In this episode, Rob and Ileana are joined by Cristian Raygoza, Founder and Managing Partner at Illuminar Ventures. Great founders in Latin America will want to meet him, and Limited Partner investors interested in diversifying their holdings will want to as well! He sees a massive talent diversity development and company building opportunity in Latin America. He is a dynamic young Venture Capitalist, and leader in the LGBTQ+ community across the US. He's a self described finance nerd turned great company finder and investor and shares his specific theses on "developing talent and teams" to build better companies, from his own life experience and having worked inside the one of the world's biggest angel investment community, Gaingels.

Borne and raised in the suburbs of Los Angeles, he built his early professional experience in Big Finance in New York City working in portfolio management at AIG Asset Management. He returned to the West Coast as an early team member at one of the world's largest Angel Investment groups, Gaingels, and has now spun that off into his firm, Illuminar Ventures with it's unique focus on diverse, inclusive investing in Latin America and the US markets. He has also been involved extensively in organizations at the intersection of the LGBTQ identity and business, including serving as a director for Out For Undergrad, the leading LGBTQ undergraduate business conference. Cristian graduated from the University of Chicago with a BA in Economics. He plays violin, loves attending the SF Symphony, cycling, Latin American contemporary art, and generally wandering his way into random niches that pique his interest. Iluminar Ventures is a San Francisco and Mexico City based venture firm investing in Spanish-speaking Latin America and is a spinout from Gaingels, one of the most active venture firms in the world today. Iluminar has already invested in over 30 startups in the region, with a strong focus on Seed and Series A.

Feel free to follow and engage with CRISTIAN here:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cristianraygoza/
• Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/crisraygoza_
• Website: https://www.iluminar.ventures/

Links related to the organizations discussed on the episode:

https://gaingels.com/
https://www.outforundergrad.org/
https://www.questbridge.org/
https://startout.org/
Link to join LGBTQ LatAm WA group

We're so grateful to you, our growing audience of entrepreneurs, investors, builders, influencers and those interested in the entrepreneurial economies of Latin America and the under-represented entrepreneurial communities in the USA!

Plug in, relax and enjoy some Spanish, English and a fun dose of spanglish as always. We're here to help inspire, educate and empower you, so that you can build the future!

¡Salud y gracias!,

Mentors Today's Team