Santiago Molina

LATAM tech companies are hitting the gas on fundraising in 2025, and smart founders know that fundraising isn’t about rushing to close a round—it’s about building trust, relationships, and momentum over time. Investors back founders they trust. In fact, 78% of successful seed rounds involve investors who had prior interactions with the founder. Consistent updates—quarterly emails, product milestones, traction—keep investors engaged and create momentum. The earlier you start, the better your chances of finding the right partners who align with your vision. At every stage: 💡 Pre-seed to Seed: Storytelling & team strength 📈 Series A: Product-market fit & traction 📊 Growth: Scalability & metrics (CAC, LTV, ARR) Start early. Build trust. Close strong. More lessons from The J Curve Season 3 in our YouTube and Spotify channels 🎧👀 #latamtech #thejcurvepodcast #foundraisingtips #venturecapital #buildinpublic

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Since 2020 I have had the privilege of being part of BuiltWorlds. Throughout these years I have seen how corporations, startups, and companies from Latin America have begun to take an interest in the events that BuiltWorlds holds. Likewise, companies, corporations and CVCs and VCs from North America and Europe have been interested in learning more about the development of the ConTech ecosystem in Latin America. Based on this interest in the ecosystem, a year ago we began to explore the possibility of holding a Summit or an event focused on technological adoption for construction, sustainability and infrastructure development in Latinoamerica. Today this event, Building Latam Fest, is not only a reality, but it exceeds the expectations that any of us could have in mind. What began with a Whatsapp group and zoom calls to brainstorm ideas about what the event could be, will be the largest Contech, Cleantech and Buildtech event in Latin America and the most solid step for the consolidation of the ecosystem in the region.   The purpose is not to make just another event, the purpose is to have an event to consolidate the ecosystem, to disseminate how the innovation areas of corporations and companies in the sector can have innovation programs to respond to the challenges they have, so that startups can find accelerators and specialized mentoring in the industry that helps them structure themselves in the best possible way for investment, that investors know how the ecosystem is generating opportunities for technological development that can provide return and that in the end the sector benefits from this whole virtuous circle.   Within this process, we could not have found a better ally than La Mezcladora - Hub de Innovación of UTEC Ventures for the organization of the event, nor a better space than UTEC, the technological university of Peru, in Lima. Save the date and participate in this unique event Thanks to all that help in the WA group and the zoom calls to make the event a reality: La Mezcladora - Hub de Innovación, Progreso X, NEXT by Lamosa, Leonard:LatAm, Cementos Pacasmayo SAA, UNACEM, Buildtech Ventures LLC, Mangxo, 360Lateral, Buildpeer, Zacua Ventures, Spybee, Alexis Pérez, @alex Tamayo, Erick Ricardo Melgar Godoy, Gabriela Rodas Urruela, Sheidy Li Cam, Daniel Chamochumbi, Ines Roggero Cilloniz, Francisco Barua, Luis Enrique Flórez Parodi, Victoria Medrano Blanco, Carlos Enrique Sosa, Margarita de la Peña Virgós, Juan Alejandro Saldarriaga Fernández, Natalia Stephanou Frieri, Lilianne Brunstein, Ana María Montoya Arango, Robert ROCHA B., Rodrigo Zetina V., Sergio Angelini, Mauricio Valdes, Julian Rico, Felipe Garzón, @alvaro V, ★ GERMAN ELERA, Mario Espana muchos otros que seguramente se me pasan

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I'm conducting a research study on LATAM and India's experiences with fraud, governance risk, startup blowouts, currency devaluation, and inflation. My goal is to analyze how venture capital firms and startups addressed these challenges, drawing key insights and recommendations for emerging economies like Africa. If you're passionate about research and interested in contributing to this project, I’d love to have you on board as a volunteer. Your involvement will help shape valuable insights for the future of emerging markets. Interested? Please reach out to me directly! #ResearchOpportunity #VentureCapital #LATAM #India #Africa #Governance #RiskManagement #Startups

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Important post from my colleague Alexander Busse on seed valuations today in LatAm which are showing signs of coming down. Important take-away: Raising at a high valuation at Seed can place undue pressure on Series A rounds where traction and other fundamental KPIs are subject to greater scrutiny post-2022.

