Technology
Antonia Rojas, ALLVP: Investing in Latin America's Human Capital & Smart Cities, Ep 111 Antonia Rojas has been surrounded by machines and technology ever since she can remember. Her grandfather was one of the engineers that developed the first computer in Germany, while her mother was a digital photography pioneer in Chile. Now, Antonia is carving her own path in the tech world with her passion for supporting startups that use technology to provide solutions to real-world problems. This year, she became the youngest female venture capital partner in Latin America when she joined ALLVP, a Mexico-based venture capital firm. In this episode, I sit down with Antonia to talk about her journey as an entrepreneur-turned-investor and her views on the future of Latin America’s tech ecosystem. We also talk about her experience going through Start-Up Chile and her current work and investment process at ALLVP. ALLVP’s four verticals Antonia explains that ALLVP targets tech startups in four different industries: fintech, human development, and the future of commerce and smart cities. She primarily focuses on edtech and the future of cities, and strongly believes that in Latin America there is a huge opportunity for the SaaS market. Listen to this episode of Crossing Borders to learn more about ALLVP’s investment process and Antonia’s insights on the SaaS industry in Latin America. Technology as a tool Antonia followed a traditional career path after studying business and economics in Chile. She worked for a real estate bank in Germany and then went back home to Chile. It wasn’t until she lived through a couple of earthquakes and saw the devastation in her country from the aftermath that she discovered how technology has the potential to efficiently solve a variety of problems. Find out in this episode of Crossing Borders how Antonia’s perspective on technology changed and made her pursue a different career path to the one she had envisioned. Transforming tradition with technology When Antonia came back to Chile from completing a Master’s in entrepreneurship in San Francisco, she was eager to find ways to support the local tech ecosystem. She soon realized that the best way for her to do this was by investing in tech companies. However, she first started working for a firm that focused on very traditional investments. Antonia explains that it was a slow process but eventually they started investing as angel investors in startups. Check out this episode of Crossing Borders to learn about how Antonia convinced a very traditional investment firm to take a chance on startups. Antonia Rojas is breaking the glass ceiling with her passion for technology and Latin American startups. With ALLVP she is supporting tech startups that are moving the needle in their industries and are radically transforming the world around them. Outline of the episode: [1:20] - About ALLVP [2:40] - Getting into tech [5:20] - From entrepreneur to investor [8:00] - Experience at Start-Up Chile [9:17] - Convincing others into tech [10:40] - Joining ALLVP [14:27] - Advice to angel investors [14:49] - ALLVP’s verticals & investment process [17:44] - The future of Latam’s tech ecosystem [21:05] - Books, blogs, & podcast recommendations [22:30] - Advice to Antonia’s younger self Resources & people mentioned: Antonia Rojas ALLVP Fernando Lelo de Larrea Cornershop Start-Up Chile Manutara Ventures Podcasts: Snacks Daily, The Twenty Minute VC Books: Simplify