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With more than 15 years of experience investing in the Brazilian market and helping create value across a range of medium-sized companies, longtime friends Gustavo Bento and Luca Bamberg have joined forces to launch Aestra Capital. They have secured the backing of 10 investors from Brazil, the United States, Mexico, Spain, and South Africa, including Spectra Investments, Kanoa, KYR Capital, Kviv Ventures, Ambit Partners, Vonzeo Capital, Cerralvo Capital, Kinderhook Partners, The Cromwell Harbor, and Gabriel Ronacher.
Gustavo Bento is an investment professional with extensive experience in private equity, venture investments, and M&A across the technology, financial services, software, healthcare, and consumer sectors. A graduate in Business Administration from FGV EAESP, Gustavo has held leadership roles at Pátria Investimentos, Norte Asset Management, Stone, and Treecorp & Ademicon, where he led investments in high-growth companies in Brazil and the United States. He also founded and served as CEO of M-Scope, a health technology startup, gaining firsthand entrepreneurial experience in product development, software, sales, and team management. Earlier in his career, he worked at Roland Berger, advising clients on strategy and operational transformation projects.
Luca Bamberg is a business executive and entrepreneur with extensive experience in scaling technology businesses, leading strategic growth initiatives, and executing M&A transactions. He holds an Executive MBA from IESE Business School. Luca spent more than a decade at Stone, where he became a partner and held several leadership positions across Partnerships, Retail, Middle Market, and Credit. Most recently, as Head of New Business and Software, he was responsible for the P&L of Stone’s software portfolio, defining value creation strategies and leading M&A initiatives. Prior to Stone, Luca founded and served as CEO of two technology startups in the streaming sector, building innovative platforms for construction management and amateur sports.
Aestra Capital is seeking to acquire an established Brazilian company with annual revenue between R$40M and R$300M, operating in attractive, high-growth industries with multiple expansion opportunities. The firm prioritizes businesses with recurring or highly predictable revenue, consistent growth, operating margins above 15%, and strong cash conversion. Ideal target companies have diversified customer and supplier bases, reducing concentration risk and enhancing resilience. Aestra’s preferred sectors include Financial Services, Software & IT, B2B Services, Healthcare, Education, Industrials, and Distribution.
