Jimena Pardo

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

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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.

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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

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