Plese advise on my profile and on the choice of evidence I have selected to provide

Stage 1
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Hi, Everyone,

First, thank you for creating this community and for the wonderful advice you provide.

I have been collecting references, reading the posts here and gathering evidence for my application for the Tech Nation Global Talent Visa. I seem to have more pieces of evidence to demonstrate I meet the eligibility criteria than the ten documents in total that is the limit established in the Tech Nation Visa Guide. I am in doubt which evidence is the strongest to the eyes of the appraisal board. I particularly don´t know how I should evidence financing history in the case of investments or funds in my case for OC3. My OC3 evidence relates to business ownership. For the last 3 years I have been conducting direct investments in digital technology startups in the UK and internationally through various SPVs and, as a consequence, I have well over 10 documents in total to support my statement regarding my previous and future impact on the UK digital technology sector. Furthermore, I can provide other evidence of participation in international events, for example. I would very much appreciate your advice on my profile and on the choice of evidence I have selected to provide.

My career history

I have over 20 years of experience in Venture Capital, Private Equity and Merger & Acquisition, having managed a +£ 1 billion Private Equity investment fund and £80 million Corporate Venture Capital fund at one of the world’s largest investment banks (participation in 3 IPOs, being 1 as board member of the listed company). I led the creation of the Corporate Venture Capital arm of the retail bank that acquired HSBC in Brazil, where I am from. I am currently the Managing and Investment partner of [Capital Lab Ventures], a VC firm from Brazil where I currently manage ~£42 million of venture capital investments through allocation in VC funds and direct investment in startups from the UK, USA, Israel, Europe and Latin America.

My contribution to the UK

I want to contribute to the UK digital technology sector by internationalising the activities of my Venture Capital firm by opening a fund management company in the UK and growing our global investment activity from London. While I have been co-investing in UK startups with some of the leading VC funds in the UK and the British Business Banks’ investment facilities, I plan to grow my investment firm from London and launch the first UK-based venture capital fund focused on deep-tech cross-border investments between the UK and the Latin American region.

I believe the UK digital technology sector will benefit greatly, not only by increasing the pool of capital flowing from an underserved region in terms of venture capital exposure to UK startups, but also by providing company building, business growth and capital market expertise to support the international growth and value appreciation of UK product-led digital technology companies that are part of my firm’s investment portfolio. This will, off course, create a virtuous cycle effect in the digital technology sector in the UK with very tangible positive direct impact to the digital economy in the UK. Through the VC investments I lead, I plan to bring additional smart capital, business, and financial expertise to generate new job opportunities in the UK digital industry, create incentives for the local digital talent to grow global, support successful investment exits in some of the world’s largest and most liquid markets, generate positive returns to founders, startups, employees, corporates, partners, researchers, and investors.

Recommendation Letters

  • Investing partner and LP relations at a leading London-based Venture Capital firm - supporting the evidence about my work and as a leading talent as a VC manager with a level of expertise in Venture Capital and digital technology investment with international recognition. This letter attests to the direct investments I made in a UK startup and in a UK leading deep-tech venture capital fund and to which I attracted additional capital from international Limited Partners (Mandatory evidence)
  • Head of Innovation of a leading UK government-backed accelerator - supporting my work beyond my occupation as a mentor and as part of a judging panel of an organised leading UK startup accelerator in 2021 and 2022 that contributes to the advancement of the field in the UK (OC2)
  • CEO and founder of AI, Big Data and Data analytics product-lead startup where I served as board member from July 2017 to Set 2018 – attesting the contribution I made to the early-stages and business growth of the digital tech company. The company is now finalising the preparations of its IPO (through a SPAC) in Nasdaq (OC3).

Mandatory Evidence

I have led the growth of a VC firm that invests in product-led digital technology early-stage deep-tech companies. I lead every aspect of the VC firm including the team, fundraising process, the definition of our investment thesis, design, and structure of our funds, recruiting, deal sourcing, investment analysis, valuation, startup monitoring, reporting, investors relations, investment exits, establishment of internal processes and policies, and regulatory requirements.

as evidenced by:

  • News clippings
    • DOCUMENT 1: News clippings in Portuguese (translated to English) – Title: “Vanessa Viana: a trailblazer for women in the financial market”, 07.12.2021 – UOL - 103.6 million unique users (Available online)
    • DOCUMENT 2: News clippings in Portuguese (translated to English) – Title: “Brazilian investment firm in London launches US$ 100 million fund to invest in start-ups abroad – 15.10.2020 - O GLOBO – The largest media news group in Brazil with an average of 27.6 million unique visitors over the last 12 months according to Comscore (Available online)
    • DOCUMENT 3: News clippings in English - Title: “With a US$ 100 million fund, Capital Lab seeks to drive Latin America’s technological rise”, 31.10.2021 (Available online)

The mandatory evidence is backed-up by reference letter 1 from leading VC industry expert, partner and investor in the UK describing my work

I have evidence of speaking at high-profile digital technology sector events, or specialist events for the Venture Capital field in the digital technology sector,

as evidenced by:

as evidenced by:

the award itself – I received a Chevening Award in June 2018 to study for MSc in Management of Information Systems and Digital Innovation at the London School of Economics and Political Science from where I graduated with Distinction on 13 November 2019.

