People
Our team is composed of passionate scientists, forward-thinking executives committed to the cause and shareholders with a successful track record.
CEO & Founder
Bernardo Strassburg
Founder and Executive Director of the International institute for Sustainability, Professor at PUC-Rio.
Co-developed Brazil’s National Restoration Plan, is a Scientific Board Member of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration; Led the development of the new global restoration target for the UN CBD and associated global priority regions for restoration.
Thiago Picolo
Has led multiple private-equity backed companies in Brazil. Previously served as CEO of Hortifruti Natural da Terra, Brazil’s largest fresh food retailer, Grupo Technos, the country’s largest watch manufacturer, and Submarino Finance, an early fintech company directed towards consumer finance. Thiago started his career in finance, at Morgan Stanley and GP Investiments.
Co-Founders
Marcelo Medeiros
Founding partner at Lanx Capital, with a successful track record leading three private equity firms, including Cambuhy Investimentos in 2011. Member of the Board of Directors of Votorantim S.A, Eneva S.A and Alpargatas S.A, Marcelo was also a partner at Banco Garantia and served and managing director at Credit Suisse.
João Moreira Salles
João is a documentary filmmaker and president of Instituto Moreira Salles. In 2006 he created revista piauí, where he serves as one of its editors. He has also taught at PUC-Rio and Princeton University.
Marcelo Barbará
Founding partner of two investment companies Lanx Capital and Cambuhy Investimentos, with investments spanning across public/private companies, venture capital, startups and real state. Previously, Marcelo was a partner at Banco Garantia, and served as managing director and head of fixed income for Latin America at Credit Suisse.
Ricardo Rodrigues
Full professor of the biological science department at ESALQ/USP, is a Board member of some of the leading environment and restoration organizations in Brazil with more than 30 years of experience in restoration. Ricardo has the largest track record in Brazil’s forest restoration (25k +ha) and operates a premier nursery of tropical trees in Brazil.
Team
Renata Barbieri
she led digital and corporate/cultural transformation projects (JV and M&A). Graduated in Business Administration (UFRJ) and Law (UNIRIO), with specialization at HBS.
Mauricio Penteado
With over 20 years of experience as an executive in renowned pulp & paper companies and 8 years in forest fund investments, Mauricio has leaded strategic decisions, site identification, operations and M&As. Mauricio is a former COO of Suzano, has managed operations in over 600k hectares of planted forest and the planting of 100k ha per year.
Mariana Barbosa
Mariana holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law from PUC/SP, and a Master’s degree from the University of California – Berkeley (LL.M) and the School of Environmental Management at the University of Oxford (MSc in Environmental Change and Management). She has worked in the Environmental area of some of the largest law firms in Brazil, working on carbon projects, forestry projects, agricultural projects, as well as complex processes to repair socio-environmental impacts, among other topics related to the use of natural resources and environmental protection.
Ricardo Rodrigues
Full professor of the biological science department at ESALQ/USP, is a Board member of some of the leading environment and restoration organizations in Brazil with more than 30 years of experience in restoration. Ricardo has the largest track record in Brazil’s forest restoration (25k +ha) and operates a premier nursery of tropical trees in Brazil.
Ana Luiza Squadri
Ana joined Principia Capital Partners in February 2021, where she serves as a partner. She currently serves on the board of directors of Cellera Farma having previously served on the board of directors in industries such as education, digital marketing, healthcare, animal nutrition and retail. Previously, she has worked for H.I.G. Capital, and for Grupo Icatu, in the illiquid strategies group.
Fernando Visser
Fernando Visser is a seasoned international business development and innovation executive with over 13 years of experience in consulting, infrastructure, and retail across Latin America and Europe. Transitioning from corporate finance/M&A, Fernando has led diverse teams on capital-intensive projects. Fernando is now the Director of Technology and Innovation.
Roberto Waack
Researchers
Fabiano Farah
Fernando Gardon
Fernando has a background in monitoring ecosystems under restoration and the resulting outcomes, especially carbon ecosystem services.
Previously developed research aiming to understand how the ecological restoration of degraded lands can provide co-benefits by contributing to hydrological processes, landscape connectivity, biodiversity conservation, and carbon sequestration.
Pedro Brancalion
Associate professor of tropical forestry at ESALQ/USP. Pedro coordinates large research and technology projects to develop cost-effective solutions to conserve and restore tropical forests, based on interdisciplinary research and co-production of knowledge with multiple stakeholders. He was included amongst the 20 academics of Brazil that received the 2021 Highly Cited Researcher award.
Sara Mortara
Experience in spatial and ecological modeling both in theoretical and applied fields. Previously have worked as a researcher in the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden and the International Institute for Sustainability. Sara is na R programmer and active member of the R users’ community working on diversity initiatives to empower underrepresented groups.
Alvaro Iribarrem
Co-author of a number of research papers on the landscape impacts of restoration. He was the lead designer of Plangea, a software platform currently being used in the negotiations of the targets for the next decade of the Convention on Biological Diversity of the United Nations. Alvaro studied Physics at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, having worked previously as an associate researcher at IIASA, developing scenarios for the intensification of cattle-ranching in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil.
Board
Marcelo Medeiros
Founding partner at Lanx Capital, with a successful track record leading three private equity firms, including Cambuhy Investimentos in 2011. Member of the Board of Directors of Votorantim S.A, Eneva S.A and Alpargatas S.A, Marcelo was also a partner at Banco Garantia and served and managing director at Credit Suisse.
Ilona Szabó
Ilona Szabó de Carvalho, co-founder and president of the Igarapé Institute, is a global thought leader shaping public, digital, and climate security policies. Serving on influential boards and co-chairing the Global Future Council, she was Executive-Secretary of the Global Commission on Drug Policy. With a master’s from Uppsala University, Ilona is a columnist, TED speaker, and author, recognized as a Young Global Leader. In 2023, she received the Bertha Lutz Diploma, showcasing her notable contributions to climate change initiatives.
Arminio Fraga
Arminio is a founder of Gávea Investimentos, and Co-CIO of Hedge Funds and Private Equity. Prior to founding Gávea, Mr. Fraga served as Governor of Brazil’s Central Bank, from 1999 to 2002, and worked in various leadership positions at Soros Fund Management, Salomon Brothers and Banco Garantia. Mr. Fraga is a professor of Economics at Columbia, Wharton, PUC-Rio and FGV-Rio, and currently is a member of the Group of Thirty and the Council on Foreign Relations.
Bernardo Strassburg
Founder and Executive Director of the International institute for Sustainability, Professor at PUC-Rio. Co-developed Brazil’s National Restoration Plan, is a Scientific Board Member of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration; Led the development of the new global restoration target for the UN CBD and associated global priority regions for restoration.
João Moreira Salles
João is a documentary filmmaker and president of Instituto Moreira Salles. In 2006 he created revista piauí, where he serves as one of its editors. He has also taught at PUC-Rio and Princeton University.
Marcelo Barbará
Founding partner of two investment companies Lanx Capital and Cambuhy Investimentos, with investments spanning across public/private companies, venture capital, startups and real state. Previously, Marcelo was a partner at Banco Garantia, and served as managing director and head of fixed income for Latin America at Credit Suisse.
Battle-tested private equity investors
Lanx Capital
BW Capital Partners
Gávea Investimentos
Principia Capital Partners
Dynamo Gestora de Recursos