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Convexo3 Capital is structured as a trio-led search fund—something still relatively rare globally, with only a few precedents in countries like Mexico and Italy for example. Why did you choose this model, and how have potential investors reacted to it?
We chose a three-partner structure because our backgrounds, networks, and capabilities are highly complementary and allow us to operate with greater reach and speed. Although trio-led search funds remain relatively rare globally, successful precedents—such as Colca Capital in Peru, Lottus Capital in Mexico, Albatross Partners in Italy, and Elysian and Harbor Street Capital in the United States—show that, with the right team, this model can be strategic rather than unconventional.
Our decision was grounded in nearly a decade of working together across investing, commercial, and operational roles. This shared history gave us confidence that a three-partner structure would enhance our sourcing capacity and execution discipline throughout the search. Investors responded positively to this complementarity: many saw the trio structure as a way to reduce key-person risk, increase leadership depth, and strengthen our ability to manage both the search process and the future operating phase. Additionally, the fact that we have already worked together operating companies full-time gave investors sufficient confidence in our abilities and joint way of working.
The main implication of this model is the need to acquire a company with sufficient EBITDA, revenue, and organizational complexity to support three partners. Investors have generally viewed this requirement as aligned with our ambition to lead a business with multiple functions and significant operational depth. They appreciated the clarity of our role division and the strategic rationale behind the model, which reinforced their confidence in our ability to create value post-acquisition.
Your team has already worked together in high-pressure, high-growth environments at Treinta. How does this shared operating experience translate into a competitive advantage during both the search phase and the post-acquisition period?
Our experience working together at Treinta (YC W21) gives us a concrete operating advantage in both the search phase and the post-acquisition period. We joined as part of the early team and worked directly with the founders, helping build products, teams, and processes from the ground up. Together, we scaled Treinta from fewer than 40 employees in Colombia to more than 300 in Latin America, led the fundraising efforts that culminated in a USD 49 million Series A, and launched and operated multiple business lines—including SaaS, POS payments, lending, top-ups, and a B2B2C marketplace.
Unlike many search fund teams that are formed during an MBA and may not have operated together before, our partnership has been tested in real high-pressure, high-growth environments. This shared experience has shaped our ability to evaluate businesses quickly, coordinate under stress, and execute across operational, commercial, financial, and regulatory fronts. We have already learned how to manage cross-functional teams, negotiate with partners and suppliers, and implement disciplined systems for operations, performance, and compliance together, not just individually.
These capabilities translate into a competitive advantage in two ways: (i) running a more rigorous and efficient process in the search phase: faster screening, clearer deal prioritization, and better interaction with sellers, intermediaries, and advisors; (ii) positioning us to “hit the ground running” as an integrated leadership team post-acquisition, with clear trust, role clarity, and a proven way of working together—reducing execution risk and increasing the likelihood of creating value from day one.
You began the search process even before being fully funded. How did this early start influence your fundraising, shape the group of investors who ultimately joined your cap table, and help you build an initial pipeline and strategic insights during that period?
Starting the search even before being fully funded allowed us to accelerate our learning curve and enter fundraising with a stronger position. The parallel process of raising capital while activating our sourcing engine helped shape our approach early on and allowed us to engage investors with real traction rather than a purely theoretical plan. This early start strengthened our credibility, as we were able to demonstrate discipline, market understanding, and the ability to build a pipeline from day one.
By the time we completed fundraising, we had already analyzed more than 400 companies and developed a diversified pipeline across industries, sizes, and sourcing channels. Approximately 85% of our sourcing has been proprietary and 15% intermediated, resulting in over 50 targeted companies and a subset of opportunities in advanced review. Beyond volume, the early start helped us refine our sourcing philosophy: prioritizing long-term seller relationships, focusing on niche relationship brokers rather than large firms, and maintaining investment discipline by quickly disengaging from misaligned opportunities.
This early engagement also shaped our strategic perspective: we gained clarity on which niches respond best to our operator profile, where seller openness is highest, and how to position ourselves with founders considering succession. These insights, combined with early traction, contributed to securing the support of investors such as Spectra Investments, Ashford VP, Ventus CP, KYR, Colca Capital, Cinco Capital, as well as local families, UHNWIs, and experienced bankers. Ultimately, beginning the search early enabled us to build a robust, data-driven pipeline and enter the post-funding phase with significant momentum.
Given the current political climate in Colombia—marked by pessimism but also by strong institutional resilience—why do you believe this is a uniquely attractive moment to deploy a search fund strategy?
The current political climate in Colombia could be generally understood as widespread pessimism but also by robust institutional checks and balances, which results in a uniquely attractive moment to deploy a search fund strategy. Colombia sits at the southern end of the North American Diamond (a high-resilience economic corridor from the US into northern Latin America), benefiting from structural advantages such as cultural and economic proximity to the United States, regulatory alignment, relative macro stability, and a deeply entrepreneurial business ecosystem. These factors allow the country to remain dynamic even under adverse political cycles.
