SECURITAS Bioholdings SA originally named FINVEST Holdings SA, began its journey in 2000, when Luis Claudio Garcia de Souza, after a successful investment banking career at Banco BTG Pactual, created a JV with Securitas Capital, Swiss Re’s private equity arm to create innovative financial services companies with the purpose of introducing new capital market-based alternatives - such as MBS, ABS, REITs, surety bonds... - that completely revolutionized funding for the Brazilian real estate market that was totally dependent on financing by large banks.
The first start-up created was UBF Seguros, Brazil’s first surety provider sold to Swiss Re and now Swiss Re corporate Solutions Brasil. Then came, among others, RIO BRAVO Investimentos, the country’s largest REIT manager, now part of Fosun, RB CAPITAL, the country’s largest issuer of MBS that was sold to Orix and CREDIHOME, one of the country's first digital mortgage brokers & home equity lenders that was sold to Loft (see below).
Credihome, one of Brazil’s first digital mortgage brokers & home equity lenders that was sold to Loft.
UBF Seguros, Brazil’s first surety company that brought risk enhancement solutions to construction projects such as performance and completion bonds and was sold to Swiss Re
Rio Bravo Investimentos, Brazil’s largest REIT manager sold to China’s Fosun
RB Capital, (formerly called RIO BRAVO Crédito), Brazil’s largest issuer of MBS that was sold to Japan’s Orix Group
• FINVEST Specialty Finance (now Captalys), a leading structurer of asset-backed securities and credit funds (FDICs), sold to Polígono
• FINVEST DTVM, a broker dealer licensed by the Brazilian Central Bank to function as a securities distributor and fiduciary administrator of FIDCs sold to Reag
• Augme Gestora de Recursos, a specialist credit funds manager sold to XP.
• Cartão Unik/ Medcheque, acquired from Sodexho this was Brazil’s leading PBM’s (Pharmacy Benefits Manager), with a payroll linked credit card that was sold to Wex Inc.
These investments were carried out through proprietary VC fund, FINVEST Capital Partners FIP (originally called Rio Bravo Investimentos FIP), which is 70% owned by SECURITAS. In 2021, this fund was put in divestment mode for the Company to be able to focus primarily on its Biosciences activities:
In 2012, Luis Claudio decided to diversify his business to look for more technology-oriented investments and bringing a greater positive impact on people’s lives
Biosciences seemed to make sense and so, to start, Luis Claudio acquired Brazilian VC/PE fund manager Burrill Brasil Investimentos, renamed FINVEST Healthcare Gestora de Recursos Ltda (“FINHEALTH”), that had launched the first and largest local fund dedicated to “filling the gaps” of Brazilian Healthcare, investing in companies beyond seed stage with checks usually larger than those of local VC funds normally focused only in pre-seed and seed.
Also, unlike most of the other local VC funds investing in health, FINHEALTH fund’s LPs include large institutional investors like big pharmas Pfizer and Thermo Fisher, Latam official banks like the IDB, CAF and BNDES, government development agencies like FINEP and institutional investors such as Funcef.
FINHEALTH's fund built an impressive portfolio of companies in medical services (Hospital PLACI – Laboratório MENDELICS) and medical devices (LIFEMED – TIMPEL) giving Luis Claudio and team a superb investment experience in Life Sciences.
By 2015, Luis Claudio and team had concluded that the Venture Studio model was better suited for biotech than the regular VC model, particularly in Latam that lacks a fully developed eco-system with funding beyond the “seed” stage and an adequate M&A market.
As such, FINVEST Holdings, renamed SECURITAS Bioholdings SA, decided to found a Boston-based affiliate – called SECURITAS BIOsciences (“SECURITAS BIO”) to operate in a full "venture studio" model and work with both Latam-based scientists as well as American scientists. This approach involves deploying its own capital into projects validated and meticulously shepherded by SECURITAS BIO's scientific team, thereby minimizing the inherent risks associated with startups. By fostering their development internally until they achieve significant de-risking milestones, such as clinical trials, these ventures are then able to attract more capital and/or potential buyers.
SECURITAS BIO began its journey in Boston with the creation of Virtech Bio, a company originated from a concept developed by a Brazilian transplant surgeon from the University of Pittsburgh, dealing with organ preservation and regeneration which also led to the development of the most advanced human-derived HBOC platform for hemorrhagic shock when blood is not an option.
Realizing that Argentina is a top scientific hub presenting relevant cost advantages to the US while being severely under-funded, SECURITAS BIO decided to significantly expand its research operations into Argentina and established a team of 18 scientists comprising doctors, biologists, physicists, immunologists and others.
Over the past decade, SECURITAS BIO sponsored seven biotech projects that originated six startup companies under two platforms:
Virtech Bio: Advanced human-derived HBOC platform in development for hemorrhagic shock and donor organ transplants.
Spectrum: Design and development of novel biotech tools to promote liver regeneration and treat severe liver diseases.
Libera: Enhancing health by modulating communications beeen cells
Vaxinz: Development of innovative vaccines using non-replicative adenoviral vectors
Theravax: Development of advanced therapies such as recombinant viral vector technology with applications in cancer therapy and vaccines
Meton AI: Faster drug discovery and optimizationthrough intelligent drug design, integrating in-house computational methods to identify hit molecules with organic synthesis capabilities for rapid construction of candidates.
Therasigna: Development of opportunities for Precision Medicine in new medical areas such as autoimmune diseases, chronic inflammation associated pathologies, cardiovascular medicine or aging.
Additionally, SECURITAS BIO has made opportunistic investments in four more advanced-stage companies that align with its strategic focus. They are:
All of SECURITAS BIO's companies are incorporated in Delaware whereas some of its personnel may reside in countries such as Argentina. This affords SECURITAS BIO an enormous cost advantage as compared to an all Boston-based operation, without any significant loss of quality, while keeping its closeness to the world's most developed biotech eco-system.
In 2024, SECURITAS began to turn its attention to Brazil deciding to (1) take advantage of the country’s still vigorous program of government grants and facilitated credit lines by special agencies and development banks to try to make up for the limited funding made available by local VC funds and to (2) expand its focus to climate change-related bio opportunities.
As such, in 2024, SECURITAS created a new affiliate - Bravo AgBio - to focus on the agro-biotechnology sector, where Brazil is a global leader, and also turned to low-cost solutions for Global South countries, usually ignored by large pharmas due to lower margins.
In 2025, SECURITAS acquired an interest of close to 20% in Aurea FINVEST, a top engineering and real estate advisory firm, co-founded by Luis Claudio, focusing on decarbonization and energy efficiency, that started developing large Data Centers. The company also signed a cooperation agreement with MIT' to create MIT FINVEST Climate Change and Real Estate Research Fund that began investigating innovative decarbonization products and energy efficient systems while exploring the synergies with life sciences.
As a platform company focused in biosciences, decarbonization and energy efficiency, SECURITAS operates/coordinates a hub of companies, with a similar focus and basically composed of its affiliates and also including its business partners that support each other and make it easier for them to full-fill their mission and achieve their purposes.
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