Cites

What Cites does

CITES (Centro de Innovación Tecnológica, Empresarial y Social) is an Argentine venture capital firm and privately managed technology incubator founded in 2013 and headquartered in Sunchales, Santa Fe, with additional offices in Buenos Aires (CABA) and Bariloche. It is the corporate technology innovation arm of Grupo Sancor Seguros and is self-described as the first privately managed technology incubator in Latin America. CITES invests across five structured stages—from pre-idea through Series A—using a combination of SAFEs and equity instruments: Ideas ($25K SAFE), MVP ($150K SAFE), Pre-seed ($500K equity), Seed ($1.5M equity), and Series A ($0.5M–$1.5M equity). Its portfolio of 23 companies is concentrated in deeptech, biotech, medtech, agtech, and insurtech, and the firm manages 95+ patents across the portfolio with a linked network of more than 250 entrepreneurs and scientists.

CITES operates two flagship closed-end vehicles, CITES I and CITES II, and supplements capital deployment with program-based acceleration: DEEPTECH BOOST (regional deeptech bootcamps, including a Uruguayan edition in its second iteration in October 2025), CITES IDEAS (pre-idea acceleration, launched April 2025), BOOTCAMP PATAGONIA (location-specific acceleration), and CITES SUMMIT (annual ecosystem convening). In October 2025 the firm further launched Deeptech Insights, a newsletter for deeptech thought leadership. The core revenue model is conventional fund management economics (management fees and carried interest on CITES I and CITES II), underwritten by its corporate sponsor rather than external limited partners, and the firm supplements this with co-investments alongside strategic partners such as Fundación Barceló (CloverLife, September 2025). Standalone revenue, AUM, and management fee economics are not separately disclosed and are embedded within Grupo Sancor Seguros.

Name

Cites

Legal name

Cites - Centro de Innovación Tecnológica, Empresarial y Social

Website

https://cites-gss.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

CITES is the corporate venture capital and deeptech incubator arm of Argentine insurer Grupo Sancor Seguros, investing from pre-idea through Series A in biotech, medtech, agtech, and deeptech startups across Latin America, with a 23-company portfolio and 95+ patents under management.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

NAICS

Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate Strategic Partnership & Ecosystem Investment Arms (FSANAHAF)

Keywords

• Venture capital fund
• Deeptech startup incubator
• Science-based investment
• Venture builder services
• Early-stage technology funding

Headquarters

HQ city

Sunchales

HQ country

Argentina

HQ region

Latin America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Venture Capital Returns on Portfolio Companies: CITES generates returns through equity ownership in portfolio startups. As an early-stage investor providing capital and active management support, CITES earns returns when portfolio companies achieve milestones, raise subsequent funding rounds, or exit via acquisition or IPO. The fund is managed as a venture capital vehicle associated with Grupo Sancor Seguros.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

CITES is a venture capital fund and venture builder that invests in and co-creates deeptech startups originating from scientific research. It offers staged capital from the Ideas stage ($25K SAFE) through Series A ($1.5M equity), with total investment up to $3.5M per company, combined with active management, laboratory and co-working infrastructure, and access to global networks. Its portfolio of 23 companies spans biotech, medtech, pharma, agtech, AI, and robotics.

Product overview

CITES is a Venture Capital fund that fosters the development of scientific-technological deeptech startups, part of Grupo Sancor Seguros. The organization offers venture capital investment from Ideas to Series A stages (up to $3.5M total), combined with venture builder programs (DEEPTECH BOOST), incubation initiatives (CITES IDEAS), and access to physical infrastructure including fab-labs, wet-labs, and co-working spaces in Sunchales, CABA, and Bariloche. Their portfolio of 23 companies spans BioTech, HealthTech, AgTech, Smart City & Logistics, FoodTech, MedTech, Robotics, and AI sectors, with portfolio companies including CloverLife (mechanical heart valves), ViewMind (cognitive digital biomarkers via VR eye-tracking), Eolo Pharma (obesity treatments), Ergo Bioscience (animal protein from plant cells), and Stradot (robotic parking systems).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• DEEPTECH BOOST: Venture Builder program designed for scientists, entrepreneurs, and advanced students to transform scientific ideas into high-impact global businesses. Programs conducted in Uruguay, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Peru.
• CITES IDEAS
• CITES SUMMIT
• Deeptech Insights

