David Bernardo Santo

Pleased to announce that Forte Global has just launched in Peru - our sixth market. And we're also scaling up in current markets, including Colombia. As always, our goal is to be the backbone... the platform... the operating system... that enables world-class talent development. We make it super easy for any funder of education/training (whether governments, foundations, multinationals, or companies) to contract based on, track, verify and pay for outcomes - without the usual headaches and complexity. In Peru, we're working in partnership with Es Hoy to launch "ElevaTech" - a program to provide AI-focused digital training to disadvantaged Peruvians who would not otherwise have the opportunity to achieve their full potential. The focus of the AI training is on Cybersecurity, Data Science, and Data Engineering. AI will lead to massive job displacement over the next decade, but also create massive opportunities for those with the rights skills to take advantage of it. We're proud to help Peruvians thrive in this new AI era. Alejandro Jimenez T. Carolina Echeverri Hernández Ana Maria Roldan Arango Laura Torre Sergio Claux Mora

165

3 comentarios

Adriana Cisneros is the third generation to lead Grupo Cisneros, one of the most powerful privately held companies in Latin America. When she became CEO, Adriana took the business’ 28 fragmented units and consolidated them into 3 strategic pillars: 1) Cisneros Media Runs Venezuela’s largest TV network (Venevision). Producer of globally syndicated telenovelas. And owner of the Miss Venezuela Organization. Today, the company also runs Pay TV, digital platforms like Novelisima and MasTalk, and Mobius.Lab (short-form content and documentaries). 2) Cisneros Interactive A digital ad empire Adriana built from scratch. She turned it into the largest digital advertising network in Latin America, active in 15 countries and exclusive reseller for Meta (Facebook) in 9 of them. In 2021, she sold the business to Entravision. 3) Cisneros Real Estate Adriana launched Tropicalia, a sustainable ultra-luxury resort in Miches, Dominican Republic. While Spanish-led all-inclusives dominated the market, she pitched a Four Seasons resort. $2,000+ per night rates. 25 residences priced between $5M and $18M. It’s fully self-funded. Zero outside capital in Phase 1. When she approached banks with the idea, they dismissed her. So instead of forcing the market to get it, she educated them. She showed comps from Mexico and Puerto Rico. She worked with government leaders. She built alliances with landowners along the coast. She helped zone the area for low-density, high-luxury development to avoid the overbuilt, high-rise trap that’s ruined other Caribbean destinations. And while she built the resort, she was also building the infrastructure the region lacked. Through a coalition called ProMiches, she helped establish water access, waste management systems, and sustainable planning tools for the entire region. But before putting a shovel in the ground, she spent years meeting with the local Miches community. She learned that girls weren’t finishing high school. That abuse was common. That confidence and self-agency were rare. So she launched Fundación Tropicalia, starting with a summer camp called Soy Niña, Soy Importante. It’s a program for girls ages 9 to 18 that focuses on education, self-confidence, sex education, and leadership development. To date, over 3,300 girls have participated in the camp. Because Adriana didn’t just want to build a resort. She wanted to build a community that benefited from the resort. She brought in world-class land planners and renowned Brazilian architect Isay Weinfeld, who understood how to design for the tropics, not just build for tourists. Adriana is also President of Fundación Cisneros (nonprofit to improve education access in Latin America) and board member of Mattel, Ford Motor Company, and AST SpaceMobile. 💡 Follow Justine Juillard for daily #femalefounder spotlights and tap the 🔔 at the top of my profile to not miss a single story.

214

11 comentarios

The future belongs to those who dare to build deep tech. And in Latin America, more of them are rising every day. According to the Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, our region’s deep tech ecosystem is now valued more at $8B, with over 340 active startups as of 2023. In recent years, VC investment in the sector has grown 44x. But at Draper Cygnus, this growth is a confirmation of our thesis. We’ve spent the last decade backing founders who chose the harder path. People building from science, not hype. From conviction, not consensus. Startups like Skyloom Global, Stämm, Splight, Lemon, and Novo Space. All driven by teams that are turning deep science into real-world solutions for energy, health, space, climate and beyond. Behind every case, there were founders who chose the non-obvious path. Who decided to build deep tech in an industry where access to capital, talent and validation wasn’t easy. And yet, they moved forward. Investing is about walking alongside those who turn science into impact. This is just the beginning. But if there’s one thing we’ve learned along the way, it’s this: conviction, when sustained over time, becomes your greatest differentiator 🚀 #DeepTech #VentureCapital #DraperCygnus

67

1 comentario

Nubank just applied for a U.S. national bank charter. The company that went from São Paulo startup to 123 million customers is now preparing to enter the U.S. market. The opportunity is clear. 68 million Latinos in the U.S. represent 20% of the population. Many remain underserved by traditional banks and are already familiar with Nubank's brand from family in Latin America. That's the obvious entry point. But here's what makes this interesting: U.S. neobanks have struggled to scale. Chime and SoFi each have low tens of millions of active customers after 10+ years. Nu México hit 12 million customers in 5 years. They've proven they can build faster and retain better than U.S. competitors. Nubank has been quietly preparing. They've been recruiting U.S. talent for months. Cristina Junqueira relocated full time to lead the business. Roberto Campos Neto, former Central Bank of Brazil president, will chair the board. This isn't exploratory. They're building the infrastructure to compete seriously. The data suggests U.S. neobanks are vulnerable. Nubank has better unit economics, higher engagement rates, and a playbook that works across multiple markets. If they can replicate even half of their LatAm performance, they'll reshape the competitive landscape. I'm writing a full analysis on what this means for U.S. fintech competition and how Nubank plans to execute. Follow me for the article dropping soon. What's your take: Can Nubank disrupt U.S. digital banking the way they did in Brazil?

55

7 comentarios

I am proud to announce the 2025 Mexico Early Stage 100. Over the last few weeks, the teams at NuMundo Ventures (me, Mack Meyer) and Nascent (Victor Noguera, Bernardo Cordero, Archie Cochrane) reviewed hundreds of startups to identify the top 100 companies with the potential to become Mexico’s next category leaders. We evaluated companies based on the problem they were solving, traction, market potential, and founding team strength. Our goal is to celebrate the work of Mexican startups and founders and highlight the excellence of these firms to investors and future employees. A few highlights from this year’s group: ✔ We had 500+ applicants ✔ Companies are based across 8 cities in Mexico (esp. Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara, Querétaro), the US (esp. San Francisco), Argentina, and Guatemala ✔ The top 2 verticals are AI (30% of the list) and fintech (~20% of the list) ✔  The diversity of the top performing startups is incredible.   For example: * SARELLY SARELLY is a consumer focused startup growing very quickly and expanding into the US * Altur (YC S25) is a company using AI for debt collection and recently graduated from Y Combinator *Niko Energy is a clean tech company expanding solar powered energy across Mexico * Allie - AI for Manufacturing is using AI to improve Manufacturing in Mexico and the US ✔ More and more Mexican companies and founders are building for regional, US, and global markets from launch (e.g.,Seals AI, Kira, happypath, Klira AI) At NuMundo Ventures  we are deeply committed to supporting founders in Mexico and I’m happy to share their work with the world. Special thanks to Bruno Migliorini and Franco Corbalán for producing the website and market map. I hope you enjoy the list and market map (see link below), invest, and support Mexican startups! https://lnkd.in/gqrWSjwc

414

84 comentarios