ANNUAL VC LATAM SUMMIT 2025

Alejandro Matamala Ortiz is the Chief Design Officer and co-founder of Runway, an applied AI research company that pushes the boundaries of AI and human creativity. His work focuses on researching and developing tools that integrate AI into creative processes. Before founding Runway, Alejandro was a resident researcher at NYU.

Allen has over 20 years of experience in development economics and venture capital, and he is part of Endeavor Catalyst, a fund dedicated to supporting high-growth companies in emerging and underserved markets. Allen leads an innovative co-investment fund, which has been recognized as one of the most active venture capital investors globally, particularly in Latin America and the Middle East. Since its launch in 2012, Endeavor Catalyst has raised over US$500 million and made more than 250 investments in over 30 countries, including 47 companies valued at over US$1 billion.

Additionally, Allen serves on the boards of several organizations focused on entrepreneurship and venture capital, such as @Kauffman Fellows, @Alter Global, and @Scale-Up Ventures in Brazil.

Since 2013, Bobby Franklin has served as the proud President and CEO of NVCA – the National Venture Capital Association. Under his stewardship, NVCA has emerged as the preeminent voice of the U.S. startup ecosystem, advocating for public policies that foster innovation and drive economic growth. With a relentless commitment to supporting American entrepreneurs, Bobby has positioned NVCA as a driving force in shaping the landscape of venture capital.

In 2020, Bobby’s visionary leadership led to the public launch of Venture Forward, NVCA’sconnected organization dedicated to cultivating a strong, diverse, and inclusive venture community. Through innovative programs like VC University, Venture Forward has empowered over 4,000 aspiring and early-career VCs, many from historically underrepresented backgrounds, fueling the pipeline of talent in the industry.

Before his tenure at NVCA, Bobby honed his advocacy skills over a decade at CTIA – The Wireless Association. He was on the public policy frontlines for the dawn of smartphones and the launch of the app-based economy. Prior to that, he served as Vice President of Federal Government Affairs at Alltel, demonstrating his expertise in navigating complex regulatory environments.

Bobby’s journey began with a solid foundation in public service, spending seven years on Capitol Hill working for Senator David Pryor (D-AR). He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a focus on Finance and Banking from the University of Arkansas.

Beyond his professional achievements, Bobby finds fulfillment in family life with his wife, Julia, and their three adult children.

As a leader, advocate, and mentor, Bobby continues to inspire others to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams and drive positive change in the world.

Starting out with SABMiller in El Salvador provided Claudia Duran with a rich introduction to the global beverage industry. The progression to Taca International Airlines (AVIANCA) was no less enlightening, as she took on strategic projects across the Americas, notably participating in the strategy team that launched VOLARIS in Mexico. Her finance background and these experiences paved the way for an engaging tenure with Deutsche Bank’s Private Wealth Management division in New York City.

Born to entrepreneurial parents, Claudia has always been inclined toward the drive and determination inherent in business builders. Inspired by their spirit and the broader impact of businesses, she transitioned to the non-profit sector. Based out of São Paulo, she took the reins of Ashoka in Brazil, a leading organization supporting social entrepreneurs globally. A return to her roots saw her dive into her family’s business, where she steered significant financial improvements.

By 2019, Claudia found herself at Endeavor Miami, where her leadership acumen and understanding of the entrepreneurial spirit contribute meaningfully to the office and team’s achievements.

Claudia’s academic journey took her to Penn State University for a Bachelor’s in Finance and the prestigious Instituto de Empresa (IE) in Madrid for an MBA. Fluent in Spanish, English, Italian, and Portuguese, she brings a unique appreciation for global perspectives – an invaluable asset in today’s interconnected business world.

Cristiane Nascimento is the International Head at the Brazilian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association. She has been leading the Association´s international outreach for the past 14 years working closely with stakeholders from the private and public sectors. Prior to that, she worked in different roles at the GPCA (formerly known as EMPEA), as well as NatureServe and the Pan American Health Organization of the World Health Organization.

Cristobal Perdomo is Co-Founder and General Partner of Wollef, an early stage venture capital firm
focused on digital-focused companies in Latin America.
Previously, Mr. Perdomo served as VP of Real Estate Latin America at Navent, Latin America’s largest
online classifieds company (backed by Tiger Global and Riverwood Capital). At Navent, he was part of
the founding team and was responsible for the company’s real estate sites in Mexico, Peru, Ecuador,
Panama and Venezuela, and software companies in Brazil and Mexico. Navent was acquired by Quinto
Andar in 2021.
Earlier, Cristobal was part of the founding team of Groupalia, a daily deals site (backed by Index
Ventures, Insight Venture Partners, Caixa Capital Risc, and Nauta Capital). At Groupalia, he was
responsible for launching the company’s operations across 5 countries (Mexico, Argentina, Chile,
Colombia and Peru) in less than 8 months and positioning it as the number one player in the market.
Mr. Perdomo began his career as a lawyer focused on international financial transactions in the energy
sector. He has also held senior management positions at Cemex, Grupo Modelo (now part of AB Inbev),
and Booz & Co. (now known as Strategy&).
Mr. Perdomo holds an MBA with honors from Columbia University, and received JD with honors from
Universidad Iberoamericana.

