The LatAm Venture Capital Podcast

Maria Gutierrez is the co-Founding Partner of Nido Ventures. Originally from Mexico City, Maria has an unyielding passion for advancing development and transforming Latin America by leveraging her engineering expertise.Maria started at Tesla, handling Logistics Procurement across borders and managing substantial annual expenditures as the team's youngest member. Then, at Apple, she was part of the Semiconductor Procurement team, playing her role in maintaining the company's unparalleled supply chain. Wishing to bring her tech experience to Latin America, Maria moved to Backbone Systems, a promising tech startup in Mexico City. As Chief of Staff, she contributed significantly to the company's growth and success with her strategic insight and product development skills. Maria earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Science and Engineering and a Master's in Business Administration, both from Stanford University. In this episode, you will learn more about: * Maria’s path to the United States and Stanford. * The importance of mentorship and networking. * The creation of Nido Ventures.* Trends in Supply Chain in Latin America.Follow The LatAm Venture Capital Podcast on Linkedin!#AllThingsLatinXVCHosted by Fernanda Sesto This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thelatamventurecapitalpodcast.substack.com

Cristian Raygoza is a cheerleader of the Latin American innovation ecosystem. Currently, he is Head of Startups and VC at Clara, the leading Latin American solution for businesses to make and manage all their payments, with a presence in Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia. He is also Managing Partner of Iluminar Ventures, which invests in early stage startups in Spanish-speaking Latin America. Cristian is also on the board of TrueColors LatAm, a new nonprofit advocating for LGBTQ representation in the Latin American tech ecosystem. Cristian is Mexican-American and is originally from Los Angeles, California. He received his BA in Economics from the University of Chicago.In today’s episode, you will learn more about:The importance of building ecosystems in Latin America.How regulations and governments play a role in innovation development.The different projects Cristian is currently working on and how they supplement each other. Follow The LatAm Venture Capital Podcast on Linkedin!#AllThingsLatinXVCHosted by Fernanda Sesto This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thelatamventurecapitalpodcast.substack.com

Santiago Rojas Montoya is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Cube Ventures, a VC firm that accelerates early stage tech startups in Latin America. Santiago’s story is fascinating. Born and raised in Colombia, moved to Florida in the United States after experiencing some turbulent family conflict. He then moved back again and received a JD Degree from Universidad de los Andes in Bogota. Previously, Santiago co-founded Startop Co and Phylo Legal, and received awards such as the Kairos Society Fellowship and IBM Global Entrepreneurship distinction.In this episode you will learn more about: Santiago's story going from studying Law to be a Managing Director Cube Ventures creation and what Santiago looks for in startupsThe differences between being a startup founder and an investor Follow The LatAm Venture Capital Podcast on Linkedin!#AllThingsLatinXVCHosted by Fernanda Sesto This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thelatamventurecapitalpodcast.substack.com

Damaris Mendoza is a Mexican communicator and investor. She led the Investor Relations/Fundraising efforts at 500 Global for LatAm. Her journey in the ecosystem began when she joined Boletia, where she served in various roles before becoming part of the 500 LatAm team. Prior to that, she built her career in the media industry.Within the VC industry, she has served on the board of Mujeres Invirtiendo and as an ambassador for WeInvest Latam and Global Women in VC.Currently, she is a Partner at 500 Global, the most active early-stage investment fund globally with the mission is to support the most talented entrepreneurs in the region with capital and guidance.In this episode, you will learn more about:Damaris’ experience fundraising for the first timeHer thoughts about the evolution of VC platform in Latin AmericaHow to create a strategy for a fundFollow The LatAm Venture Capital Podcast on Linkedin!#AllThingsLatinXVCHosted by Fernanda Sesto This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thelatamventurecapitalpodcast.substack.com

Enzo Cavalie is from Peru but lived in Mexico, now based in San Francisco. He’s the founder of Startupeable the leading podcast for entrepreneurs in Latin America. With an audience of more than 50,000 monthly readers and listeners, he interviews leading founders, investors and executives in the startup ecosystem across Latin America. He is also a Principal at Reach Capital where he invests in Latin American EdTech companies and has been named as one of the Top LinkedIn Voice with over 53,000. On this episode, you will learn about:Startupeable’s creation and the future of itEnzo's experience moving to San Francisco and going through the VC recruitmentThe future of EdTech in LatAm.Follow The LatAm Venture Capital Podcast on Linkedin!#AllThingsLatinXVCHosted by Fernanda Sesto This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thelatamventurecapitalpodcast.substack.com

Hernan Haro has been part of the Argentinean entrepreneurial scene for almost two decades, and connected with the Silicon Valley since 2008. He is an experienced operator that knows what it takes to build a scalable business, a startup advisor, Mentor at the Buenos Aires chapter of Singularity University and also at the Founder Institute. He is currently living in Uruguay and is the General Partner of MrPink VC, an early-stage venture fund investing in Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Uruguay, and Chile.Hernan holds an MBA from UC Berkeley (2010), a MsC in Industrial Engineering from ITBA (2001), and a BS in Computer Science (1997) from ORT. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thelatamventurecapitalpodcast.substack.com

In this episode I talked to Ivan Montoya, Managing Partner of NuMundo Ventures a pre-seed and seed venture capital fund. Ivan is considered a Super Angel and has invested in over 50 Latin American startups. He previously worked at McKinsey and Yahoo, and received his MBA from Stanford and Bachelor’s from Harvard. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thelatamventurecapitalpodcast.substack.com

This episode is a bit different. Before coming to the United States, I worked for a year and a half at a software testing services company called Abstracta. During my time there, I learned a lot about product development and product quality. A couple weeks ago I found myself thinking about how much product quality can affect finding product-market fit during the early-stages of a company. So I wanted to dive deeper into this topic, and I talked to Vanessa Sastre. She currently works at Abstracta as a QA Automator. Previously, she worked at Globant and Apptim. Apptim is an early-stage startup that provides a mobile performance testing platform. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thelatamventurecapitalpodcast.substack.com

In this episode I talked to Pablo Gutierrez the CEO and Co-Founder of Koi Ventures. Prior to founding Koi, Pablo worked in Bain as a Consultant for 2 years, co-founded a startup in Argentina that was acquired, did his MBA at the Columbia Business School and worked in Techstars, one of the largest accelerators in the world. He’s also General Partner of Kalei Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund that invests across Latin America. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thelatamventurecapitalpodcast.substack.com

In this episode I talked with Magdalena Corononel. Magdalena brings more than 15 years of angel investing, venture capital and investment banking experience both in the United States and Latin America. Magdalena started her career as a Venture Capital Analyst with Prosperitas Capital Partners, a fund manager investing in early-stage tech companies located in Uruguay. Subsequently, she became VentureStart Program Manager at the Regional Technology Alliance in Sacramento, California to later transition to Director with the Institute of the Americas, where she was responsible for the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program. Since 2018 she was a member of Houlihan Lokey, advising clients in valuation matters, until she joined IDB Lab as a Senior Investment Officer, leading the direct equity arm of the Lab, in December 2020. Magdalena assumed the role of Chief Investment Officer of IDB Lab in September 2021. Magdalena also co-founded a 35-member angel investor network with a focus on dealflow from Argentina, Colombia, and Uruguay, and was a Business Fellow from Partners of the Americas and the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and CulturalAffairs in 2011. She holds a B.A. in Economics from Universidad de la República Oriental del Uruguay, and a Master’s degree in Business and Administration from NYU Stern. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thelatamventurecapitalpodcast.substack.com