Back in 2005, Alejandro Diez Barroso had the idea of building a venture capital fund to support the development of Latin America. He was a Mexican entrepreneur himself and saw the lack of capital for startup founders.
His fund finally took flight in 2012. During this last decade, DILA Capital has raised four funds and invested in dozens of early-stage startups, including two that are now unicorns: Incode, from Mexico, and Kushki, from Ecuador.
Today, Alejandro and I talk about:
- How did DILA Capital start, how being an entrepreneur shaped the way Alejandro invests, and what he looks for when selecting a startup;
- The differences between building a startup portfolio in Latin America and the rest of the world, what's DILA value proposition to LatAm founders, and how to go from local to global trust from startup investors;
- How Alejandro deals with missed investment opportunities, how venture capital firms should go about bringing value to founders, and what's Alejandro's vision for the future of startups in Latin America.