Derek leads the Ag and food investing team for Leaps by Bayer, whose mission is to invest in breakthrough companies that are solving fundamental challenges in health and agriculture. Derek has been investing in agriculture and food technologies since 2009, and he has been founding investor for several companies that have developed and scaled novel technologies in agriculture.  He has invested in and served on the boards of companies in multiple areas spanning synthetic biology, biologicals, chemistry, and digital farming technologies.  Derek received a PhD in Chemistry from Harvard and did his undergraduate studies at Stanford University.

Dileep Thazhmon is the Founder and CEO of Jeeves, an all-in-one corporate spend and expense management platform for businesses in global markets including Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, UK, Europe, Canada and the USA. 

More than 3000 companies across the world trust Jeeves with their financial payment stack. Jeeves is backed by Andreesen Horowitz, CRV, GIC, Tencent and Y Combinator.

He previously worked in Venture Capital and graduated with honors from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Emanuel Hernandez is Director of Research at LAVCA. In this role he heads the department’s data collection and the generation of products and services for LAVCA’s members and Latin America’s private capital community.  The mission of LAVCA is to spur regional economic growth by advancing private capital investment. LAVCA’s membership is comprised of over 200 members that control over USD65b directed at private investments in Latin America. Prior to joining LAVCA, Emanuel worked at Seton Hall University and served as a Research Fellow at the Latin American and Caribbean Unit of DCAF – the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance in Switzerland.

Eric has always believed in the power of entrepreneurship, technology, and venture capital to transform Latin America. In 2005, he founded Monashees together with Fabio Igel, creating the first Latin American venture capital firm inspired by Silicon Valley’s best practices. At Monashees, Eric leads the investment strategy and overall management of the firm, focusing particularly on emerging tech, AI, consumer, and edtech companies.

Throughout his career, he has worked closely with companies such as Elo7 (acquired by Etsy), Enjoei (IPO), Jusbrasil, MadeiraMadeira, Moises, Neoway (acquired by B3), Nomad, PetLove, and VivaReal/Grupo Zap (acquired by OLX), among many others.

Before founding Monashees, Eric worked in venture capital at General Atlantic and strategic consulting at McKinsey.

He has led 27 VC portfolio investments, over 10 angel investments and co-founded 3 companies. Board member at ACVC (ChileanVenture Capital Association); was senior advisor to the undersecretary of Economy in Chile for Technology, entrepreneurship and Venture Capital, advisor to CORFO, PUC and multiple technology companies; was CEO at DimercLabs, company builder for the Dimerc Group in Chile and Peru. Managing Partner at Austral Capital, co-founded and led Austral Colombia and Austral California, to support portfolio growth into both markets; was president at ASEMBIO and represented the Chilean Technology Federation in Alianza del Pacífico (Chile, Perú, Colombia and Mexico).

Fernando is the CEO of Kauffman Fellows, the leading education and community platform for venture capital managers.

He is a co-founder and partner (inactive) at Matterscale Ventures, a venture capital firm launched by former Endeavor colleagues that invests in early-stage Latin startups.

He is also a co-founder of Columbia University’s eLab, a fellowship for global entrepreneurs in edtech/workforce. Since 2019, he has been an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, SIPA, teaching the course Scaling Up in Hard Places: How Entrepreneurs Grow Outside of Silicon Valley.

Prior to this, as president of Endeavor, he helped the organization expand to 30+ countries and launch Endeavor Catalyst and Endeavor Insight.

He co-founded Collective Academy, a top higher-ed school in Mexico, and is an advisor to Escuela Bancaria y Comercial and Instituto Tecnologico de Buenos Aires. 

He lives in New York with his family.

He is a partner at Carey, the largest law firm in Chile, co-leading the areas of venture capital, fintech, and investment funds. Francisco is the President of the Chilean Venture Capital Association (ACVC), Chair of the Latin American Regional Council of The World Services Group, and Director of InBest.

He has been recognized as a leading Venture Capital and Fintech lawyer by several foreign publications such as Chambers & Partners, Latin Lawyer, and The Legal 500, among others. In 2022 he received the Investment Lawyer of the Year Award by Best Lawyers.

He has been a postgraduate professor of corporate law and venture capital courses at several universities in Chile. He is the author of the book “Privileged Information in the Stock Market” (Legal Publishing, 2007) and frequently participates as a speaker in foreign investment seminars and events.

