Brazil has the highest number of deep tech companies in Latin America, but ranks third in private investment

These findings are from the Deep Tech Radar Latam 2025 report, prepared by the consulting firm Emerge in partnership with Cubo Itaú.

By Elton Alisson  |  Agência FAPESP – Brazil has the largest number of science and technology-based startups in Latin America, accounting for 952 (72.3%) of the 1,316 deep tech companies identified in the region. However, the country still lags behind Chile and Argentina in terms of private investment in these companies, which develop cutting-edge scientific and engineering technologies and seek to create products or solutions that could solve global challenges.

These findings are from the Deep Tech Radar Latam 2025 report, prepared by the consulting firm Emerge in partnership with Cubo Itaú (the innovation hub of Brazil's largest private bank). The report was presented on September 11 during the Cubo Conecta 2025 event in São Paulo.

“Brazil has the most substantial number of deep tech companies in Latin America. However, our startups receive less investment and leverage less private capital,” said Daniel Pimentel, co-founder of Emerge.

According to the report, Chile leads the way in attracting investment in deep tech ventures in Latin America, followed by Argentina and Brazil. Pimentel describes this scenario as a “game of outliers,” in which a few “champion” companies in Chile and Argentina stand out with large investment rounds, boosting the visibility of their local ecosystems.

In Chile, for instance, only three of the 73 identified in the country have attracted USD 607.2 million in private investment in recent years. In Argentina, two of the 145 scientific or technological startups received investments totaling around USD 486 million, compared to USD 216 million in Brazilian deep tech companies during the same period.

“In Chile, for example, a single deep tech company [NotCo] raised almost USD 500 million in investment and another [PhageLab] raised more than USD 40 million. In Brazil, we have few or almost none that have raised amounts close to these,” compared Pimentel.

According to the expert, the difference in market profiles helps explain this phenomenon. While Brazil has a significant domestic market for absorbing innovations, countries such as Chile and Argentina have smaller markets and have focused on the international market from the beginning, making it easier for them to attract global investors and establish themselves as deep tech hubs in Latin America.

“In Brazil, there are still few investment funds with a focus on deep techs. Argentina and Chile, on the other hand, have more specialized and focused funds,” he pointed out.

Pimentel assessed that the businesses being created and developed in Brazil in this segment are not necessarily structured with a sufficiently defined mission to compete in the global venture capital market.

“Deep tech companies have a substantial demand for capital and need to be born with an eye on the global market, including to overcome the technological risk they face. But we see that, in Brazil, our businesses don’t necessarily have this complete ambition.”

Public investments

The authors of the report found that 47% of Brazilian deep tech companies have not received any type of investment. Of those that did receive some financial support, only 7% received private capital, while 36% rely solely on public funds, primarily from development agencies like FAPESP through the Innovative Research in Small Businesses Program (PIPE). 

“FAPESP is, unquestionably, a global development agency for deep tech companies. For 20 years, the institution has maintained PIPE, which creates and encourages the creation of science and technology-based startups in São Paulo. There are several companies that have become relevant because of the investments they received from the Foundation and that have developed everything from lung ventilators to drugs and solutions for the agribusiness sector,” Pimentel emphasized.

The state of São Paulo also has the largest number of deep tech ventures in Brazil, with 467 companies operating mainly in the health and wellness and agriculture and food segments, as is the case with most Latin American science and technology-based startups. According to the authors, this focus reflects the regional vocation, marked by competitive agribusiness and high demand for public health, positioning the region in areas of direct impact on society and global food security.

From a technological standpoint, deep tech companies in the biotechnology sector, particularly those in health and agriculture, are leading the way by taking advantage of structural advantages such as biodiversity and agribusiness.

In recent years, artificial intelligence and computing have also begun to emerge as a focus for Latin American deep techs, positioning these technologies as cross-cutting and applicable to health, agriculture, industry, and energy. This allows for productivity gains and integration into global value chains.

According to the authors, emerging areas such as quantum technologies, blockchain, and advanced chemistry and physics are still niches but represent the next waves of deep techs in the region, especially in the defense, sovereignty, and infrastructure sectors.

However, they argue that to achieve this, it will be necessary to expand academic spin-offs, attract specialized venture capital, and diversify the technological base by connecting structural vocations in areas such as energy, biodiversity, and new materials to global innovation agendas.

“There’s a lot of room for Latin America to take the global lead on these issues with technologies based on frontier science and engineering,” said Lucas Delgado, co-founder of Emerge.

The report can be accessed at emergebrasil.in/inscricao-panorama-deep-techs-2025/.