Yuri Danilchenko

Background

Yuri Danilchenko is a Russian-born technology executive, startup co-founder, and venture partner at Latitud, a pre-seed venture fund and startup infrastructure platform for Latin America ¹². He grew up in Russia, where he displayed early entrepreneurial instincts — selling cell phones for pocket money at age 13 and repairing computers for friends despite not owning one himself ³⁴.

Danilchenko moved to the United States to attend Northern Kentucky University, where he earned a B.S. in Computer Science (2006-2008) and an M.S. in Computer Science with a focus on artificial intelligence (2009-2011) ⁵⁶. During his master’s program, he co-authored academic research on automated code generation using case-based reasoning, routine design, and template-based programming, published in collaboration with Professor Richard Fox ⁷. While at university, he worked as an Application Developer at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (2008-2011) ⁵.

After graduating, Danilchenko moved to Brazil, where he joined UNEAR as a Software Development Coordinator (2011-2013) before being promoted to General Manager of Product and Engineering (2013-2016) ²⁵. He then co-founded Vemos (2016-2018), a telecommunications startup that aimed to make the phone bill market more equitable by helping users save up to 70% on their bills ⁴⁸. Vemos later dissolved ³.

Danilchenko subsequently served as CTO at Escale Digital (2018-2020), a customer acquisition platform in São Paulo backed by Kaszek Ventures, GFC (Rocket Internet), QED Investors, and Invus Opportunities, which raised $22.6 million ¹⁵⁹. At Escale, he sat on the board and built a diverse tech team of over 60 software and data engineers, product managers, and designers, with more than 35% women representation ¹¹⁰.

In 2020, Danilchenko co-founded Latitud alongside Brian Requarth (former CEO of VivaReal, which sold for approximately $600 million) and Gina Gotthilf (former VP of Growth at Duolingo) ³¹¹¹². He initially served as CTO of Latitud (2020-2024), building the platform’s technology infrastructure, before transitioning to the role of Co-Founder and Venture Partner in 2024 ²⁵. In 2024, he also co-founded Camu, an AI-powered company automating indirect tax compliance processes in Brazil, where he currently serves as CEO ⁵¹³¹⁴. Camu is backed by Canary, a Brazilian venture capital firm ¹⁴.

Stated Thesis

Self-reported. On his NFX Signal profile, Danilchenko lists his investing focus across Enterprise (Series A and Seed) and Consumer Internet (Series A and Seed) categories, with a check size range of $100,000 to $5,000,000 and a target investment of $2,500,000 ¹⁵.

Through Latitud Ventures, which Danilchenko co-founded, the fund focuses on leading pre-seed rounds in Latin American technology startups, with an average check size of approximately $250,000 for roughly 5% ownership ¹⁶¹⁷. The fund’s stated areas of interest include fintech (infrastructure, payments, embedded lending), vertical SaaS, healthtech, marketplaces, e-commerce enablers, and proptech ¹⁶.

Danilchenko has publicly stated: “I firmly believe that entrepreneurship is a vehicle for economic progress and social mobility” ¹⁸. He has described the Latin American startup landscape as one where “founders in LATAM have moved past the stage of replicating US/EU models and are now tackling problems specific and relevant to the region” ¹⁹.

On early-stage investing, he has written: “Early-stage investing is nothing like stock market investing. And when Angels or pre-seed VCs invest, they’re not thinking like growth-stage investors” — emphasizing that early investors bet on the founders as people, not on business plans or financial projections ¹⁸.

Inferred Thesis

Based on the 168 active portfolio companies listed on the Latitud Ventures portfolio page ²⁰, the following patterns emerge. Note: these investments are through Latitud Ventures (the fund co-managed by Danilchenko, Brian Requarth, and Gina Gotthilf), not individually attributable to Danilchenko alone. As CTO-turned-Venture Partner, Danilchenko’s individual deal involvement is not publicly documented beyond his advisory role at BHub.

Sector breakdown (168 portfolio companies): - Fintech: approximately 60 of 168 (36%) — including Pomelo, StarkBank, Yuno, Finkargo, Belo, Jefa, Malga, Kanastra, NG Cash, Silverguard, Dinie, Midas, Payana, Hyperplane, and many others ²⁰ - E-commerce / Retail: approximately 14 of 168 (8%) — including Clubbi, Diferente, Linkana, Newtail, Zigo ²⁰ - Healthcare: approximately 8 of 168 (5%) — including Alinea Health, Clivi, Kuri, Liti, Arvo Saude ²⁰ - EdTech: approximately 7 of 168 (4%) — including AnyoneAI, Udocz, Nulinga, BeConfident ²⁰ - Proptech / Real Estate: approximately 8 of 168 (5%) — including aMORA, Duppla, Kocomo, Pulppo, Woba ²⁰ - Enterprise / SaaS: approximately 10 of 168 (6%) — including Treble AI, Leadsales, Salvy, Maggu ²⁰ - Other (AgTech, Gaming, HR, Logistics, Cybersecurity, DeepTech, Insurance): approximately 61 of 168 (36%) ²⁰

Stage distribution: Predominantly pre-seed. Latitud Ventures Fund I invested across 100+ startups. Fund II targets $250K average checks at pre-seed, with some seed co-investments ¹⁶¹⁷. As of October 2025, Latitud Ventures had made approximately 270 investments, with its latest investment in Ginia as a pre-seed round ²¹.

