What does it take to help some of the fastest-growing technology companies scale across borders and navigate complex financial systems? Marcelo Afonseca has built his career around exactly that challenge.
Marcelo Afonseca is a corporate banker at JPMorgan Chase, specializing in supporting high-growth fintech, e-commerce, and SaaS companies across global markets. With experience across Latin America and Europe, he has played a key role in helping these businesses unlock capital, expand into new markets, and accelerate their growth.
His work sits at the intersection of finance and technology, where deep sector insight and cross-border expertise create real advantage.
Building a Career Where Finance Meets Technology
Afonseca’s career path was shaped early by a clear intention to operate in demanding, high-performance environments. He joined JPMorgan Chase in 2020, entering the Corporate Bank at a time when its Latin America Innovation Economy team was still in its early stages. Based in São Paulo, he joined a small team tasked with building relationships with technology companies across the region.
This was not a conventional banking role focused purely on transactions. Instead, it required developing long-term partnerships with founders, CFOs, and operators in companies scaling rapidly across multiple markets. The role demanded not only financial expertise but also a strong understanding of how technology businesses grow and evolve.
Scaling JPMorgan’s Technology Franchise in Latin America
Among the most notable accomplishments in the life of Afonseca was the participation in the construction of the technology banking business of JPMorgan in Latin America. At the time, the team had only three professionals who served about 20 clients. In the next four years, it expanded to eight professionals and over 100 technology firms in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and Argentina.
This expansion required establishing trust in an area where most technology firms had little experience collaborating with international banks. Afonseca and his colleagues focused on understanding each of their clients' business models, growth pathways, and capital requirements.
The team grew substantially during this period, not only because of the strength of the strategy but also because of the rapid evolution of the Latin American technology ecosystem.
Leading Complex and Impactful Transactions
Besides franchise building, Afonseca also engaged in several complex and high-impact transactions across Latin America, working with clients in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and Argentina.
His experience spans a broad range of structures, including cross-border financings, securitizations of fintech credit portfolios, hedging solutions, global cash management frameworks, and capital markets issuances such as bonds and debentures.
These deals indicate his capacity to navigate through cross-jurisdictional complexity and provide solutions that fit rapidly evolving technology enterprises.
Expanding to Europe and the EMEA Market
Marcelo moved to London in mid 2024 to join the EMEA Innovation Economy team at JPMorgan. The shift was a big one, as he left behind a territory with strong relationship ties to a new market with new regulatory regulations and customer interaction patterns.
Although he built a new relationship base, he used the experience he gained in Latin America in the European market. His experience in dealing with intricate ecosystems enabled him to work on funding solutions with some of the major fintech firms in Europe.
His practice in London has involved financing transactions and corporate banking advisory.
A Distinctive Skill Set Built on Depth and Adaptability
Afonseca’s expertise spans financial structuring, credit analysis, relationship management, and treasury and payments solutions. He has worked across credit facilities, securitizations, and development finance within the technology sector.
What sets him apart? The depth of his sector knowledge and cross-cultural experience. He understands how technology companies are built and how they monetize. He brings a global perspective that helps him connect across markets.
His engineering background shapes his thinking. He approaches financial challenges as systems problems. He connects legal, credit, and operational factors.
Education and Early Foundations
So, what shaped the foundation behind his global career? Afonseca is a Bachelor of Mechatronics Engineering at the University of São Paulo, as well as a Management Engineering student at Politecnico di Torino in Italy through a competitive double degree program.
His time as an engineer taught him to think in systems, and his training in Italy exposed him to corporate finance, accounting, and strategy, leading him to choose the career path of international operations.
Navigating Challenges and Driving Growth
The move to Europe was one of the most important experiences in Afonseca’s career. Moving to London required adapting to a new market quickly. It also meant maintaining the same level of performance.
How was that transition possible? His experience working in complex environments played a key role. Latin America’s fragmented regulatory landscape and fast-changing technology sector had already prepared him. He developed the ability to handle uncertainty and deliver results across different conditions.
This approach was shaped earlier in his career. He helped build a new banking franchise in Latin America without an established playbook. That experience strengthened his adaptability and long-term thinking.
Looking Ahead: Finance, Technology, and Artificial Intelligence
Afonseca’s long-term ambition is to transition from advising companies to operating within one. He aims to become a finance leader in a technology company, where he can directly influence strategy, capital allocation, and long-term growth. As artificial intelligence continues to reshape industries, he is focused on building the experience needed to contribute at that level.
His current role gives him direct exposure to how leading technology companies make decisions. He works closely with founders and executives on financing, scaling, and market expansion. That experience continues to shape his perspective and keeps his focus clear: Building at the intersection of finance and technology, with a global lens.
About the Author
Daniel Reeves is a financial journalist and market analyst who covers global banking, fintech, and the capital market. He focuses on professional profiling and trends that can significantly contribute to the future of finance.
