Five Latinx Women Changing The Game In Venture Capital
Latinx women are severely underrepresented in technology and Venture Capital—as are Latinx people in general. For example, while a dismal 0.2% of all venture capital goes to Black women in the US, a mere 0.4% goes to Latinx women.
According to a new report published by Project Diane, of the Latinx women who are reported to have received that 0.4% [of the $400 billion in venture capital funding between 2009 and 2017], only 58 ever raised over $1 million,
But there are five women who are making great strides in the venture capital ecosystem and trying to change the game.
Consuelo Valverde, Partner – SV Latam Capital
Consuelo is an entrepreneur and Venture Capital; she is the managing partner of SV Latam Capital. SV Latam Fund primarily engages in seed and early-stage investments focusing on Latin America, raising a $22M fund.
They’ve invested in Okio, a distraction-free way for parents and kids to communicate through voice messages. The firm also invested in Encellin, developing a novel thin-film cell encapsulation device for cell-based therapeutics. She has degrees in electrical engineering, computer science, and science entrepreneurship.
Noramay Cadena, Co-founder & Managing Partner – MiLA Capital
Noramay, who holds an MBA, a Master’s in Engineering Systems, and a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering, co-founded the Latinas STEM Foundation. She is also the co-founder of Mila Capital, a venture capital firm invested in more than 20 startups, including Dash Systems and Hava Health. Since its launch in 2015, Los-Angeles based MiLA Capital has raised over $145m creating jobs across the globe.
Lisa Feria, CEO – Stray Dog Capital
Lisa leads Stray Dog’s strategic investments in the plant-based food market. The firm invests mainly in mission-driven companies. Under Feria’s leadership, they’ve made over 30 investments in ‘future of food’ startups that offer healthy beef, chicken, seafood, eggs, and dairy alternatives.
Samara Mejia Hernandez, Founding Partner – Chingona Ventures
Samara Hernandez is the Founding Partner at Chingona Ventures, a seed-stage fund that focuses on US-based tech-enabled companies. Before she founded the firm, she worked in Goldman Sachs asset management and business operations. Before that – she earned an Industrial and Operations Engineering degree from the University of Michigan.
Chingona Ventures has invested in dozens of businesses, including FinTech contactless payment startup PaerPay.
Miriam Rivera, Managing Director – Ulu Ventures
Miriam is co-founder and managing director of Ulu Ventures, a $60M seed-stage venture fund focused on enterprise startups. The firm has invested in 188 start-ups from a variety of fields, including an auto insurance company that provides a pay-per-mile car insurance service that saves lower mileage drivers money (Mile auto)
Ms. Rivera is a former deputy counsel at Google but she’s not new to the world of investing. In fact, she is a key player in the Stanford ecosystem, serving as the Lead Counsel, the Stanford Law School Venture Fund, and the Board of Trustees.