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Venture capital isn't very complicated math. In young ecosystems, the historical chances of investing in a unicorn are hyper-slim. Let alone exiting that investment if a unicorn does emerge. But what if you invest early and exit when companies reach, say, a $200M valuation? There are more companies in those waters. Maybe that makes more sense in the LATAM context, for example. Hear what Luis Andrés Enriquez Arias from Bridge Latam has to say in this exclusive Realistic Optimist interview. https://lnkd.in/gPJU9-Xd

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Venture Capital Mx - Digitt "Digitt is here to provide a fair and transparent option for people with a proven willingness and ability to pay, currently paying higher interest rates than what they deserve. We’re not just another financial service; we’re a partner for those looking to rebuild their financial lives." - David García Aceves Digitt, co founded by David García Aceves and Manuel Alvarez Vergara, is a fintech company that helps individuals in Mexico manage and refinance their credit card debt, specifically focusing on prime and near-prime customers. Digitt offers personalized solutions with fair interest rates and no hidden fees, making financial recovery more accessible and transparent for users. Traditional banks have long profited from consumers through opaque fees and soaring interest rates, often trapping even financially responsible individuals in cycles of debt. “Banks have been taking advantage of customers with hidden fees and predatory rates for years. We knew there had to be a better way, and that’s why we built Digitt.” In this feature, David shares the inspiration behind Digitt, key insights into the company’s digital marketing success, and the challenges of raising capital in Mexico’s financial markets. Link to Full Feature in Comments #startups #mexico #venturecapital

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In the current context, is Affordable House Flipping the next profitable investment opportunity for Pension Funds, REITs, and institutional investors in Mexico? 🚀 In a market with shifting dynamics, many real estate industry sectors—such as corporate offices, industrial, retail, hospitality, multifamily, luxury residential, and short-term rentals —face lower or stagnant returns. However, one area is emerging as a standout performer: Affordable House Flipping (AHF). At Solviing, we believe that this strategy has the potential to generate above 40% annual returns for savvy investors. Here's why: 1.    Rising Demand for Affordable Housing: With over 10 million formal workers in Mexico actively seeking affordable homes and a growing market of used homes, the demand for properties in the sub-$50,000 USD range is stronger than ever. Traditional developers want to meet this need, but only some are stepping in. 2.    Untapped Market Potential: Mexico's affordable housing market is ripe for transformation. The country has 2 million homes with mortgage defaults, offering significant flipping opportunities.  3.    Short Sale Cycles: The AHF cycle (acquire, renovate, and sell homes) can take less than 90 days, minimizing holding costs and optimizing capital turnover. The streamlined approach ensures that properties are moved quickly, increasing ROI. 4.    Social Impact & Stability: AHF’s business model isn't just about financial returns. Working with affordable housing makes a positive social impact in vulnerable communities by addressing the affordable housing shortage. The public and private sectors increasingly support initiatives that improve housing conditions, further enhancing long-term stability and profitability. Affordable House Flipping is not just about real estate—it's about capturing high demand and quick turnover in an untapped market segment. For funds seeking high returns with a strong social impact, Solviing offers a unique opportunity to make a difference—while delivering exceptional financial results. Our proprietary algorithms, data insights, and market expertise allow us to identify the best opportunities and execute competitive offers efficiently in real time, creating a fast flipping process that maximizes profits. This isn't speculation—it's a calculated strategy based on Mexico's current market demand. 💡 Interested in learning more? Let's discuss how Solviing can become a key part of your investment strategy. #InvestInMexico #RealEstateReturns #AffordableHousing #ImpactInvesting #HouseFlipping #Solviing #PorfolioManagers #Afores #PrivateEquity #InvestmentFunds

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One of the biggest hurdles for tech in LatAm is liquidity. IPOs aren’t happening fast enough, and Brazil’s struggles with tech exits are a warning sign for the entire region. The solution won’t come from waiting. LatAm needs creative approaches: alternative exchanges, dividend-sharing models, and hybrid funding structures that fit the region’s realities. I’ve shared a few strategies VCs and startups can use to tackle this in 2025. Find out more in my newsletter—link in comments.

