Venture Latinx Coalition Partner Summit 2023
A Community of Startup Industry Leaders Growing the Latinx Startup Ecosystem
Miami, FL – Inicio Ventures, a Latinx impact fund manager and ecosystem builder powered by Hispanics in Philanthropy, brought together 50 leaders representing more than 40 organizations across the startup ecosystem for the second annual Venture Latinx Coalition Partner Summit in Miami Beach, Florida. The event, in collaboration with the eMerge Americas Conference and supported by Google for Startups, met to discuss the state of the Latinx Startup Ecosystem with the objective to co-design a shared agenda that scales the participation and success of those who identify as Latinx in the startup and venture community.
"This collaborative of partners is the early, important work that will result in significant shifts in the ecosystem down the road, and a critical part of Google for Startups' efforts to advance the Latinx ecosystem", says Nicole Farmer, Partnerships Manager with Google for Startups. "We're so proud to partner with Inicio Ventures for the second year in a row to bring it to life, and to be part of the ongoing collective action."
The Partner Summit united Latinx funders, founders and field builders to build trust, nurture relationships, discuss successes, challenges, and opportunities in order to prioritize collective action. At the conclusion of the day and a half convening in Miami Beach, the partners decided to collectively focus on three actions:
- Increase amplification and improving the Latinx startup ecosystem narrative,
- Increase access to knowledge resources for Latinx founders and funders, and
- Connect US Latinx & LATAM startup communities.
“Despite Latinos representing the fifth largest economy globally, Latino entrepreneurs receive less than 2% of total venture capital dollars, and less than 2% of venture capitalists are Latinos. To address this disparity and tap into the market opportunity represented by the Latino community, collaborative efforts such as the Venture Latinx Coalition Partner Summit are crucial,” shared Lolita Taub, General Partner at Ganas Ventures.
“There is no limitation to what a group of talented Latinx leaders can accomplish when we have trust and a common purpose. I am grateful to our partners for their mindshare, time and thoughtful discussion in coming to consensus on our shared agenda. Together we are stronger, more visible and increase our ability to not just maintain, but scale the Latinx Startup Ecosystem” shared Jorge Calderon, Managing Director, Inicio Ventures. “We now move forward with conviction to bring the gifts of our community to the broader venture sector.”
The partners from the summit will reconvene virtually every two months to discuss progress, share knowledge and celebrate wins before next year’s annual event. Attendees for the Miami Beach convening included more than half of women funders, founders and field builders representing 46% of the Southeast, 20% of the West Coast, 13% of the Midwest, 11% of the Northeast, 6% of the Southwest and 4% from across Latin America.
Launched in 2022, the Venture Latinx Coalition is a collection of organizations with a shared objective to grow the Latinx Startup Ecosystem from the current 1-2% of the overall venture sector to the population proportion we represent in the US (21% by 2030). Leveraging an abundance mindset, Venture Latinx Coalition partners firmly believe that everyone benefits when innovation is informed by the talents and ingenuity from all demographics. In 2022, the first convening of the Venture Latinx Coalition Partner Summit took place in Coral Gables, FL with 35 Latinx/e funders, founders and field builders. Since then, the Coalition has continued to collaborate and coordinate to more effectively support the Latinx Startup Ecosystem.
For more information about the Venture Latinx Coalition Partner Summit and the vision forward for the Latinx startup ecosystem, please contact info@inicio.ventures.