In 2023, women in business raked in big numbers. U.S. female founders secured a record-high proportion of the country’s deal value, at nearly 30 percent, according to PitchBook. Latinas reflect numbers that exceed the status quo for becoming the fastest-growing group of business owners in the US, with more than 1.5 million founders in service generating $78.7 in revenue, according to The National Women’s Business Council.
Yet, when it comes to investing in Latina-led companies, the rates don’t translate. Latino founders receive two percent of VC funding, per Crunchbase. This is a consistent trend across companies founded by women. In 2022, startups that were founded by women received only 2.1% of all VC capital deployed, per PitchBook. Laura Moreno Lucas, general partner at LAT VC, a $100 million fund investing in Latino-led startups and a former entrepreneur has seen this first hand.
“I don’t have enough capital to invest in the growth of the entrepreneurs that I’m seeing that are Latina, and that’s really what got me thinking,” she says. “There’s so much opportunity here.”
Enter Libra Leaders, a new platform launched by Moreno and an inaugural cohort of Latina women leading across the entrepreneurship ecosystem who are setting out to help founders “scale the capital ladder,” by providing access to a network of influential women at every level of the capital markets, growth opportunities, and capital.
The first cohort features a list of venture capitalists, fintech professionals, technology execs and industry experts. Among the cohort members are Sandra Campos, former CEO of Diane von Furstenberg, Betsabe Martinez, co-founder of blockchain leader AIKON, and Lisha Bell, Head of Economic Opportunity at PayPalPYPL.
“These women have already paved the way in what they’re doing today and we know we can help them reach that next level,” Moreno says.
With a system in place, Moreno hopes Libra Leaders can harness the opportunity – mentoring and investing in women-led companies that are ready to scale – and to multiply the kind of impact made through the firm and L’Attitude, its flagship event bringing capital, sponsorship and investment opportunities to Latino-led companies.
“We want people to see that there are a lot of companies that can create growth and stimulate our country’s GDP with the right support,” Sol Trujillo, founder of LAT VC, told CNBC Make It.
Among the Latina founders backed by LAT VC are Mexican luxury beauty brand, Nopalera, founded by Sandra Velásquez whose products have now lived on the shelves of high-end retailers including NordstromJWN, Credo, Free People and hundreds more boutiques.
“The people that wrote my first checks, opened doors, and made introductions to retails were all women,” Velásquez says. “It just proves that when more of us succeed, more of us rise to positions of power, there’s going to be women that help other women.”
Disclosure note: Lyanne Alfaro is a member of the Libra Leaders forum with no financial interest. She plans to monitor emerging Latina founders to note larger trends in the ecosystem.
