaborative Fund, and in recent tracked deals it appears as a participant behind other leads (BackChannel seed led by Sunna Ventures, Beltic pre-seed led by Collide Capital). Treat it as both lead and follower, more often a participant in recent rounds.
Recent Activity
- March 2026: participated in BackChannel's roughly $5M seed (led by Sunna Ventures), a B2B marketplace for excess inventory in Latin America.
- February 2026: Series A extension in Rivio, per a third-party tracker.
- September 2025: participated in Beltic's $1.5M pre-seed led by Collide Capital, with Canvas Ventures and Latitud.
- June 2026: published its Impact Report 2025.
Tracxn counted 1 new investment in the 12 months to March 2026, so deployment looks selective rather than fast. Fund status is uncertain: the second fund (the Decisive Investment Fund, DIF II) had $25M in commitments in June 2023 and was targeting $30M.
Portfolio Highlights
The portfolio page lists 12 companies: 1849 Bio (microbes for cleaner mining), Backchannel (B2B excess inventory), Beltic (AI AML compliance), Cerrado X (plug-and-play farming), Doji (device trade-in), Eureciclo (recycling credits), Fourier (modular on-site hydrogen), Fram Energy (rental-home retrofit incentives), Funga (forest fungi for carbon and biodiversity), Labi Saúde (affordable clinical lab), Lazarus Sensors (AI wildfire gas sensors) and Letrus (AI writing education). The homepage also features Pachama (carbon DMRV), SINAI (carbon accounting), Oya Care (women's health), Praso (B2B commerce for SMBs), Mar Saúde (preventive healthcare) and NOMO (anti-doomscrolling app). Earlier fund investments include Favo and Ruuf, and a third-party tracker also lists Windfall Bio, Pathways Technologies and Yuna.
Team
- Andrea Kestenbaum (also appears as Andrea Oliveira): partner and CEO, co-founder.
- Fábio Kestenbaum: partner and chairman.
- Bruna Constantino: managing partner and impact director, co-founder.
- Gustavo Behring: investment team.
- Marina Ferraz: associate.
The firm's own team and about pages were blocked by a bot challenge during research, so titles come from TechCrunch and the 2022 impact report and may be stale. Third-party sources also name Alex Seibel and Henrique Porto as founding principals.
Decision Process
Partnership with an investment committee: the 2022 impact report cites 50% women on the investment committee. Impact is assessed in a staged process (lead, qualified, negotiation, portfolio management) using a proprietary Decisive Impact Assessment, IRIS+ and IMP dimensions, and the B Impact Assessment.
Founder Preferences
Bold, mission-driven founders with intentional impact, building technology for hard social and environmental problems, especially in Latin America. The firm is a certified B Corp and prioritizes gender diversity. Its investors reportedly include institutional investors, family offices and Fabio Barbosa, former CEO of Natura & Co.
Geographic Focus
Brazil and wider LATAM first, with U.S. companies (often Latin American-founded or relevant) via the San Francisco office. Portfolio filters list Brazil, Europe, LATAM and U.S.
Gaps
AUM is not disclosed; the $1B figure in press is the aggregate market value of portfolio companies, not assets under management. Warm introductions are likely helpful but not confirmed.