Hispanics in Tech: Almanac

Elias Torres is the Founder and CEO of Agency, a company that is transforming the way businesses manage customer relationships with artificial intelligence. Previously, he was the co-founder and CTO of Drift, which was acquired for $1.2B by Vista Equity Partners. And prior to that, Elias co-founded a company that was acquired by HubSpot and early in his career, worked at IBM for ten years before helping his friend start a company called Lookery. Elias is originally from Nicaragua and came to the United States at 17.

Carlos Castellanos, CFA is an early stage investor at Samsung Next, a division of Samsung focused on finding and investing in founders who can make the imagined and impossible - possible. And previously, he held several capital markets roles at companies like UBS, Crystal Rock Capital Management, and Principal Global Investors. Carlos has a BS in Applied Economics and Management from Cornell University and an MBA from the University of Chicago. Originally from Los Mochis, Mexico, which is a town in Northern Mexico, he immigrated with his family to the United States when he was six - he remembers it vividl because it was a World Cup year, which when he was a kid was always a way to measure and track time. Carlos has led the investment in over 30 companies - 1/3rd of them with at least one latino founder.

?? “As a leader, you’re not supposed to have all the answers or know everything. What’s important is being open to learning from others and staying flexible.” Relentless drive and an openness to learning stand out in Cindy Blanco Ochoa's founder journey. Thank you for sharing your experiences and wisdom with our community, Cindy! #hhm #hispanicheritagemonth #tech #founder #healthcare

Tom Chavez is the co-founder and General Partner at super{set}, a company studio headquartered in San Francisco. Previously he was the co-founder and CEO of Rapt, which was a media monetization company acquired by Microsoft and Krux, which was a data management platform acquired by Salesforce. In total, Tom has produced over $1B in investor returns. Tom has BAs in computer science and philosophy from Harvard and a PhD in engineering from Stanford University. Tom traces his lineage to Northern Mexico, Spain, and to the area of New Mexico going all the way back to when it was New Spain. His grandfather used to say about their family, “they didn’t cross no border, the border crossed them.”

Hana Yang is the co-founder and chief client experience officer (CXO) of Allocate a digital private markets enablement engine that provides investors with a more efficient way to build and manage their private investments portfolio. Previously, Hana worked at First Republic helping to foster the growing venture and startup practice within the bank. Prior to that, she had stints working at a Hispanic-focused accelerator, a venture-backed startup, the United Nations, management consulting, and several media internships. Hana was born in South Korea, moved to Argentina at the age of 1 and grew up in Puerto Iguazu until her mid teens, when she moved to the US. She graduated with a BA from Berkeley and an MS in Fundraising Management from Columbia University.

Belsasar Lepe is the co-founder and CEO of Cerby, an identity security company. Previously, he co-founded Ooyala while a student at Stanford University which sold for over $400 million. The son of Mexican immigrants in Southern California, the example of his parents and older brother propelled him to athletic and academic success which led to a job at Google while still a teenager. He credits strong examples for his success, and is now focused on showing what's possible to the next generation. #hispanicheritagemonth

Erik Cardenas is the Co-Founder and CEO of Zócalo Health, a community-based primary care provider dedicated to helping Latino families navigate the complex U.S. healthcare system.?Before founding Zócalo Health, Erik played a pivotal role as a founding team member at Amazon Care, Amazon’s first major venture into healthcare. His nearly two decades of experience in healthcare technology, along with his expertise in digital solutions, positioned him as a key leader in Amazon’s broader COVID-19 response, where he helped create innovative solutions to make healthcare more accessible for Amazon employees. Erik was born in Houston Texas, and his parents are from northern Mexico.

Isabel Rafferty Zavala is the Co-founder and CEO of Canela Media an innovative multicultural data and media company. She also co-founded Mobvious Media, which was acquired in under one year of being in business by Prisa Group.?Early in her career, Isabel leveraged her understanding of the Hispanic community and her intuition about the rise of digital and mobile advertising, to accelerate her career at Entravision and other national and local media companies. Born in Mexico City, Isabel immigrated to the United States. at age 15 when her entrepreneurial parents expanded their business to the U.S.

Paul Walborsky is the co-founder and CEO of OpenWater Group, an exclusive, members-only platform designed to connect seasoned professionals with decades of experience to new career opportunities. Before this venture, he co-founded and served as COO of AI.Reverie, a trailblazer in synthetic data development for AI computer vision models, which was acquired by Meta in 2021. Throughout his career, Paul has navigated seamlessly between the corporate and startup worlds. He founded WorldStreet, a financial services communication platform sold to Thomson Financial, held a senior vice president role at Lehman Brothers, and served as CEO of GigaOm, one of the pioneering tech media companies. Notably, he also worked at The New York Times as a senior vice president, leading the international digital expansion into new markets like Mexico, Australia, and China. Paul was born and raised in Mexico City, and received his BA and MA from Brandeis University.

Sergio Monsalve is the Founding Partner of Roble Ventures, a Silicon-Valley based seed stage fund focused on the future of work. Prior to that, he had a long career as a Venture Capitalist at Norwest Venture Partners and as a founder and tech executive at companies like Cymerc, Portal Software, eBay, and Photobucket. Sergio has an undergraduate degree from Stanford University in Industrial Engineering and an MBA from Harvard University. Sergio was born in Mexico City and moved to San Diego, CA in Junior High, when his father, who was a serial entrepreneur, started a business in Tijuana/San Diego in the 1980s.?