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Hola Familia! Every two weeks, we connect you—alongside 4,700+ Beehiiv subscribers and 21,000+ 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

🎉 25 DAYS UNTIL ¡DALE! 🎉

Our ¡DALE! Startup Summit & Pitch Competition is quickly approaching on September 15th in NYC. We’ve revamped our website, and you can find all the information on where to register, speakers, judges, finalists, and the agenda for the summit at dalesummit.com 

• Get your tickets to ¡DALE! 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.

🏆 21 DAYS UNTIL VCFamilia Awards 🏆

• ​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 on September 11th, 2025 in San Francisco. Get your tickets now here!

• Don’t miss our spotlights on our Rising Star and Catalyst Award winners!

Celebrating Familia Wins🎉

We want to acknowledge our annual signature event supporters here:

• VCFamilia Awards: Pivotal Ventures, Morrison Foerster, RemoFirst  BMO U.S. and Delta Air Lines FounderFamilia

• ¡DALE! Summit: Morrison Foerster, Cooley LLP, Tarsus Innovare, Delta Air Lines, Novel Capital

• If you’d like to join the club, please let us know. Check out our esteemed award winners for the awards on VCFamilia, and we’re announcing our pitch competition finalists on FounderFamilia!

Former Zillow exec targets $1.3T market

The wealthiest companies tend to target the biggest markets. For example, NVIDIA skyrocketed nearly 200% higher in the last year with the $214B AI market’s tailwind.

That’s why investors are so excited about Pacaso.

Created by a former Zillow exec, Pacaso brings co-ownership to a $1.3 trillion real estate market. And by handing keys to 2,000+ happy homeowners, they’ve made $110M+ in gross profit to date. They even reserved the Nasdaq ticker PCSO.

No wonder the same VCs behind Uber, Venmo, and eBay also invested in Pacaso. And for just $2.90/share, you can join them as an early-stage Pacaso investor today.

Invest for $2.90/Share

_{Paid advertisement for Pacaso’s Regulation A offering. Read the offering circular at invest.pacaso.com. Reserving a ticker symbol is not a guarantee that the company will go public. Listing on the NASDAQ is subject to approvals.}

VCFellow Feature 📸

This year, we launched our inaugural VCFamilia Fellowship, and just passed Phase 1! This cohort is filled with early-stage VCs with potential and 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 - Tiq Chapa! For the full feature - read here.

In Silicon Valley, capital flows along invisible currents of trust. But who builds the channels, and who is left on the shore? Tiq Chapa has dedicated his career to this question.

Raised in a “one-stoplight farm town” populated by Mexican families, his journey through Stanford and into the heart of venture capital revealed a system that operates on two distinct tracks. On one, founders are “pulled in” through warm introductions and the benefit of the doubt. On the other, they face the cold calculus of formal application.

This experience didn’t make him a cynic. It made him a strategist. Now a VC himself, Chapa operates with a clear-eyed understanding of the subtle mechanics that govern the flow of opportunity. He argues for a contrarian truth: that the very barriers placed before Latino and Black founders often forge them into stronger, more expert entrepreneurs. And he calls for allies to move beyond rhetoric to simple, measurable actions.

[Gian] sat down with Tiq Chapa for a conversation that dissects the unwritten rules of venture capital, the nature of effective allyship, and actionable advice for building a more equitable future, one bridge at a time.

You’ve also developed a compelling theory that the higher barriers faced by Latino founders often make them more expert than their peers. Could you unpack that?

To make the leap to be a founder, especially when you have a harder time accessing capital, you simply have to be more prepared. You can’t just have an idea on a napkin; you need to have deep, defensible expertise. So, on the median, if I had to bet who’s more of an expert — the Latino founder in a given domain or the non-Latino founder at the same stage — I would bet on the Latino founder over and over again. They often have more industry experience, more academic papers cited, more relationships in their field, because the barrier to entry is just higher. They’ve had to de-risk themselves far more before anyone else would take a bet on them. It’s a strength forged in adversity.

Let’s talk about bias within the system. You’ve made the surprising observation that even diverse investors can set a higher bar for founders from their own communities. Why does this happen?

It’s a complex phenomenon. For diverse investors, I believe it can come from a protective place. There’s an internal thought that because the world will be tougher on this founder, they need to be even more exceptional to succeed. The result is that you might see a VC fund that invests in companies with $1 million in revenue, but they’ll want to see $2 million from the Latino founder before they’ll write a check. It’s a misguided form of risk mitigation. There’s also the fear of being seen as showing favoritism. So, in an attempt to be objective, you can actually become more biased against your own community. Being mindful that this is a real dynamic is table stakes for any investor.

[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.

🗓️ 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.

• New York

  • September 15th - Join us at the 2025 ¡DALE! Startup Summit & Pitch Competition at Microsoft Fifth Ave in NYC. We will be bringing together VCs, entrepreneurs, and innovators from around the globe to create culture, community, and wealth together. RSVP here!

• Zoom

  • August 27th - VCFamilia is proud to invite you to our virtual LP/GP Firechat Series!  Spend the afternoon with Margot Kane from Spring Point Partners in an intimate, off-the-record conversation between established LPs and the next generation of the Latine VC community. Check the VCF Slack general partner channel for link to apply — due August 1st.

• 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 on September 11th, 2025 in San Francisco. Get your tickets now here & announcing winners soon!

• 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.

• Los Angeles HHM

  • September 25th - 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.

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. Together, we’ll honor what we’ve built and look ahead to the next five years of advancing inclusion, education, and opportunity in VC. 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.

• Zoom

  • August 26 -  Endeavor is hosting a Bootcamp Powered by FPL ⚡ for business owners. It’s a free, 3-hour virtual program with expert-led sessions on fundraising, lean marketing, and landing corporate contracts (with Florida Power & Light). You can learn more and RSVP here

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

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! We’ve updated the rewards, including free tickets to our 2025 ¡DALE! Startup Summit…don’t miss out on this opportunity! 👇🏽 ¡Hasta la próxima!