Redpoint eVentures launches to help budding Brazilian tech industry

Redpoint Ventures and BV Capital eVentures announced today that they are teaming up to launch the oh-so-cleverly named Redpoint eVentures, a new venture capital fund for Brazil’s tech industry.

The firm is based in Sao Paulo, Brazil and will back Brazilian Internet companies with a focus on e-commerce, mobile, and cloud services. Founding partners Yann de Vries and Anderson Thees hope to bring their Silicon Valley expertise to Brazil and offer guidance, financing, and partnerships to startups in Brazil.

Redpoint eVentures has already funded three startups, Viajanet, a travel site; Grupo Xango, a cloud computing service; and Shoes4you, a women’s fashion and footwear site.

Starting a company in Brazil can be a huge undertaking. There is a lot of bureaucratic red tape to cut through and the process of founding a business can take months. Startups and the VCs that invest in them don’t have a ton of professionals, such as lawyers and accountants, to rely on, because the country is lacking them.

Despite the tough entrepreneurial conditions, Brazil is becoming a burgeoning tech startup hot spot. Its economy is large and the population of Internet users is growing. Startups are popping up quickly and gaining a lot of traction. In fact, Peixe Urbano, a daily deals site out of Brazil, won a 2011 Crunchies Award for Best International startup. The company has millions of users and raised several rounds of funding from Benchmark Capital, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, and other VCs.

Redpoint and BV Capital eVentures’ portfolios include well-known Silicon Valley tech companies such as Groupon, Angie’s List, and Netflix. This is eVentures’ fourth international fund, following funds for Europe, Russia, and Asia.