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Venture Capital Mx: Clara In this feature, I will share a glimpse of how Gerry Giacomán Colyer, co-founder & CEO of Clara, was motivated to pursue entrepreneurship while growing up in Mexico. Discuss how Gerry and Diego Iván García Escobedo, co-founders of Clara, were first inspired to develop the idea for Clara. Highlight some product features that the team is excited about and conclude with some overall advice for the next generation of entrepreneurs. https://lnkd.in/dT29MSER #mexico #startups #venturecapital

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LATAM VCs should focus on very early-stage. It boils down to math. Here's what Luis Andrés Enriquez Arias from Bridge Latam thinks: "In LATAM, VC math makes more sense if you invest very early. Let’s say you run a $10M fund and write average checks of $1M, on a $10M valuation. To get your homerun, you’d need one of those deals to return $20M. That implies the company would need to reach a $200M valuation. It’s safe to assume LATAM has more companies in those waters than unicorns. You can also sell your stake to a later-stage investor rather than waiting for a liquidity event. Ideally, you would exit 2/3rds of your investment at the $200M valuation round, and keep 1/3rd of it in case of an extraordinary IPO, à la Nubank. This strategy boils down to adapting VC math to the ecosystem’s youth. That being said, it implies bigger risks: you are investing earlier and thus in very immature companies. Increased risk means you will have to invest in twice as many deals, to make sure to optimize the chances of fund returners." Read Luis' full Realistic Optimist piece here: https://lnkd.in/gPJU9-Xd

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If Latin America runs on WhatsApp, it’s fair to say Peru runs on Yape... Raimundo Morales is the CEO of Yape, the dominant fintech app in Peru and one of the biggest consumer fintechs in the world. For context, Yape has 16 million users in Peru, which represents 80% of the country’s total population. 65% of the country's adult population uses the app EVERY DAY. On average, they process 550+ million payments a month and are doubling in volume YoY. In this Fintech Leaders episode, we discuss: - The strategy that led them to onboard 65% of Peru’s adult population as daily active users in just eight years   - Yape was built within Credicorp (NYSE: BAP), a $14Bn company traded on the NYSE. How were they able to build a fintech disruptor within a large corporation?   - The road to building a super-app   - Why you should always set irrational goals; winning the war on cash… and a lot more! https://bit.ly/3XsISXy Special thanks to Gianfranco Ferrari, Francesca Raffo, and Milagros Cigueñas!

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✨ Breaking: Medellín Venture Capital Announces New Fund.- Medellín Venture Capital Medellín Venture Capital is a new investment program co-led by Medellín's municipality and the innovation center Ruta N. Starting in 2025, it plans to deploy $1.2 million in pre-seed and seed rounds as part of a broader $11 million strategy, targeting sectors like mobility, health, air quality, energy, circular economy, and deeptech. https://rutanmedellin.org/ Please share to let other #Founders know For the ❤️ of Startups #Fusion42 #Startups #Venturecapital

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𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝟭,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 Edit List Link: https://lnkd.in/esFvg_bN The right angel investors can make all the difference for your startup's success and open doors that were shut before. I've put together a curated list of the 1,000 most active angel investors worldwide with my friend Guillermo Flor. Here's what's inside: 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐨𝐩 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐬: Including folks like Elad Gil, Naval Ravikant, Scott Banister, Marc Benioff, Garry Tan, Justin Kan, and more. 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬: Whether they invest in pre-seed, seed, Series A, etc. 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: The geographical areas they're active in. Industries and Sectors: Their areas of interest or expertise. 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝𝐈𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬: Direct links so you can reach out and connect. Additional Info: Other details to help you make a meaningful connection Leave a comment below for the link 👇

