Rafael Santos
About Rafael Santos
Rafael Santos is based in Brazil. His own profile describes him as an AI-first tech engineer, CTO and advisor with more than 25 years of experience scaling startups and SaaS products. He says he has founded four startups and led product and technology at two scale-ups. His work spans IoT, consumer behavior, ERP for small businesses, IP telephony, and used car and real estate platforms, in both B2B and B2C models.
Crunchbase lists three companies he founded or co-founded: Specta (CEO/CTO, 2008 to 2015), MetaCerta (CEO/CTO, 2013 to 2014) and Decision6 (CTO/CPO, 2014 to 2019). He was later Product Leader for Creditas Auto and Creditas Home (2019 to 2021) and CPO at MC1 Global (2021 to 2022). He says his founder roles reached ARR above $2M, a team above 50 and funding above $2M. He also writes that he took 10+ SaaS products from zero to $200k/month in early stages, and up to $1M/month in scale-ups.
More recently Crunchbase shows him as Lead Engineer and Engineering Manager at Lumenalta (August 2022 to September 2025) and Fractional CPTO at Chiefs Group (March 2024 to March 2025). His LinkedIn headline lists DirtAI and an educator role at MIT Professional Education, where he says he teaches Generative AI and AI Agents, Data Leadership and Marketplaces. He also says he builds hands-on, with experience in distributed systems, Node.js and Python backends, data engineering and embedded IoT.
Crunchbase counts 15 investments in 15 portfolio companies, with 0 lead investments and 0 exits. A separate search snapshot of the same profile showed 13 investments, so the count may change. The round types shown include angel rounds, a venture round and an equity crowdfunding round. Crunchbase hides the dates and amounts, so this page does not state investment years or check sizes.
He describes himself as an investor and advisor in the FCJ startup ecosystem, which he says covers 320+ startups. Crunchbase lists him as a member of the Operations Committee and Operations Advisory Board at FCJ Venture Builder. It shows 6 current and 5 past board and advisor roles, including Strategy & Tech Advisor at Dooers (from March 2025) and Strategist & Tech Advisor at Trêsbê Delas.
No public source reviewed names a specific AI company he has backed, so none is listed here. His AI experience comes from operating and teaching. He says he has led AI-driven projects since 2016, including LLM work with frameworks, agents and RAG. His delivered projects include foot-traffic analysis, WiFi fingerprinting and LLM-based solutions. He lists computer vision and Python among his Gen AI skills.
He currently advises startups as a strategy and tech advisor and fractional CPTO. Founders pitching AI products can expect technical questions on architecture, agents and scaling.
Crunchbase lists his region as Latin America, and his investor type and stage fields are hidden. The round labels on his portfolio are angel, venture and equity crowdfunding. That points to early-stage investing, but he has not stated a formal stage focus. He has not published a check size, so this page does not give one.
His own description stresses product and technology depth. He mentions marketplaces, SaaS, IoT, climate footprint monitoring and consumer analytics. He cites products he built, including an IoT platform that managed 1,200+ devices globally and processed 20M+ requests per hour. He also built a climate monitoring product covering forest cover and carbon accounting. In 2003 he worked on VoIP, which he describes as one of the first two VoIP providers in Brazil.
- Vetor AG Ventures: Crunchbase lists an angel round; the date is not public.
- RevisaPrev: Crunchbase lists an angel round; the date is not public.
- FCJ Triangulo Venture Builder: Crunchbase lists a venture round; the date is not public.
- InvestPlus: Crunchbase lists an equity crowdfunding round, shown as his latest investment; the date is not public.
Investing activity
Rafael Santos has made 15 investments according to Crunchbase across 15 portfolio companies, and has founded 4 companies.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Rafael Santos
Does Rafael Santos invest in AI startups?
He is an AI engineer and MIT Professional Education educator who advises startups. No public source reviewed names a specific AI company he has invested in.
What is Rafael Santos's check size?
He has not published a check size, and Crunchbase hides his amounts.
What stage does Rafael Santos invest in?
He has not stated a stage. His Crunchbase rounds are labeled angel, venture and equity crowdfunding, and his focus region is Latin America.
Is Rafael Santos a lead investor?
Crunchbase shows 0 lead investments and 0 exits among his 15 investments. He appears to join rounds rather than lead them.
What is Rafael Santos's background as a founder?
He says he founded four startups. Crunchbase lists Specta, MetaCerta and Decision6, and he later held product roles at Creditas and MC1.
How can founders contact Rafael Santos?
His public profiles are on LinkedIn, X (@rafaelstartup) and Linktree. He advises startups as a strategy and tech advisor and fractional CPTO.
Is Rafael Santos an angel investor?
Yes. Rafael Santos invests personally as an angel. Crunchbase counts 15 investments.
Where is Rafael Santos based?
Rafael Santos is based in Brazil, South America.
How can founders reach Rafael Santos?
Founders on Lounge can see Rafael Santos's contact details in AI Investor Contacts (paid plans), check for a warm introduction through members who worked with them under Warm Paths, and add Rafael Santos to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.