A master key doesn’t lock anything. It opens doors.
Today, that backbone is being rebuilt in software. Klemet finances the rebuild.
The digital backbone of the Caribbean and Latin America.
Pre-seed capital for the founders building it. Klemet writes the first institutional check for Caribbean and Latin American tech built to travel: the rails that carry money, health records, and public services across the region and connect it to the global economy.
The corridor: the Caribbean and Latin America across their English, French, Spanish, and Creole speaking markets, from Haiti and the francophone Caribbean to Central America, and the North American diaspora that connects them.
kle+ mèt
Haitian Creole: key + master. The master key.
“Men anpil, chay pa lou.”
How we invest
Four rules shape every check we write.
The market is the corridor, not the island
Every company we back must be able to cross borders or sell into the North American diaspora from day one.
Access others don’t have
We reach across the English, French, Creole, and Spanish speaking Caribbean and Latin America, including markets most regional funds can’t reach, because we work multilingual: if a company can travel, language should never be what stops it.
A catalytic first check
We spark rounds rather than fill them: we anchor early, bring institutional governance, and bring in follow-on investors.
Infrastructure, not apps
Every company we back must be a layer that other businesses or institutions run on. That’s the test for our digital-backbone thesis.
Every investment follows the same path: sourcing, diligence, approval by our five-seat investment committee, then hands-on scaling support. The committee approves every initial investment and follow-on, and members recuse themselves on any conflict.
Where we invest
B2B digital infrastructure across three pillars. We enter at pre-seed and seed, where capital is scarcest and conviction on team and market matters most. First checks are $250K–$500K.
01 Fintech
Settlement rails, merchant payments, and embedded investing for a region that still runs on cash and remittances.
Financial inclusionSME access to finance
02 Healthtech
Systems of record and digital clinic operations that replace paper across island health systems.
Health infrastructureCare that reaches more people
03 Institutional infrastructure
Software that institutions run on, from procurement to digital curriculum delivery.
Stronger institutionsFair contracts and learning within reach
Built with AI. AI lets small teams build robust infrastructure faster and for less, and we back founders who use it. Consumer-facing products sold through businesses (B2B2C) count as enterprise software.
The least-funded venture corridor in the hemisphere
Global investors crowd into the US and Latin America’s mature hubs. The Caribbean’s 44 million people get almost none of that capital.
<1%
Share of regional venture
Less than 1% of Latin American and Caribbean venture capital reaches the Caribbean: under $50M a year.
$4–6B
SME credit gap
Each year. Over 85% of businesses name financing as their main barrier to growth.
6–12%
Potential GDP lift
The IDB’s estimate of the gain from closing the region’s digital infrastructure gap.
$18.4B
Remittances in 2024
Up to 10% of GDP in some countries, at fees of 7–10% against a 3% global target.
Sources: IDB Lab, Venture Capital in the Caribbean (Nov 2025); IDB, Caribbean Quarterly Bulletin (Jan 2022); IDB, Remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean (2024); Population Reference Bureau (2022); World Bank data.
Impact is the thesis, not an add-on
Klemet backs the founders rebuilding the digital backbone of the Caribbean and Latin America — the rails for payments, health, and the institutions the region runs on.
That work is measurable: financial inclusion for adults who are unbanked or underbanked and the 85% of SMEs for whom access to finance is the main barrier; jobs, through employer-validated, stackable credentials aligned to the Caribbean Qualifications Framework for a region short of digital talent; climate resilience, screened through carbon, energy, waste, water, and environmental compliance; and gender, assessed on every deal across cap table, leadership, workforce, and product.
We set a purpose, choose material issues, track smart KPIs, and review them on a set rhythm — impact as risk intelligence, aligned to the SDGs and measured with IRIS+.
Financial inclusion
- Mobile money adoption
- Cross-border payment corridors
- Credit scoring from alternative data
- Shared e-KYC and compliance rails
Digital jobs
- Employer-validated micro-credentials
- Alignment with the CQF
- Filling open digital roles
- Diaspora technical mentorship
Climate resilience
- Carbon and emissions
- Renewable energy in operations
- Circular supply chains
- Water and waste management
Gender (2X Challenge)
- Female ownership on the cap table
- Women in leadership
- Inclusive hiring
- Products that serve women
Our 15 ESG diligence criteria — scored 1 to 5, mapped to IRIS+ and the SDGs
Environmental
- Carbon footprint and emissions
- Energy efficiency and renewables
- Circular waste management
- Water conservation
- Environmental compliance
Social
- Workforce health, safety, and wellbeing
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion (2X)
- Local community reinvestment
- Fair wages and labor ethics
- Customer data privacy and security
Governance
- Independent board governance
- Executive pay alignment
- Anti-corruption and whistleblowing
- Transparent shareholder rights
- Risk oversight and internal controls
What founders get beyond the check
79% of Caribbean founders surveyed by IDB Lab want equity investment, but only 28% have raised it. In a fragmented region, governance, customers, and the path to the next round decide who survives.
A partner and the Klemet Scaling Playbook
We work alongside founders on the big calls and the day-to-day ones, backed by our playbook for AI adoption, org structure and hiring, and finance.
An investor network
Warm introductions to US follow-on VCs, co-investors, and diaspora syndicates to fill this round and line up the next one.
Capital readiness
US entity structuring in Delaware, board setup, and audit readiness, so companies are ready for institutional investors.
The diaspora network
Customers, talent, and capital from the Caribbean diaspora, opened up to founders.
This is work Jerry does today. At Eventnoire, he guided Series Seed readiness, the investor pipeline, and go-to-market positioning. On the board and finance committee of ReKlame Health, he leads financial governance, monthly operating expense reviews, the financial model, and executive clinical hiring. It’s also how Klemet earns access: founders bring their best deals to investors who have helped them. Our pipeline of 80+ companies comes through Parallel18, Founder Institute Caribbean, Tech Beach Retreat, Banj/DevExpo, and UWI Ventures.
Team
Jerry Petit-Frere
Founding General Partner, New York
250+deals sourced
11investments closed
~$5Mcapital deployed
21companies managed
From 2024 to 2026, Jerry ran the full investing lifecycle as Portfolio Director at Pronghorn, the Diageo-backed venture platform: sourcing, term sheets, board seats, follow-ons, and wind-downs. He was named Closer of the Year. At Klemet the sector changes; the discipline does not.
Earlier he built operating models for Fortune 500 clients at Accenture Strategy, worked on impact investing for private equity and philanthropy at The Bridgespan Group, and managed a $21M district portfolio as an operator at E&J Gallo and Breakthru Beverage.
Haitian American and based in New York, he is fluent in English, French, and Haitian Creole, and his network reaches across the region’s language markets and its diaspora. He serves on the boards of Eventnoire and ReKlame Health.
Cornell Johnson MBAHEC ParisTemple Fox BBAVC Lab, Cohort 21
Get in touch
Building pre-seed or seed B2B tech in the Caribbean or Latin America? Tell us about your company. For anything else, choose “Something else.” We read every message.