Spain-headquartered telecommunications firm Telefónica has appointed Wana Schulze and Ivan Yoon as co-heads of corporate venture capital investments for its Wayra Brasil and Vivo Ventures subsidiaries.
Both Schulze and Yoon are based in the Brazilian city of São Paulo, where seed-stage arm Wayra Brasil and early-stage CVC fund Vivo Ventures are located. Both units are led by Global Corporate Venturing Emerging Leader Gabriela Toribio.
Schulze and Yoon will lead deal sourcing, investment thesis formulation and process development teams.
“Wana Schulze and I will be working with both Wayra Brasil and Vivo Ventures and we will be focusing on different areas,” Yoon said in a LinkedIn post. “While I will target fintech, edtech and smart homes, she will lead healthtech, energytech and deeptech startups.” (Translated from Portuguese by GCV)
Wayra Brasil had been operating for more than a decade making seed-stage investments when Telefónica launched a more strategic, series A and B-stage-focused Vivo Ventures in April 2022 with R$320m ($65m) in capital and the same team.
Yoon had come from an extensive corporate venturing background, having spent time at financial services provider Banco BV for more than two years from 2021, having also worked on M&A and business incubation at building materials manufacturer Duratex for nearly five years.
Schulze, on the other hand, was an investor at retailtech-oriented venture capital firm HiPartners Capital&Work for nearly two years from late 2021, after stints at companies including consultancy McKinsey & Company and banking firm Unibanco.
“The arrival of Wana and Ivan is essential for the development of new investments for both Wayra and Vivo Ventures,” Toribio was quoted as saying by Startups.com.br. “Our mission is to have an increasingly robust portfolio.” (Translated by GCV)
