Founder and Chief Executive Officer of DrumWave, Inc.

André Vellozo is a Brazilian businessman, cybernetician, inventor, and leading advocate for data ownership rights and data monetization. He is the co-founder and CEO of DrumWave Inc., headquartered in Palo Alto, CA., and dedicated to helping to build the infrastructure and rails for the emerging data economy. He is also a founding member of the International Data Reserve in Baar, Switzerland, a not-for-profit organization established to promote data economic stability and international cooperation.

Vellozo has multiple patents issued or registered with the USPTO and has received innovation awards in Brazil and the US. In addition, Bloomberg Línea ranked Vellozo on their 2022 list of the Top 100 influential Latin Americans, which highlights individuals who left their home countries to have global reach and impact with their work.

Vellozo was born on May 29, 1969 in Brazil, to Robinson de Oliveira Luz and Beatriz Helena Vellozo Luz. Both his mother and his father came from prominent families with diverse, and sometimes competing points of view. Many of Vellozo’s passions were sparked at the intersection of his family’s various professions and fields of influence, including banking, publishing, government, journalism, and the arts. He has lived in Brazil’s major cities, moving with his family around Brazil to Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, and he spent many summers with his mother’s family in Vila Velha, Espírito Santo.

On his mother’s side, André’s great-grandfather Thiers Vellozo was born in Santo Amaro da Purificação, BA, and is a cousin of the Brazilian musician and activist Caetano Veloso. Thiers Vellozo was the director of the General Credit Bank in Rio de Janeiro in 1919 and the author of the “Banker’s Manual.” He also founded and published the “Gazeta do Espírito Santo” newspaper in 1928. On Vellozo’s father's side, his grandparents were Ivan and Nadir Luz. Ivan Luz was a lawyer and legislator in Brazil’s military government in the 1960s. While they disagreed on many subjects, his grandfather profoundly influenced young Vellozo. When he was 18 years old, André volunteered for the Brazilian Army and concluded his military career ranked as an Infantry 2nd Lieutenant.

“We have the power to re-ignite economic growth and regenerate the planet, by owning what already belongs to us: the data."

André Vellozo.

In 2014, Vellozo moved to Palo Alto, CA, and began a collaboration with Alberto Blumenschein and Santiago Ortiz. The team began working with organizations, using their data to solve mission-critical problems. The next year they co-founded DrumWave, Inc. to create data products and hold the patents, trademarks, and code they generated.

Since 2015, Vellozo has been involved with companies and governments to advocate for data ownership rights. He believes that ownership is the solution to privacy issues, and that data can become the trusted basis for a fair and inclusive economy.

In 2021, Vellozo has been conversing with Roberto Campos Neto, Brazilian Central Bank Chief, who led the country’s business and technological innovation with PIX and has shown support for creating the infrastructure for the data economy. In April of that year, Vellozo presented the dWallet and data savings models to Campos Neto and his Board, sharing insights about the dynamics of data monetization and how it functions to reduce asymmetry.

As of 2023, the company serves numerous clients across industries, providing several data products to help them be well-positioned to participate in the data economy. Other companies are working on data monetization apps, but DrumWave is the only full-stack technology company that is building an ecosystem and working closely with global companies and financial institutions. In spring 2024, Drumwave will officially launch in the United States.