La Frontera: Bridging Startups and VCs Across the Americas

This week on La Frontera , we sit down with Ben Zehr, Co-Founder of Reciprocal, to explore one of the most underfunded opportunities in venture today: climate tech in Latin America. Despite representing ~8% of global GDP and holding ~40% of the world’s biodiversity, the region receives less than 0.5% of global climate venture capital. Ben breaks down why that gap exists, what investors are missing...

How do you raise ~$20M and scale to ~$6M ARR in ~20 months as a first-time founder in Latin America? In this episode of  La Frontera , we sit down with  Nico Camhi , CEO and co-founder of  Vambe , to break down the real playbook behind building and scaling an AI company in LatAm. We cover how Vambe uses AI agents to automate critical back-office workflows for B2C commercial teams, why execution an...

We sat down with Andrew Endicott , GP at Gilgamesh Ventures and former co-founder and president of Petal —one of the earliest fintech companies to challenge traditional credit underwriting by using cash-flow data instead of credit scores. It’s one of those conversations that looks like a fintech episode on the surface, but ends up being something deeper: a discussion about how people make decision...

We sat down with  Marcial González Fraga , Founder of  Oss , to explore how startup founders can raise capital on their own terms. From launching  Mercado Libre’s  fintech lending arm to co-founding a startup and leading 100+ investments at  Latitud Ventures , Marcial has seen every side of the fundraising table. Now, as a self-described “ fundraising sherpa ,” he helps founders flip the power dyn...

We sat down with Nico Estrada, CFO of VEMO, to dive into how this Mexican company is accelerating the electric mobility revolution across Latin America. Nico takes us through his journey from Colombia to Wall Street to Mexico City — and why he left investment banking to become VEMO’s first non-founder hire. We explore how VEMO rolled up multiple startups to build an integrated EV ecosystem that co...

In this episode, we talk with  Daniela Pacheco , Managing Partner of  New Ventures Capital (NVC) , about making impact investing in Latin America both sustainable and profitable. Daniela shares how NVC is bridging philanthropy and venture capital with a $20M fund focused on youth, women, and overlooked sectors like healthcare. We dive into why  impact + returns  go hand in hand, how her team proac...

In this episode, we dive into why M&A matters now more than ever in LatAm, and how Adquiere is tackling the region’s  exit gap  head-on. Daniel shares how a  failed acquisition of his last company  sparked the idea for Adquiere, why  small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs)  may hold the key to a  virtuous cycle  of reinvestment, and how connecting cross-border capital (think the Hispanic diaspor...

Tomas Uribe's unconventional path, unique style and perspective is a refreshing one, and his journey has a bit of everything: from a childhood steeped in music and the arts to a leap from Colombia to New York City. He shares hard-won lessons navigating the U.S. immigration maze and building a startup that’s caught the attention of investors like Pharrell Williams and Morgan Stanley. In this episod...

Ali Jamal, Founding Partner of First Check Ventures, was more than just an early-stage investor. He was a friend, a mentor, and a quiet force who backed founders before anyone else did; often when all they had was conviction and a dream. In this special episode, investors, founders, and friends share about their moments with and memories of Ali that defined who he was and the deep impact he had on...

In this episode of  La Frontera , we sit down with Juan Fantoni, co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Pomelo, one of Latin America’s most ambitious fintech infrastructure startups. Juan walks us through his journey from Mastercard executive to fintech founder, and how he and his co-founders built Pomelo to power card issuance and embedded finance across the region. We dive deep into launchin...

In this episode, we sit down with  Maria Gutierrez Peñaloza , co-founding partner of  Nido Ventures , to explore why  Mexico may be entering its “golden decade”  for tech and cross-border innovation. Maria shares how her background working in supply chain in Silicon Valley shaped Nido’s investment thesis, and why they’re backing B2B startups transforming legacy industries. We dive into nearshoring...

