Hola Familia! Every two weeks, we connect you—alongside 4,700+ Beehiiv subscribers and 26,000+ social media followers (Linkedin, Twitter, Luma)—to the latest inside scoop on the Latine venture scene.

Partner with us! For a chance to reach the Latine VC community, check out our sponsorship opportunities here.

Follow us on LinkedIn (VCFamilia + FounderFamilia + AngelFamilia) and Instagram. For WhatsApp, you can gain access here.

Major Updates

🏆 7 DAYS UNTIL VCFamilia Awards 🏆 Get your tickets now here!

🎉 11 DAYS UNTIL ¡DALE! 🎉 Thanks to all of our wonderful sponsors, DALE IS NOW FREE ADMISSION! RSVP here!

Thanks to our travel partner, Delta, we are also able to give our community discounted flights to NYC. More information here. Check out our most recent spotlights on our pitch competition finalists, judges, and keynote speaker on VCFamilia + FounderFamilia!

But…we also need volunteers! 🫵🏽

Your energy, support, and dedication ensure everything runs smoothly and help create the welcoming, inclusive environment that makes ¡DALE! and the VCF Awards special. Fill out the volunteer form for ¡DALE here and for the VCF Awards here!

Celebrating Familia Wins🎉

• Congrats to Oscar Marquina (VCFamilia) for their first portfolio win with the InstaLILY AI $25M Series A of led by Insight Partners.

• Congrats to Cynthia Duran (FounderFamilia) at Xinca Foods for their acceptance to the Whole Foods Accelerator! Read more here.

Messages from Our Sponsors

HSBC Startup Banking now has a free banking opportunity for pre-seed through Series A startups including:

• No fee banking for 24 months (ACH, wires, etc.)

• No minimum balance & competitive, high interest savings

• A dedicated, experienced relationship manager

• Access to VC and founder events (400+ VCs in our network)

• Under 3-day onboarding

• Backed by HSBC’s $3T global platform

  We’re already supporting companies like OpenAI, Stripe, and Physical Intelligence. Email bianca.caban [at] us.hsbc.com to learn more.

  

  Novel Capital helps B2B SaaS and tech founders scale with $100K–$5M in flexible, non-dilutive funding. With $150M deployed, we bridge rounds, fuel growth, and solve cash flow gaps without founders giving up equity.

• Target Companies: 

  1. B2B SaaS or tech-enabled businesses

  2. Based in the U.S. with domestic operating bank accounts

  3. Min Yearly Revenue of $500K up to $20M

  4. Revenue growth of 10%+ YoY

  5. 6+ months of runway

   

  Funding Amount: We can usually provide about 25% of their last year’s revenue from $100k up to $5M in totally non-dilutive capital in about 30 days. Common Use Cases:

  1. Hiring sales or marketing roles

  2. Bridging to the next equity round

  3. Funding proven growth channels

• Website: www.novelcapital.com 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/novelcapital 

• Inquiries: marketing [at] novelcapital.com

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🗓️ Eventos

FYI – as we’re getting bigger as a community, we will prioritize event entry to members that have been active in building community. This includes being active in the Slack/Whatsapp, volunteering as a city lead/supporter (sign up here) etc. We can only continue to provide resources if we have community support along the way.

• San Francisco

  • September 11th - Join us for the 2nd Annual VCFamilia Awards Reception, a black-tie event celebrating Latine achievements in venture capital. This prestigious event, with support from Pivotal Ventures, will kick off Hispanic Heritage Month - get your tickets now here!

• New York

  • September 15th - ¡DALE! - RSVP here!

• Boston

  • September 18th - Breaking Barriers: Underrepresented Founders Redefining Fintech. How are underrepresented founders reshaping the future of fintech? Join us for an evening of storytelling, insights, and connection as trailblazing entrepreneurs share how they’ve built, scaled, and innovated against the odds. RSVP here!

• Los Angeles HHM

  • September 24th - Tapas & Tales: An intimate evening celebrating Latine entrepreneurship through storytelling and culinary culture. This curated gathering brings together 50-70 founders, investors, and operators for authentic connection and community building. RSVP here.

• CDMX HHM

  • September 25th - VC vs. CVC: How Founders Can Navigate the Funding Landscape. ​Join us for an exclusive evening of insights and connections at the iconic BBVA Tower’s Spark Space in Mexico City. We will be bringing together leading voices from the worlds of Venture Capital (VC) and Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) for a candid panel discussion on the differences, overlaps, and strategic advantages of each funding path. RSVP here.

• Chicago

  • September 29th - HHM Celebration 1871xLITxLaFamilia. An evening to honor our heritage and the incredible advancements and contributions happening within the Latino tech community. Featuring keynote speaker, Samara Hernandez, Founding Partner of Chingona Ventures, leading a conversation on Latino founders getting access to capital and the inspiring success of her firm. RSVP here!

Community Partner Events:

• San Francisco:

  • September 10th - Venture Forward is marking a milestone—five years of empowering, educating, and expanding a vibrant VC investor community. Join us for a special, invite-only celebration with our community of donors, volunteers, and program alumni. RSVP here.

