Fluent Ventures backs replicated startup models in emerging markets

A new venture firm aims to prove that the most successful startup ideas don’t have to be born or scaled in Silicon Valley. Fluent Ventures, a global early-stage fund, is backing founders replicating proven business models from Western markets in fintech, digital health, and commerce across emerging markets. The more cynical might describe this as a clone factory, but founder and managing partner Alexandre Lazarow calls the firm’s strategy “geographic alpha.” Fluent’s premise is that many of the world’s most valuable startups are not entirely new concepts that haven’t been tried before, but more simply, local adaptations of models that have already succeeded elsewhere. The San Francisco-based firm, founded in 2023, is deploying $40 million across a fund, an incubator, and a structured co-investment vehicle with limited partners. It is writing initial checks of $250,000 to $2 million, from pre-seed to Series A, and plans to make 22-25 investments, with follow-ons. “We are contrarians ... Read full article.