In this episode of La Frontera, we talk with Marinella Piñate, CEO and co-founder of Zumma, a Mexico-based fintech transforming messy manual finance ops with an AI-powered “WhatsApp CFO” for businesses across Latin America. We dive into what led Zumma to pivot from a beloved B2C app to a fast-growing B2B platform, how Marinella’s travels through 60+ countries shaped her entrepreneurial mindset, an...

In this episode of  La Frontera  🌵, we sit down with  Luis Enriquez , co-founder and GP of  Bridge Latam , to explore why now is the moment to invest in Latin America's booming tech scene. Luis breaks down the $1 trillion opportunity, the industries primed for disruption, and how Mexico's cultural nuances shape startup culture. We also dive into the challenges (and opportunities) of Serie...

In this episode of  La Frontera  🌵, we talk with Andrés Londoño Botero, CFO and co-founder of Monet, a Colombian fintech that’s issued over a million loans to users at the base of the pyramid—many receiving credit for the first time. We dig into how Monet ditched the HR data model, built their own open banking rails, and why Andrés thinks social media credit scoring is a step too far. He also sha...

In this episode, we sit down with Susy from DUX Capital to explore the hustle, focus, and luck needed to break into venture capital, the critical role of female investors in the startup ecosystem, and why fundraising in Latin America is facing extreme headwinds. Susy shares actionable tips for founders preparing for early-stage fundraising — from building strong data rooms to managing investor rel...

In this episode of  La Frontera  🌵, we sit down with Nico Yepes, co-founder of Moffin, a fintech infrastructure startup based in Guadalajara that’s quietly transforming how data is shared in Mexico. Nico brings the investor lens—having spent years in private equity focused on emerging market financial services—while his co-founders bring deep engineering and product expertise. Together, they’ve b...

In this episode, we sit down with Angel Cisneros, founder and CEO of Saptiva, an AI infrastucture and orchestration platform in LatAm. We explore his remarkable journey of bootstrapping Quiubas and exiting to Twillio, long before a robust ecosystem existed in Mexico, and his insights on how to position a startup for a successful acquisition. We dive deep into why he believes Latin America urgently...

In this episode of  La Frontera , we sit down with Alejandro Troll, GP at BVC, to unpack the differences between venture ecosystems in Brazil, Colombia, and Peru—and why those nuances matter for startups and investors. We explore how BVC builds trusted deal flow in markets like Peru and Colombia, sources high-potential startups before they hit major accelerators, and works to educate Japanese LPs...

In this episode, we chat with Courtney McColgan, Founder and CEO of Runa, about the realities of building and scaling a startup in Latin America as a foreign founder. Courtney shares hard-earned lessons from growing Cabify from $20M to a $1.5B valuation, how she navigated fundraising for Runa during the VC boom, and why thinking like an investor gave her an edge. We also dive into LatAm’s tech tal...

In this episode, we sit down with Rene Ojeda, partner at 500 Global, who’s been shaping the LatAm startup ecosystem from day one. We explore the history of 500 LatAm, how the VC and startup landscape has evolved, and what makes for a great angel investor. Rene also pulls back the curtain on 500’s investment process and how they add value—plus, he reveals the biggest risk international VCs worry ab...

In this episode, we talk to Valentina Valencia, founder and CEO of Vaas, about how she’s unlocking capital markets in LatAm by automating asset-backed private debt transactions. As a Latina founder who started in Silicon Valley, Valen shares why she returned to build in Colombia, how she raised early VC funding from Andreessen with just a vision—no product, no traction—and the lessons she learned...

In our very first episode, we sit down with Cristobal Perdomo, co-founder of Wollef VC, to unpack what it takes to build and scale a top VC fund in Latin America. Cristobal shares how he raised his first fund, the key differences between LP bases in Mexico, the U.S., and Brazil, and why foreign investors need strong local partnerships to succeed in the region. We also dive into the challenges of e...