Contxto – Christopher Columbus reached the American continent while riding a caravel or carabela, as this light ship is called in Spanish. Using this narrative, Angel Ventures Guadalajara has recently launched its seed fund, Carabela.
And on this funding ship, the venture capital (VC) firm hopes to sail startups into the Mexican market.
The VC made the announcement yesterday (27). And according to a press release, the fund expects to hold a total of MXN$150 million (about US$7.8 million).
Angel Ventures’ intentions
For starters, Angel Ventures Guadalajara hopes to disburse MXN$3 million (around US$154,000) among 18 early-stage startups.
The VC is on the lookout for those that have a tech component, are disruptive, and scalable. So essentially, it’s a not-so-disruptive list of requirements.
However, Angel Ventures Guadalajara wants startups that are in Mexico or will enter this country “within the short term.” It doesn’t matter where its HQ is located, so long as it has Mexico in mind.
Likewise, these startups must be at a point where they want to validate their business model or scale operations.
The VC isn’t too picky industry-wise. But it does favor those working with Information and communications technology (ICT), the Internet of Things (IoT), and artificial intelligence (AI). Likewise, it will be focusing mainly on e-commerce solutions, fintechs, and biotechs.
Well-aware of how misguiding the term “biotech” can be, the press release clarified that when it comes to “biotechs,” it’s referring to startups related to agriculture, food, and/or the environment.
Side notes
Fun fact: As many of you will know, poor old Chris Columbus didn’t actually “discover” America.
For those of you who remember your history lessons correctly, the person who actually realized that Europeans had toppled onto an entirely new continent was Italian geographer, Amerigo Vespucci.
For his achievement, the entire continent was christiend after the Latin version of his name.
Related articles: Tech and startups from Mexico!
-ML