  • September 16th - Silicon Valley Bank is hosting: Innovación & Impact: A Celebration of Founders, Funders & Culture. An afternoon dedicated to honoring innovation, community, and culture, together with a powerful mix of founders, investors, and ecosystem leaders. Register here.

Make sure to subscribe to LaFamilia Luma to stay up to date with our latest events!

VCFellow Feature 📸

This year, we launched our inaugural VCFamilia Fellowship, early-stage VCs with potential, and we’re equipping them with the tools, access, and community they need to stay competitive. Though they’ve been spending time learning from the best of the best, the best part of our community is learning from each other. So, we’ve started our Fellow Feature series where you get to hear about our Fellows’ journeys to VC, and advice for the next generation. Next up - Cristina Stoyanov! For the full feature - read here.

The standard playbook for a first-time fund manager is simple: start with your friends and family. But for Cristina Stoyanov, that chapter was never an option. “I’m a first-generation college student,” she explains. “My family looks at me thinking I’m the one that made it”.

That reality hasn’t slowed her down. In fact, it’s a stark contrast to the scene at her recent event in Menlo Park, which drew a sold-out room packed with founders, LPs, and investors. While she may not have a built-in network, she is building a community, connection by connection. Her work is fueled not by legacy connections, but by a powerful thesis on the future of medicine that most of the industry is only now beginning to understand.

The Transistor Moment for Cell Therapy

Cristina’s investment thesis centers around a compelling analogy: cell therapies today resemble computers in the 1940s and 50s. “They’re very large, very complex,” she says. “And even if you had a lot of money, you didn’t necessarily have access.”

The parallel isn’t just poetic — it’s profitable. Just as transistors enabled the miniaturization that put computers in our pockets, Cristina believes enabling platform technologies will democratize access to cell therapies while generating substantial returns.

“Let’s say you’re a very wealthy patient, but your country doesn’t have a specialized treatment center. You still need to come to the US for nine to 12 months to be treated,” she illustrates. “And sometimes, time is not what you have.”

The solution isn’t just about money, it’s about engineering complexity out of the system. “Everybody has a phone…Computers make people a lot of money, and everybody has access.” The same engineering approach can transform cell therapy from something requiring specialized centers into something deliverable anywhere.

Three recent acquisitions prove her point: Capstan Therapeutics was acquired by AbbVie for $2 billion just two weeks before our conversation, EsoBiotec was picked up by AstraZeneca months earlier, and just last week Kite acquired Interius Bio. These companies focused on the enabling technologies that make cell therapy simpler and more scalable — exactly the “transistor moment” companies Cristina targets. All were acquired within four to five years of inception, showing how quickly the market values these simplification technologies.

[Read Full Medium Article here]

Our WhatsApp is a great space for our community to grow their companies and networks. These conversations that our fellows are having are just a taste of what our network has been doing. We’ve had someone build their second cohort for an AI startup, promote their pitch competitions, help one another with resources for startup funding, or find new people to connect with in their city. Join our WhatsApp communities here.

Funding & Resources for Early-Stage Founders and VCs 🫰🏽

• AWS, NVIDIA, and Microsoft for Startups: 3 programs to join - learn more here from our FounderFamilia member Santiago Carvajal.

• We (LaFam’s Kim Hernandez) found a full list of funding opportunities here.

• Find the ultimate Starter Guide to San Francisco for Founders here, created by Michelle Fang.

• Johns Hopkins Ward Fellowship: Are you a founder or social enterprise leader using tech or AI to advance health equity? They’re seeking impact-focused ventures for a catalytic accelerator program. Apply here.

• Applications for the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Impact Bootcamps powered by Techstars are live! Apply here.

Open Positions in VC and Startups 💼

• ResilienceVC is looking for a Senior Associate (DC)

• Cedana Capital is looking for several Investment Associates (SF)

• Accion is hiring a Senior Platform Associate (DC)

• Costanoa Ventures is hiring an Investment Associate (SF)

• Point72 Ventures is hiring an AI Investment Associate (NY)

• Techstars is hiring an Investor Relations Analyst (NY)

• Energize Capital is hiring a Senior Associate (IL)

• Andreessen Horowitz is hiring a Deal Operations Partner (CA)

• Caltech is hiring a Senior Investment Associate (CA)

• Venture Guides is hiring an Associate Investor (BOS)

• M13 is looking for a People Operations Analyst (NY)

• Tech Square Ventures is looking for an Investment Associate (ATL)

• Tech Square Ventures is looking for a Director of Finance (ATL)

• Boston Impact Initiative is hiring an Investment Manager &Program Manager (BOS)

• Torch Capital is looking for an Associate (NY)

• Clocktower Ventures is hiring an Investment Analyst (LA)

• 645 Ventures is hiring Partners/VP/Principal (SF/NY)

  If you found this newsletter helpful or inspiring, share the love below for a chance to access our referral program prizes! 👇🏽 ¡Hasta la próxima!