The new venture company aims to prove that the ideas of the most successful startups do not need to be born or expanded in Silicon Valley.
A global early stage fund, Fluent Ventures replicates proven business models from the Western markets of FinTech, digital health and commercial across emerging markets. More ironically, we might describe this as a clone factory, but founder and managing partner Alexandre Lazarow calls the company's strategy “geographical alpha.”
The premise of Fluent is that many of the world's most valuable startups are not entirely new concepts that have never been tried before, but rather more easily local adaptations of models that have already been successful elsewhere.
Founded in 2023, the San Francisco-based company deploys $40 million in structured co-invested vehicles with funds, incubators and limited partners. From the previous seed to Series A, I have written initial checks of $250,000 to $2 million and will invest between 22 and 25.
“We are the opponents in our hearts,” said Lazarow, who previously invested in the Omidyar Network and Cathay Innovation. “We believe that the world's finest innovation is not the exclusive scope of Silicon Valley.”
Fluent doesn't work accurately in bubbles. Over the past decade, we have seen large-scale decentralization in the technology industry. In 2013, only four cities produced unicorns. Today, that number is over 150.
And it's behind the rinsing and repetition, and many of the top tech players in emerging markets reflect successful startups built elsewhere, such as e-commerce Amazon clones, payment stripe clones, and fintech neo-banking apps. The first breakout neobank was Tinkov from Russia. “The movement has expanded globally. [it] Lazareau said:
Lazarow claims it's not just about copying fluent.
“In our opinion, it rarely works. Local adaptation is important,” he said.
The company points out that it will be a ride as an example. Uber may have pioneered this category, but in Indonesia, Go-Jek localized it by incorporating similar motorcycle taxi and super app features to China's WeChat. Now, Uber Eats is essentially following its evolution, Lazarow argues.
At that point, Fluent Ventures is a screen of local product market fit and founder market alignment, in addition to finding adapted models.
The company passed several construction markets around the world, but supported Saudi Arabia's BRKZ, a localized take on India's infrastructure market. The former Careem executive founder was a strong operator in a region where infrastructure demand is surged, Lazarow noted.
Lazarow says that despite being called a global fund in itself, Fluent doesn't aim for equal allocation across all geography. Instead, it deepens in the most likely region. Currently, it means it focuses on Latin America, Mena, Africa, Southeast Asia and the selective US market.
The current portfolio includes Minu, a wellness platform for Mexican employees. Russ, Nigerian B2B commerce startup. Prima is an industrial market based in Brazil. Baton is SMBS's US M&A platform.
The company says these companies have raised multiple follow-on rounds since their early checks on Fluent. Collectively, startups from Lazarow's previous and current portfolio have generated over $30 billion in corporate value and reached seven unicorn status.
Skeptics are still questioning the exit landscape of emerging markets, especially with rising ratings in these markets and with more unicorns than they did a decade ago. But fluent is looking at building momentum. IPOS from startups such as Nubank, Uipath, Swiggy and Talabat have proven that global outcomes could emerge outside of the US and Europe. And it proves that, like Nubank and Uipath, those companies can still be made public in the US if they choose.
“The exit markets are also mature in these regions,” says Lazalow. “New and secondary companies are on the rise. The stock market is trying to build a local listing function. Yes, the US is developing more IPOs and M&A markets. But under the hood, some of the largest and most profitable exits are already happening outside.”
Fluent has also built a different kind of network, centering on the types of founders they invest in. More than 75 unicorn founders and VCS, including David Vélez (Nubank), Nick Nash (Sea Group), Akshay Garg (Kredivo) and Sean Harper (Kin), support the fund, lining up facilities LPS and family offices around the world. According to Lazarow, many are active contributors, supporting portfolio companies with talent, fundraising and expansion.
The company also relies on a small group of venture partners from Zenbusiness, Terminal, Kin, and Dell, bringing both sector depth and geographic reach.
In a world where venture capital may be rethinking overexposure to the US and China, Fluent believes that its approach will provide LPS what a few companies can do: diversification.
“We believe that the best ideas come from anywhere and scale everywhere,” says a partner whose company claims to spot Kaufman Fellows' top returner index, thanks to previous personal interests from Chime, Zenbusiness and Sidecar Health.
Other global VCs focusing on emerging markets include Accion Venture Lab, Alter Global, Endeavor Catalyst, Florish Ventures, Global Ventures, Quona Capital and SpeedInvest.