BuenTrip Ventures becomes Ecuador’s First Institutional VC fund.

BuenTrip Ventures consolidates its position as a leading technology ecosystem builder in Latin America.

We are happy to announce that BuenTrip Ventures has become Ecuador's first institutional VC fund, with the participation of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) through IDB Lab. IDB Lab shares our aim of supporting innovation and the development of the startup and venture capital ecosystem in Latin America and the Caribbean and is one of the region's most prominent institutional venture capital investors. This investment opens the door for BuenTrip, to partner with other institutional investors throughout the region and expand our impact.

BuenTrip Ventures Fund II will invest $15M in over 30 early-stage B2B software startups in Latin America that enable rapid digital transformation. BuenTrip's track record as a leading ecosystem-builder during the past eight years allows us to identify, mentor, and invest in the best talent the region offers, particularly in non-traditional markets such as Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Paraguay.?

Unlike traditional venture funds, which first raise capital and then seek to make investments, our approach has focused on developing the ecosystem around tech founders. For the better part of a decade, our firm has built a strong community around founders by providing mentoring opportunities, pitch nights, and other events. In 2021, we launched our first venture capital fund to provide capital to founders in under-represented markets.?

Fund I holds a portfolio of 23 startups spanning seven countries across the Americas and supports 46 tech founders. More than 30% of the startups that received funding were women-led, underscoring our commitment to broadening access to founders from diverse backgrounds. We aim to invest in software-based startups that enable and accelerate the region's digital transformation in critical sectors of the economy, like Nuvocargo, Kriptos, Altscore, and others.

BuenTrip Ventures is led by Fernando Rivera and Carmen de la Cerda. Carmen led BuenTrip's Accelerator for over five years and has conducted the acceleration of over 80 startups. Fernando brings entrepreneurial experience building technology-based companies, including ETF.com, which Cboe Global Markets acquired. Additionally, Felipe Chediak, from his non-executive role, advances international alliances to attract capital for BuenTrip and its community. Together they have over 20 years of experience attracting, mentoring, and investing in startups in FinTech, Logistics, Health, Education, Enterprise & SMB SaaS, and eCommerce Infrastructure.

Special thanks to Forbes Ecuador on their coverage.