From waste tires to battery innovation: T-Phite’s deep-tech bet from LatAm 🔋♻️
In this episode, Bianca Sassoon, co-founder of 17 Sigma. After starting her career in investment banking and then spending nearly four years at Kaszek Ventures leading Spanish-speaking investments, Bianca partnered with Pierpaolo Barbieri (founder & CEO of Ualá) to build a seed and pre-seed fund that looks very different from the typical high-volume VC.
17 Sigma runs on a low-frequency, high-conviction model: fewer companies, deeper relationships, and a strong belief that capital is a commodity — what really matters is professionalism, respect, and hands-on support. From helping resolve co-founder splits to opening doors to strategic partners and future investors, Bianca and her team see themselves as true partners in the trenches, especially in the earliest, messiest stages.
In this episode:
- 💼 How Bianca went from investment banking to VC at Kaszek and then to co-founding 17 Sigma
- 🌱 Why 17 Sigma focuses on pre-seed and seed, with a low-frequency, high-conviction approach
- 🤝 What professionalism actually looks like in VC: answering every email, preparing for every call, and respecting founders’ time
- 🧠 Why capital is a commodity, and what founders should really demand from investors
- 🚀 How 17 Sigma supports companies beyond the check: from founder mediation to recruiting to strategic intros
- 💡 Bianca’s advice for aspiring founders and future investors on passion, partnership, and picking who you build with
Featuring: Bianca Sassoon, Co-founder at 17 Sigma
A Startup Sounds conversation.
🎥Watch it now with the link bellow.
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