Products and services

• CITES IDEAS Early-stage program of CITES that supports deeptech founders at the ideation phase with capital (starting at $25K SAFE), infrastructure, and management support. Targeted at scientists, PhD researchers, and advanced students seeking to validate commercial potential of their research.
• DEEPTECH BOOST Virtual pre-acceleration program that provides equity-free funding and structured training to deeptech founders across Latin America to prepare them for venture builder admission.
• BOOTCAMP PATAGONIA Immersive bootcamp program for deeptech founders offering intensive engagement with the venture builder model, infrastructure access, and mentorship.
• CITES SUMMIT Annual summit event organized by CITES convening the deeptech ecosystem, including portfolio companies, investors, mentors, and ecosystem partners.
• CITES Venture Capital Fund (staged investment tickets) Core venture capital fund operation providing staged equity and SAFE investments to deeptech startups from the Ideas stage through Series A, with total tickets up to $3.5M per company. Investment stages include Ideas ($25K SAFE), MVP ($50K), Pre-seed ($250K), Seed ($700K), and Series A ($1.5M equity).

Quantifiable outcome

• 95+ patents managed across the portfolio
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers16 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• UOVO (Terragene Group)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCITES entered a strategic alliance with UOVO, the biotech company creation platform within the Terragene Group (founded by Esteban Lombardía and Adrián Rovetto), to jointly support and develop the Pepton startup focused on bactericides against antibiotic-resistant microorganisms.
• Hewlett Packard (HP)coreTechnology or IntegrationHewlett Packard partnered with ViewMind to supply the HP Omnicept Reverb G2 virtual reality headset with eye-tracking, connected to an HP laptop — the hardware platform for ViewMind's AI-powered cognitive digital biomarker diagnostics. HP provides the hardware infrastructure that powers ViewMind's patented eye-tracking analysis technology.
• Renault GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStradot, a CITES portfolio company, partnered with Renault Group for intensive testing of its robotic parking system at the manufacturer's Flins-sur-Seine site near Paris. The 3-week campaign tested the solution's ability to move vehicles in dense logistical areas and achieve 30–100% additional storage capacity.
• ANVISA (Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency)coreOthersViewMind obtained regulatory approval from ANVISA (Brazil's National Health Surveillance Agency), enabling commercialization in Brazil as a priority market following its US$6 million funding round.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Kaszek Ventures: Latin America's largest venture capital firm, investing from seed to growth across the region. Comparable to CITES as a LatAm-focused VC manager backing early-stage tech and tech-enabled companies, though with materially larger AUM and broader sector focus.
• ALLVP: Mexico-based early-stage VC manager investing across Latin America in tech, healthcare, and consumer. Comparable to CITES as a regional early-stage VC with active portfolio support, though less deeptech-specialized.
• Mountain Nazca: Mexican early- and growth-stage VC manager investing in Latin American tech companies. Comparable to CITES as a regional VC manager targeting seed and Series A stages, though concentrated in Mexico City.
• Cometa: Mexico-based early-stage VC backing founders across Latin America. Comparable to CITES as a regional seed-stage investor with similar ticket sizes and active management approach.
• Magma Partners: Chile-anchored pan-LatAm early-stage VC manager with cross-border reach into the US. Comparable to CITES as a regional early-stage investor with similar focus on early tickets and follow-on support.
• NXTP Labs: Argentina-based early-stage VC and accelerator active across Latin America. Most directly comparable to CITES given shared Argentine base, similar ticket sizes, and early-stage tech focus.
• Wayra (Telefónica CVC): Corporate venture arm of Telefónica investing globally in early-stage startups. Comparable to CITES as a structured CVC arm of a large corporate parent, though with much larger geographic scope and capital base.
• Valor Capital Group: US-Brazil cross-border early- and growth-stage VC. Comparable to CITES in bridging Latin American founders to international capital, with deeper US-LP relationships.

Broad incumbents

• SOSV: Global venture capital firm and accelerator operator (parent of IndieBio, HAX, dlab) with a deeptech focus. Comparable to CITES as a deeptech-focused VC, but with much larger global footprint, multiple accelerator programs, and significantly more capital.

Emerging players

• IndieBio: SOSV's biotech accelerator program investing in early-stage life sciences and biotech startups globally. Comparable to CITES's biotech/medtech venture-building thesis, but with a focused accelerator model rather than a permanent in-house fund.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/CitesGrupoSancorSeguros
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cites
• Instagraminstagram.com/cites_gss
• Xx.com/cites_gss

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments19 records

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Frequently asked questions about Cites