Due to limitations in the number of documents, I may not be able to upload a copy of the Final Award Letter and the LSE Diploma attesting my Distinction in my MSc in Information Systems and Digital Innovation. I will, off course, mention in my personal statement and in my resumé.

Do you recommend I include these documents?

OC 2 - proof of recognition for work beyond the applicant’s occupation that contributes to the advancement of the field

Evidence of mentorship and participation in a startup judging panel for activity outside my organisation or normal course of work duties and that are not part of any commercial arrangement. My mentorship has been on behalf of a structured programme with selection criteria by a UK government-backed accelerator with the objective to strengthen the UK digital technology sector and its startups in a strategic agenda to develop the tech industry in the UK. I can demonstrate a consistent track record of mentoring and have received recognition for my personal contribution. I have been a senior mentor alongside other mentors at a top-tier UK government-backed accelerator as evidenced by the publicity material of the events and by emails from the leading executives from the organising body of the programmes.

  • DOCUMENT 5: Email by the Digital Catapult´s Investor Engagement Manager reading: On behalf of the CEO of Digital Catapult, I am delighted to invite you to join the Digital Catapult Awards 2021 judging panel
  • DOCUMENT 6: News article startup magazine where my name features in the list of judges of the Digital Catapult Award 2021 (Available at: https://startupsmagazine.co.uk/article-six-tech-startups-watch-2022)
  • DOCUMENT 7: Scanned copy of the Digital Catapult´s Future Scope Showcase Net Zero Booklet - held from 22-23 March 2022 (Collage of scanned Page 1 - describing the showcase, Page 7 showing the description of specialist expertise world-class business mentorship, and 2 pages showing my photo and name as an investment mentor). Include in the PDF the reference that this information is also available at the Digital Catapult’s Webpage – “who is involved” - Shows my photo and bio as a mentor of the Future Scope Net Zero Programme (Available online)

The OC2 evidence is backed-up by reference letter 1 from the Head of Innovation of the accelerator, describing my contribution to the digital technology field in the UK beyond my work.

OC3 – Proof that I have made significant commercial or entrepreneurial contributions to the field as a senior executive, board member and investor of a VC firm that invests in product-led digital technology startups

Please note that the term ‘significant contribution’ in this criteria requires you to demonstrate impact.

I lead as Managing and Investment Partner the growth of [Capital Lab Ventures], a Venture Capital firm that invests in early-stage product-led digital technology deep-tech startups. I am directly in charge of every aspect of the VC firm’s mandate, including influencing investment and strategy, delivering investment funds internationally, and leading an international investment team located in offices in São Paulo (Brazil), New York (USA) and soon to be in London (UK), from where we want to grow our global investment firm.

as evidenced by:

News clippings

  • DOCUMENT 8: News clippings in Portuguese (translated to English) – Title: “Capital Lab Ventures negotiates investment in retail credit FaaS; focus of the manager’s new fund is to create ‘mini-multinationals’ 11/06/2021 (Available online)

  • DOCUMENT 9: Proof of investment in UK VC Fund (same as Recommendation Letter 1 above) - Capital Lab Ventures (UK Tech I) LLP – Limited Liability Partnership Agreement – Company House registered number OC439848 - Page 1 (name of the LLP and reference to schedule 2 - members list), Page 23 (my name shows in the Schedule 2), page 20 (my name shows as Designated Member, Authorised Representative, Authorised Bank Signatory)

  • DOCUMENT 10: Proof of investment in UK 5G Edge Cloud Computing startup (also backed up by Recommendation Letter 1)- Capital Lab Ventures Smart Cities I - LLP Agreement – Company House registered number OC435183 - Page 1 (name and refers to schedule 2 - members list), Page 23 (my name shows in the Schedule 2), page 19 (my name shows as Designated Member and Authorised Representative)

  • Do you have any recommendation regarding documents 9 and 10 to support the financial history of investment in UK startup and UK VC fund?

The OC3 evidence is also backed-up by reference letter 3 from the CEO and founder of a product-led digital technology company attesting to my contribution to the growth of the company as a board member.

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Vanessa, how did your application go?