Geographic concentration: - Brazil: approximately 46% of portfolio ²⁰ - Mexico: approximately 25% ²⁰ - Argentina: approximately 12% ²⁰ - Colombia: approximately 9% ²⁰ - Other (Chile, Peru, Central America, USA): approximately 8% ²⁰

Danilchenko’s distinctive value-add: As the technical co-founder, Danilchenko brings specific expertise in engineering leadership, team building, and product development. He has been described as a mentor to BHub, helping them build their product ²². His blog posts on the Latitud site focus on recruiting tech talent and solving tech problems in startups — reflecting his hands-on technical advisory role with portfolio companies ¹²⁵.

Co-investor patterns: Portfolio companies have raised follow-on capital from a16z, DST, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, Index Ventures, Insight Partners, Kaszek, Monashees, QED, Ribbit, and Sequoia ¹⁶.

Portfolio

The following table includes investments through Latitud Ventures, which Danilchenko co-founded and helps manage. Latitud’s portfolio page lists 168 companies as of April 2026 ²⁰; this table highlights those with external verification. Danilchenko’s individual involvement is noted where documented.

This table represents approximately 6% of the 168 companies in the Latitud Ventures portfolio. Most investments are pre-seed checks of approximately $250K. Exact investment dates for most Latitud portfolio companies are not independently confirmed; years shown with “~” are estimates based on when the companies were publicly associated with Latitud.

In Their Own Words

“Decisions are easy, what’s hard is getting the right information. So if you’re struggling with making a call, take a step back and see what data you’re missing.” — Yuri Danilchenko, LinkedIn post, February 8, 2022 ²³.

“Purpose is the reason you decided to climb mountains. Mission is the mountain you choose to climb. Strategy is the path you take up the mountain. Vision is the view you hope to see once you summit.” — Yuri Danilchenko, LinkedIn post, January 2022 ²⁴.

“I firmly believe that entrepreneurship is a vehicle for economic progress and social mobility.” — Yuri Danilchenko, LinkedIn post on joining Latitud full-time ¹⁸.

“The biggest mistake founders make is falling in love with their solution instead of the problem. Your first idea is almost certainly wrong. The real opportunity is usually hiding inside the annoying operational headaches you encounter while trying to build that first idea.” — Yuri Danilchenko, LinkedIn post ¹⁸.

“Research shows that the top engineers are 150 to 200 times more productive than the average engineers.” — Yuri Danilchenko, Latitud blog post on tech hiring in a bear market ²⁵.

“People join your startup because of you, not because of your deck and projections.” — Yuri Danilchenko, Latitud blog post on tech hiring ²⁵.

“Being a founder can be a lonely journey and it’s a privilege to be surrounded by founders who are helpful, eager and vulnerable.” — Yuri Danilchenko, LinkedIn post on the Latitud Fellowship ²⁶.

What Founders Say

No independently sourced founder testimonials about Yuri Danilchenko personally (from press, podcasts, or social media) were found during research. His advisory relationship with BHub is documented on The Org ²², and the Latitud website includes general testimonials about the Latitud team, but none specifically attributable to Danilchenko’s individual contributions.

General Latitud portfolio founder testimonials (firm-curated, not specific to Danilchenko):

“Latitud has been like a co-founder of BHub, helping us build the product and fundraise our Seed and Series A rounds.” — BHub founder, Latitud website ²⁰.

Connections

• Co-Founder, Latitud (2020-present) — alongside Brian Requarth (former VivaReal CEO) and Gina Gotthilf (former Duolingo VP Growth) ³¹¹¹²
• Co-Founder & CEO, Camu (2024-present) — AI-powered indirect tax automation for Brazil; backed by Canary ⁵¹³¹⁴
• Former CTO, Escale Digital (2018-2020) — board member; company backed by Kaszek Ventures, GFC, QED Investors, and Invus Opportunities ($22.6M raised) ¹⁵⁹
• Co-Founder & CPO, Vemos (2016-2018) — telecommunications startup in Brazil ⁴⁸
• Former GM Product & Engineering, UNEAR (2013-2016) ²⁵
• Advisor, BHub (June 2021-present) — Latitud portfolio company ²²
• Former Application Developer, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (2008-2011) ⁵
• Academic researcher, Northern Kentucky University — published on automated code generation with Prof. Richard Fox ⁷
• Speaker: Latitud Podcast — Episodes #14 and #131, covering tech team building and the future of tech ³²⁷

Sources