German Pugliese is one of the founders of Technisys, a digital banking tech company headquartered in Miami Florida. He also acts as the CMO and head of alliances for the company.

Back in 1995, they envisioned the potential of the internet to transform banking into a nimble, technology-driven industry providing both banks and consumers with fast and innovative services. Twenty five years later, Technisys has a proven track record of helping banks including HSBC, Itau, Banco Original in Brazil, Brightside in Canada, Banco Falabella in five countries and many others, deliver exceptional digital experiences to more than 100 million banking customers in 16 countries.

Their next gen, API-centric digital banking platform – Cyberbank – is the only end-to-end banking platform that offers banks and financial service companies structural flexibility, enabling them to keep up with the evolving needs of their customers and provide exceptional digital experiences that help them differentiate. Market analysts including Gartner, Forrester and Celent have all recognized Cyberbank as a best-of-breed digital banking platform.

His experience in helping lead the digital evolution of banks has also enabled him to share his insights, the Technisys vision and their key learnings with top financial publications including Forbes, CNN, America Economia and Latin Finance. He have also been a guest speaker at Penn’s Wharton School of Business, Columbia University, MIT as well as at multiple digital banking industry events and conferences.

Jazmín Gustale Gill is a venture capital investor based in Latin America. Passionate about the impact and the potential of disruptive technologies to transform the region and accelerate sustainable development, she has a breadth of experience working in the innovation, policy, and social impact space. Before founding iThink VC, Jazmín led the creation of the first National Innovation Strategy in Paraguay, working in the Presidency of the country. She oversaw the development of the Strategy as a public-private initiative to foster the country’s innovation ecosystem (2018-2021). Before that, she served as the Vice Minister of Planning and Economic Development (2017-2018).

iThink VC is a venture capital fund investing in exceptional entrepreneurs solving the most pressing challenges in Latin America.

José operates at the intersection of investment, technology and education. He has 30 years of experience as a finance professional, has led transactions over USD 1 billion and raised pioneering private equity funds in Perú and Colombia.  In his most recent initiative, he has led a pilot venture capital fund with 26 investments in eight countries, including those made in Edtech and Fintech.  He is currently raising a pioneering fund dedicated to the future of education and the Future of work for Latin America. As President at PECAP, he leads the promotion and growth of the industry in Perú.

Liliana is CEO at AMEXCAP since April, 2018. Before, she was Venture Capital Director of the National Entrepreneurship Institute (INADEM). She has more than 15 years of experience in development banks in areas such as projects evaluation, technical assistance and project management with multilateral and bilateral funding. She has also worked as an independent consultant and project manager of local economic development projects financed with international cooperation funds.

Magdalena has been leading the Chilean Venture Capital Association (ACVC) for 6 years. Since her arrival as executive director, the association has increased by more than 75 members. She has also created and implemented a strategy of positioning, valorization and projection of the Venture Capital industry at national and Latin American level.

Her expertise is to connect the different stakeholders in the ecosystem and the generation of public-private collaborations for the promotion and growth of investment in innovation.

In addition, she has been a professor of methodologies for innovation and investment in startups at prestigious Chilean universities.

She co-founded a visual communication and design firm with more than 35 clients from large companies nationwide, Singular Diseño, where she developed as managing partner for 15 years.

Co-founder and Managing Partner of Newtopia VC, an early stage venture capital firm which invests in startups from and for Latin America and President of ARCAP (Venture Capital and Private Equity association of Argentina).

He was previously founder of Marea Venture Partners, a firm focused on value chain transformation, digitalization, open innovation & corporate venturing, working with governments, NGOs, corporations and startups.

As a partner of Tanoira Cassagne Law Firm, his career was focused on entrepreneurship and venture capital, both in advising startups and funds and in collaboration with leading institutions which promote entrepreneurship in Argentina.

Paola Garcia has more than 20 years of professional experience in management and administrative positions in Spain and Colombia, in firms such as Dragados, Obras y Proyectos, CSI Complex Systems, also as a foreign investment promotion advisor at Invest in Bogota and ProColombia where she held positions as investment manager for Agroindustry, Logistics, Energy and Infrastructure; manager for investment attraction in Asia and vice president of investment. She has also been in charge of accompanying capital funds that have bet on the country and its companies. She has worked with Softbank in technology ventures, Brookfield in energy, KKR in telecommunications, MacQuarie and John Laing in infrastructure, and Acumen in impact projects, among others.

Sylvia is an international executive and consultant who became a technology entrepreneur. She is Co-Founder and CEO of ThalesLab, a Company Builder and Technology Incubator based in Uruguay. She is co-founder and president of URUCAP (the Uruguayan Private Capital Association), a mentor at Endeavor, and Director of WeInvest, a community of investors in ventures in Latin America. Sylvia has been a university professor in engineering courses and innovation topics.