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LatAm Seed Stage Valuations Are Finally Coming Down – This is Good for Founders and VCs When the market correction started in early 2022 the first companies to see steep valuation declines were public equities, pre-IPO, and late-stage growth businesses. Over the following 18 months, valuation declines trickled down the alphabet until they seemed to hit a wall shielding pre-seed and seed companies whose valuations remained at 2021 levels. This is beginning to change. One of the main reasons for this change is that founders starting a business today are watching their peers who raised in 2021 struggle to sustain their valuations. Many 2021 businesses have resorted to internal bridge rounds, others are doing flat or down rounds, some have decreased burn significantly hoping to grow into their previous round’s high valuation, and yet others have had to fold. None of these scenarios is ideal. They tend to add a lot of stress to founders’ lives and in most cases lead to increased dilution. The business suffers as a consequence. Founders raising their Seed round today are noticing this trend and are adjusting valuations accordingly. This is the smart thing to do for a simple reason: Raising a Series A in 2024 is very different from 2021 In 2024 investors scrutinize traction at the A-round. They meticulously review KPIs, want to understand a path to profitability, double click on cash burn, and then look at what public market comps are trading at. None of that happened in 2021 where a strong team and a compelling vision for the business were enough. What does all this mean for 2024 Seed companies? The implication of raising at a very high valuation in 2024 is that you need to be very confident that you will be able to get enough traction in 24 months to defend a 2x or preferably 3x valuation increase from the previous round. This is easier to do if you start at $7m post vs. $20m post. Conservations between VCs and founders about valuation should focus on having an honest discussion about what needs to happen to raise the next round of financing and what traction and signs of product-market fit one needs to see to go out and raise successfully. Founders and VCs are finally taking note of these new market circumstances and both are better off for it. Disclaimer: There are always exceptions to the above. Some businesses truly require more capital at the early stages of the business in which case a higher valuation is warranted.

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The Chilean government gave me $40,000 to start a business. $40k… This was a few years ago My cofounder and I were living in Buenos Aires. Funding Process Street out of our own pockets. And after the first few months of working together, we ran into the challenges most startup founders face early on… - building a new product with a small team is hard - selling customers on why they should use it is hard - scaling both of those activities at the same time is hard We thought we’d become profitable a lot faster than we actually did. So… We’re running out of money, trying to figure out how to get more of it. This is also around the time Cameron McKay and I meet some founders who were traveling through Argentina. Turns out, they graduated from this program in a nearby country called “Startup Chili” This is me: “Startup Chili?” “Like an accelerator for high-growth tasty innovative bean and soup brands?” This is them: “No…” So we start a conversation *Startup Chile* is a startup accelerator sponsored by the Chilean government to attract talented folks to build their startups in Chile. When we applied, - They’d take 100 startup founders every 6 months - Give them $40,000 - take 0% equity At the time, this program sounded like a golden ticket. So Cameron and I invest some money, rent a nice recording studio, make a video application, and pray we get accepted. accepted immediately. Boom! 💥 $40,000 in our bank account, 6 more months of runway, ultimately helping us bridge an important gap in our roadmap. That video is still up on our youtube channel today.

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Here we have Reservi's intro deck. https://lnkd.in/ekH3GsXa Cofounded by Jonathan Paul Montoya, I love the strategy of this startup in principle. It's so very very basic and lacks any form of innovation integrity - but that's kinda why I love it! They are unashamedly taking one of the most effective startup strategies ever used and building an entire business around it. It's called 'The Rocket Internet' method. It involves copying and pasting a good idea from one market to another, particularly in developing economies. Simple. In this case, they want to copy/paste the process of online/mobile bookings for beauty salons and import it into Colombia. Brilliant in principle. But this deck fails to adequately answer the two most important questions that make the Rocket Internet approach work... 1. How fast can you move (aka - show me you already have market access)? 2. How big is that economy if you get a good market share? Both questions are left unanswered when reviewing the deck at the speed most investors would. So my response if it were sent by email would be "not a fit for me, but keep me up to date with your progress". Watch the video to learn more. Hugs

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Here is an initial overview of venture capital funds that are predominantly based in Mexico or have a notable presence in the region, such as having office locations or team members stationed there. **Please note that this list is not exhaustive and is part of an ongoing project to create a comprehensive database of funds investing in Mexico. monashees COMETA KASZEK NAZCA Wollef Magma Partners Dalus Capital IGNIA Partners Amplifica Capital Proeza Ventures Angel Ventures CARABELA FEMSA Ventures NuMundo Ventures Lotux VC 500 LatAm Kuiper Polymath Ventures Angel Hub Ventures Blue Zone Ventures #startups #venturecapital #mexico

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Venture Capital Mx: Joe Merullo From entrepreneurship to angel investing and everything in between, Joe Merullo shares his experience in launching a startup in Latin America, highlights areas of opportunity for innovation in LATAM, and offers overall advice to aspiring entrepreneurs. https://lnkd.in/e_MmAfQj #startups #entrepreneurship #mexico

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