Raphael was the co-founder of a fintech company which he grew to 50 employees and merged with a competitor after four years. He's co-founded two investment firms, including a blockchain one, and worked for 15 years as a global investor and an M&A banker at Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan. He also holds a master's in AI and is a graduate of the International Space University. As a consultant, he's passionate about helping innovative businesses grow.
Co-led the development and structuring of regulated blockchain/cryptocurrency investment funds targeted at institutional investors.
Assisted in obtaining a regulatory sandbox license for a cryptocurrency exchange.
Developed automated web-based tools to analyze cryptocurrencies, including both technical and fundamental factors.
Focus areas: Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Structuring of Funds, Fundraising
Freelance Financial Analyst to Evaluate SpaceX
2017 - 2017
Investment Fund (via Toptal)
Built a financial model for the business based on public information.
Assisted in marketing to potential investors.
Focus areas: Valuation, Financial Modeling
Chief Investment Officer
2015 - 2017
SVM Capital
Designed an investment process that augments human investment judgment with machine intelligence, for use in concentrated, fundamental long-short equity investment.
Developed and maintained a suite of investment algorithms using machine learning techniques.
Invested successfully in a current universe of over 1,300 stocks across all industries.
Focus areas: Valuation, Private Equity, Equity Valuation, Equity Research
Seed Investor | Chairman
2008 - 2013
Financiar Casa S/A
Co-founded one of Brazil's first nationwide online mortgage brokerages, pioneering the concept in the local market wherein we were one of the first two companies.
Developed some of the first-ever mortgage distribution partnerships with major banks (e.g., HSBC, Citibank, Santander, Itaú) and real estate developers.
Specified and developed (with external IT support) a custom IT platform—including the public web portal—for mortgage marketing and processing.
Successfully led two fundraising rounds—including fundraising meetings, negotiation, and closing documentation—with local and international investors.
Recruited and managed up to 50 employees, in addition to outsourced service providers, across all of the company's functions, including sales, IT, finance, and HR.
Conceived and negotiated the merger of the company with one of its competitors.
Focus areas: Fundraising, Strategy
Investment Analyst
2005 - 2007
Gandhara Capital
Generated and analyzed equity investment ideas globally and across sectors as a senior investment professional, helping the fund generate annual net returns in the mid-teens.
Oversaw up to US$750 million gross exposure (i.e., long and short), monitoring investment positions on a real-time basis.
Conducted all the necessary primary and secondary research (including senior management meetings), financial modeling and other due diligence in order to develop conviction on investment ideas.
Regularly updated fund's investors on investment positions via written reports and one-on-one meetings.
Co-founded the firm with a team that had left Deutsche Bank where I had acted as a director of proprietary trading in essentially the same functional role.
Focus areas: Valuation, Equity Valuation, Equity Research
Director of Proprietary Trading
2002 - 2005
Deutsche Bank
Joined a newly-formed proprietary investment team as a founding member focused on fundamental investment in global equities (based in Tokyo and London).
Generated and analyzed equity investment ideas globally and across sectors as a senior investment professional, helping the team achieve investment returns in the mid-teens.
Oversaw investment positions on a real-time basis, interacting with sell-side trading desks.
Focus areas: Valuation, Equity Valuation, Equity Research
Associate
1998 - 2002
Greenhill & Co.
Served as the lead associate on the distressed restructuring of Marconi plc, advising the bondholders.
Managed substantial parts of the local day-to-day processes during the sale of Optus (the second-largest Australian telecom at the time) to Singapore Telecom; it was one of the largest M&A transactions in Australia.
Served as the associate on the team advising C&W on the sale of Hong Kong Telecom to PCCW which was the largest ever non-Japan Asia M&A transaction at the time; I performed tasks such as financial modeling and due diligence.
Participated in tens of billions of dollars in deal value of other transactions globally.
Biotech companies with little to no revenue can still be worth billions. Consider the most prominent 2017 biotech M&A deal when Gilead bought Kite Pharma for almost $12 billion. At the time of the deal, Kite had over $600 million in accumulated deficit, but it also had a pipeline of CAR-T cell therapies, which treat cancer. This article examines how to value such pipelines. It also focuses on the risk-adjusted NPV valuation methodology, portfolios of multiple drug candidates, and how value is impacted by the characteristics of the investor or acquirer.
Investing in Cryptocurrencies: The Ultimate Guide (Publication)
So, you’ve decided to get exposure to cryptocurrencies. In this newer space, a personal financial advisor may not be of great help. Neither will your banker, unless you are a customer of a limited number of progressive Swiss private banks, which facilitate crypto trading. What now?
This article provides practical information and resources around passive vs. active cryptocurrency investing, how to buy, sell, store, and monitor cryptocurrencies, as well as tax regulations in the space.
Education
Space Studies Program in Space
2019 - 2019
International Space University - Strasbourg, France
Master's degree in Computer Science
2013 - 2015
PUC | Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Bachelor's degree in Psychology
1993 - 1997
University of Pennsylvania - Philadelphia, PA, USA
Bachelor's degree in Finance
1993 - 1997
The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania - Philadelphia, PA, USA