Putting the data behind the vibes: Reciprocal on climate investment in Latin America

Latin America only receives 0.35% of global climate venture capital, in spite of its vibrant and talented entrepreneurial landscape and importance in decarbonization. Part of the problem is a dynamic in which local funds and investors look overseas for opportunities, while local start-ups are overlooked. And when companies scale, it tends to be international investors who come in. 

Reciprocal wants to change that by launching their Climate Edge Dialogues in Chile, Brazil, and Mexico to connect people together to advance climate innovation across Latin America.

1. What are the LatAm Climate Edge Dialogues? And what changes for a founder or an investor who comes — what do they walk away with?

Dani: The Dialogues are a curated convening that bring together scientists, entrepreneurs, investors, regulators, and corporate across Latin America who can shape the future of a particular innovation opportunity. We hope that they will realize that they’re a community of practice. They should look around the room and think: ‘These are my people. If I care about this topic, these are the people I need to be connecting with, talking to, learning from.’

Secondly, we hope that people leave with their belief system a little shaken and that they learn something new and challenge an assumption they had. 

Ben: Researchers and startups already working in that space should leave feeling inspired to pursue an idea they already have, or else pivot their solution to make sure they can address the challenges raised through the conversation.

2: Who is Reciprocal, and why are you the right organization to do this?

Dani: Reciprocal is a venture platform investing in Latin America’s most impactful climate & nature startups. We believe LatAm is the best climate investment the world hasn’t made yet, and we’re working to change that.

Our team has Latin American roots with a global mindset. We’re ex-founders who’ve spent our careers focused on climate and sustainability, and we work with our portfolio companies with that hands-on, operator mindset. 

3: What happens after the event?

Ben: After each dialogue we’ll publish a white paper. We’ll capture the perspectives discussed and we’ll distill that into an executive document that dives deep into that problem space. We’ve found it’s most valuable to invite people to 1-1 meetings and share the results and the key takeaways.

4. Where will the Dialogues be, and what will they focus on?

Dani: The first one will be in Santiago, timed with one of LatAm’s largest entrepreneurship events, which is called ETM. This will one be focused on Critical Minerals. That spans the broader ecosystem of technologies, industries, capital flows, and policies required to sustainably supply the minerals that underpin the energy transition. 

This will be followed by an event in Mexico by December 2026, focused on Decarbonized Manufacturing. Industrial production is the heart of Mexico’s economy and we’ll look at how we could cut its footprint, from energy sources to the sources of materials themselves. 

Finally, we’ll host our third dialogue in Brazil, around Q2 2027, focused on New Energies: spanning renewables, biofuels, biomass, hydropower, and the infrastructure, feedstocks, and technologies behind them. We’ll identify where Brazil can build a durable advantage on top of one of the cleanest grids in the world.

All these topics are intentionally provocative. A lot of people see these industries as intrinsically bad: mining in Chile causes environmental devastation, and energy development in Brazil can create significant environmental and social impacts. But we need minerals, we need manufacturing, and we need energy no matter what. So how are we going to improve them?

5: Why did you decide that these dialogues need to exist?

Dani: In Latin America, we need to put the data behind the vibes. People want to support climate entrepreneurship and sustainability, they feel a pull towards the region because of the Amazon and Patagonia.

But when it comes to thinking about how and where to invest, there are all these data gaps. Who should I talk to? What are the numbers?

With the community of practice and the white paper published afterwards, we want to turn the lights on for people who want to support climate innovation but don’t know how or where to start.

It’s not about the number of people in a room, but the right people. If you facilitate that right and they get to know each other, imagine the possibilities!

6: The bottleneck is not necessarily motivation; the interest is there. But why does only 0.35% of global climate venture capital go to Latin America then?

Ben: Fragmentation is a huge issue. Local money goes elsewhere because investors think it’s safer, or there are more opportunities to invest in the U.S., for example. International capital doesn’t see the opportunities because they don’t make it out of those regional siloes.

The divide between Brazil and the rest of the region is notable. But even within Spanish-speaking Latin America, there’s a pretty big gap between the innovation ecosystem in Chile, Mexico, Colombia, and so on.

The Dialogues are designed to fix some of those issues by increasing visibility, changing narratives, and making that public.

Within the 50 people we’ll invite, for example, we hope someone in industry sees someone from the region working on a technical solution. Then the white paper is disseminated with a narrative that helps an international investor engage and understand. That’s how we want to change the status quo.

7: What would a “great” Dialogue look like—what moments or outcomes would make you say it worked?

Ben: We hope people feel excited by it. The goal is to stimulate investments afterwards. For example: there was an announcement of a Chilean climate VC that invested in a critical minerals company after an introduction we made at an event that we did in San Francisco. 

We published our Latin American and Caribbean Edge report last September. In May, a couple of months later, we heard a family office is using the report to craft their LATAM climate strategy. They told us: “Every time I look at a LATAM deal, I reference your report to see what you guys said about it.”

When we publish these reports, we hope they become the lighthouses that illuminate particular spaces.

8: Is there a lot of foreign investment into Latin America, rather than local investors investing in the region?

Dani: Yes, it’s sometimes easier for people to accept European investment rather than local investment. There’s behaviors, biases and market forces that create that.

Founder-problem fit matters enormously here. If you’re in Latin America, you’re more likely to be disproportionally impacted by climate or sustainability challenges. You’re so close to the problem that you are in the best position to do something about it.

A lot of Latin American funds look to invest abroad rather than invest in a local start-up. The hypothesis we’re testing is: Can local funds and LPs see the value of investing in the solutions created in their own backyards?

It’s not like foreign investment should stop, because we’re working with breadcrumbs already. We need to grow the pie. But the fact that it’s mostly made up of overseas investment means that when value is created, it’s already captured.

9: What will CarbonFix’s grant make possible?

Ben: The dialogues wouldn’t happen without you. 

Dani: What’s great is that when investors such as CarbonFix and Breakthrough and Blink come in and say that you’re investing in LatAm, a lot of local players are hopefully going to follow.

10: What kind of social, cultural, and political momentum do you need to have impact?

Dani: There’s a cultural shift needed around geographic silos. We share culture and language across the region, and that’s a strength we should leverage. Helping people realize that someone in Colombia has a clear pathway to Brazil, Mexico, Central America and beyond, would change a lot. 

Latin Americans need to invest in our own backyard with much more conviction, especially on the asset manager side. The distribution between international and regional capital is one of the biggest opportunities I see. We’ll always need international capital, especially as companies scale globally, but there’s a gap that only local investors are well positioned to fill, if they look closer to home.

Why does so much local money go abroad while foreign money flows in? There’s a missing channel there, and we hope the Dialogues surface an answer.