Angel Ventures, AV (www.angelventures.vc), a leading early-stage venture capital firm focused on high growth potential investments, announces the launch of its Austin, TX, office and the onboarding of new Partners Elisa Sepulveda and Marcelo de la Garza.
This goes in hand with the signing of the first LP commitments to its third fund with a target size of $120 million. The fund will focus on investing in Latin American and US-Hispanic/Latino-owned startups, with a particular emphasis on fintech, foodtech, retailtech, proptech, and mobility opportunities. The fund is expected to commence operations during the second half of 2023.
According to Crunchbase, less than 2.0% of venture-backed startups have Latinx founders, despite Latinx entrepreneurs starting businesses three times faster than any other ethnic group (Aspen Institute). As it has done during its fifteen years in business, Angel Ventures is committed to supporting and investing in this underrepresented group of entrepreneurs and is excited to help them grow and scale their businesses.
After two successful funds in Latin America, the natural progression is for Angel Ventures to expand its footprint to the US Latino market. To assist in its operations, Angel Ventures has set up a local office in Austin which will power AV’s strong network and together with its proven track record in Latin America will position the fund ahead of other VC managers for successful, risk-adjusted returns. Additionally, the Company expects to leverage nearshoring capabilities that can help founders increase sales with connections to the biggest companies in Latin America and become more cost efficient by utilizing Latin American talent and resources.
As part of Angel Ventures’ expansion, the Firm is onboarding two Partners that have expansive experience in nearshoring, early-stage investments and company development.
Elisa Sepulveda is a community builder and operational leader living in Austin, Texas who believes that entrepreneurship can lift up underserved communities through employment and education. Elisa previously worked as an entrepreneur-in-residence for MATH Venture Partners, a Midwest venture capital firm. She also sits on the board for DivInc, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing minority entrepreneurs. Previously, Elisa was the Managing Director of Founder Institute Austin, an early-stage accelerator program, where she helped launch 70 companies during her 5-year tenure.
Marcelo de la Garza is Co-Founder of Gesta Labs, an innovation studio that builds end-to-end Industry 4.0 solutions for Industrial clients. With vast experience in digital transformation in the industrial sector. Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, he started a Family Office, Auria Capital, together with his family to professionalize the investments and disinvestment decisions of the family’s businesses and he has been an active angel investor for 10 years with over 30 investments and serves as board member of Nuevo Leon 4.0 and Auria Capital.
“The Angel Ventures team has a unique opportunity to become a premiere venture firm for Latinos given our experience in LATAM. Our team brings experiences from across the globe and together, we will demonstrate how cross border relationships with LATAM build the strongest US companies led by Latinos that build wealth for individuals and communities alike both sides of the border”
Elisa Sepulveda, AV
The fund’s investment strategy will be to invest in companies with a strong founding team, a clear market opportunity, and the potential to achieve significant growth. The team at Angel Ventures brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the table, having worked with a wide range of startups and entrepreneurs over the last fifteen years.
“This is a once in a lifetime window of opportunity to merge the best of two regions (Latam/US) by eliminating borders and letting innovative ideas, talent and capital flow freely in order to support the growth of amazing Startups that will generate large amounts of wealth not only economically but also impacting many people’s lives.”
Marcelo de la Garza
“AV has always been a collective of people making informed decisions based on specific expertise to maximize returns for our investors. We are extremely proud and happy to be able to attract talent like Elisa and Marcelo to the team to fuel the growth of our firm”, said Managing Partners Camilo Kejner and Hernán Fernández.
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