The timing further strengthens the opportunity. Political uncertainty has depressed sentiment from local investors and contributed to opportunistic valuations, while the underlying fundamentals of many mid-sized companies remain solid. With a likely pro-business political shift in the second half of 2026, this period creates the perfect window to acquire high-quality businesses at attractive prices and position them for substantial upside as confidence and investment flow back into the market.
This environment also aligns several structural conditions that favor a search fund: many family-owned businesses are reaching succession points, valuations are more reasonable, and the country’s institutional framework continues to provide stability despite political noise. These elements create an attractive setting for disciplined operators to professionalize companies and drive long-term value creation. In this sense, Colombia combines solid fundamentals with a favorable entry point, making the current moment particularly compelling for deploying a search fund strategy.
Your investment criteria include low leverage, recurring revenue, strong moats, and resilience in times of crisis. Which of these factors are the hardest to find in the Colombian market, and why? And based on these criteria, which industries are currently most interesting to you?
In the Colombian market, high-quality recurring revenue is one of the hardest criteria to find because the traditional search fund model is used to SaaS-like revenue structures that are common in the U.S. but far less prevalent in emerging markets. While recurring revenue does exist in Colombia, its quality often differs from what a pure SaaS player would exhibit in terms of predictability, stickiness, and churn. For example, several MSPs in the country operate with recurring contracts, yet their churn rates tend to be higher than those of typical SaaS businesses in the U.S.
Despite these differences, several industries in Colombia consistently align with the characteristics we prioritize. Sectors such as managed IT services, cybersecurity, healthcare services, diagnostics and medical supplies, and specialized B2B technical distribution tend to offer (at least) repeating revenue models, non-cyclical demand, and operational moats built on expertise, regulatory knowledge, or long-term customer relationships. These features often provide resilience even when the revenue model is not subscription-based.
Overall, while pure recurring revenue models are less common than in developed markets, companies offering mission-critical services or protected via technical complexity often exhibit the defensibility, stability, and cash-flow quality that underpin our investment criteria.
Finally, Convexo3’s investment philosophy focuses on both preserving and compounding capital through three key pillars: robustness, growth, and optionality (or convexity). These three pillars aim to build a wide margin of safety for investors by acquiring companies at attractive prices that demonstrate (1) resilience, (2) have unrecognized earnings potential & growth paths, and (3) can opportunistically capitalize on new/adjacent asymmetric opportunities (optionality). We firmly believe that margin of safety and returns increase as the target company: (i) ensures robustness and is acquired with valuation discipline, (ii) has growth opportunities that are invested with capital allocation efficiency, and (iii) makes asymmetric bets that increment its optionality and reduce risk.
Once you complete an acquisition, how do you plan to divide management responsibilities among the three of you? And how do you envision identifying and developing adjacent growth opportunities within the newly acquired company?
Once we complete an acquisition, we plan to divide responsibilities based on our backgrounds and expertise, as well as our complementary skill sets and the specific needs of the company. Our preliminary structure anticipates Ricardo taking the role of CEO, focusing on strategic leadership, finance, capital allocation, talent allocation, and performance measurement; Harold serving as COO, leading operations, product, engineering, and new initiatives; and Mateo acting as CBDO, overseeing commercial and business development efforts, as well as HR, legal, and compliance. While each role is clearly defined, we would jointly lead overall strategy, M&A, and key decisions in close partnership with the Board.
To ensure the organization can execute this structure, we plan to conduct a thorough assessment of the existing middle management during due diligence and throughout the first six months post-acquisition. Our goal is to understand how each leader’s strengths and gaps align with the company’s risks and opportunities. With Board guidance, we will reinforce areas of strength, address organizational gaps when needed, and bring in new talent to support execution and long-term value creation.
When it comes to identifying and developing adjacent growth opportunities, we intend to execute our investment philosophy from the inside. This means prioritizing first preservation of capital by increasing defensibility of current revenue/profit streams, while investing with capital allocation discipline in existing growth avenues and iterating adjacent product lines or verticals that require marginal investments but could provide asymmetric returns. By combining this framework with insights from the existing team and leveraging our experience launching products, scaling operations, and evaluating new business lines, we aim to create a disciplined roadmap for expansion that enhances both resilience and long-term growth potential.
Convexo3 Capital has a strong relationship with Cinco Capital, one of Colombia’s pioneering search funds. How has this long-standing relationship influenced your investment philosophy and operational approach?
Our close relationship with Cinco Capital stems from Ricardo’s more than five years of experience working with them across the different stages of their fund. One of Cinco Capital’s operating partners, Sebastián Pérez, has played a key role in Convexo3—providing mentorship, participating in our cap table, and serving as part of our Investment & Advisory Committee during the search phase. Upon investors’ approval, he will also be available to serve as a Board Member or Observer during the operating phase.
His guidance throughout the search period has been instrumental in improving our target-evaluation velocity, strengthening our cadence with bankers and other stakeholders, and acting as a trusted and experienced advisor during transaction negotiations and seller-relationship management. This investment committee-like structure enhances not only the speed of decision-making but also the quality of opportunities we present to our investors.
Looking ahead to the operating phase, Cinco Capital’s local expertise will provide tactical support on key operational matters and capital-allocation decisions, further reinforcing the discipline and strategic orientation behind our investment philosophy.
