IMPACTASSETS 50™
An Annual Showcase of Impact Investment Fund Managers
ImpactAssets 50
An Annual Showcase of Impact Investment Fund Managers
VamosVentures Fund 1, L.P.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Health and Wellbeing
Workforce Development, Upskilling and RetrainingFirm Overview
VamosVentures is an early-stage $50M impact VC fund investing in high-growth and often overlooked startups led by diverse teams, particularly Latinx founders. Our fund invests in companies that are mission driven to make a social impact on underserved communities (i.e. wealth creation, social mobility, community empowerment, and racial equity). Our investments are focused on tech-enabled solutions driving positive change for the following societal challenges: equitable health and wellness access, economic empowerment for the underbanked, upskilling of the workforce, and reduction of negative environmental impacts. We are driven by our belief in the ability to achieve market returns while championing diverse founders building impact products and experiences.
Years of Operation: Less than 3 years
% of Capital from Top 3 Investors: 25% – 49%
VamosVentures invests in U.S. based early-stage startups led by diverse teams, particularly Latinx, that drive positive social impact in the health and wellness, fintech, future of work, and sustainability sectors.
Our investment thesis is informed by our values to create positive change for underserved communities. We believe the most successful products make life more productive, secure, and empowering. We believe the possibility of innovation can come from anyone, anywhere. We believe that now is the tipping point for tech entrepreneurial expression by diverse founders. We provide capital to, and partner with, diverse teams solving real problems through scalable tech-driven solutions. We are focused on companies making a social impact in the health and wellness, fintech, future of work, and sustainability sectors which translates to equitable access to healthcare, economic empowerment for the underbanked, upskilling of the workforce, and reduction of negative environmental impacts, respectively. We focus on early-stage startups with impact potential, traction, scalability and exit potential. Our strong access and insight to diverse talent enables us to source diverse founders who are often overlooked by the venture ecosystem.
While the number of fund managers focused on investing in diverse founders is increasing, which we see as an incredibly positive change for the entrepreneurial ecosystem, VamosVentures is differentiated in four ways. First, we are entrepreneurs, we have experience building our own ventures and can offer invaluable mentorship and guidance to our portfolio founders. Second, we provide our founders access to our diverse LPs who have strong brands across the tech ecosystem and are eager to partner with and support Latinx founders. Third, we have access to top Latinx professionals across various industries eager to advice Latinx founders, from support with pricing and go-to-market to scaling a business internally. Fourth, we are Latinos, first-generation, immigrants ourselves – we understand the journey of the Latino founder and most importantly understand the intricacies and diversity of the Latino consumer in the U.S.
Investment Example
Zocalo is an integrated D2C primary care model for U.S. Latino communities that leverages technology to deliver high-quality and affordable primary and social healthcare. VamosVentures developed a relationship with the two co-founders for two years prior to investing. Both founders grew up in the low-income Latino communities Zocalo supports, and have extensive experience building well-known digital health companies like EverlyWell and Amazon Care. VamosVentures was a co-lead investor in Zocalo’s $3M seed round, investing $750K. COVID-19 magnified the disparities in healthcare delivery models for marginalized U.S. communities; Zocalo breaks down barriers (like language, lack of insurance, mistrust) contributing to these disparities. Some main services include home-based and community-based care, prescription pickup and deliveries, eligibility screening and enrollment assistance for other social benefit programs (SNAP, Medicaid, TANF, etc.), mental and behavioral health services, and no-appointment health screenings. Moreover, Zocalo has partnerships across commercial insurances, Medicare Advantage plans, and Managed Medicaid organizations.
Leadership and Team
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Marcos Gonzalez – Managing Partner + Founder More Info
Marcos has been a venture, private equity, and angel investor throughout his career both in the United States and abroad. In between investment funds, Marcos co-founded a tech company in Boston during the first internet wave of the 90s. Before entrepreneurship and investing, Marcos worked for the Boston Consulting Group. Marcos holds a BA from Brown University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. |
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Xavier Del Rosario – Partner More Info
Xavier started his career at Morgan Stanley in the investment banking division and also spent time at New Enterprise Associates (NEA) investing in social media, infrastructure, and consumer software. Xavier has extensive experience as a tech entrepreneur and operator at Bond, Very Good Security, and Rightway Healthcare. Xavier holds a BA from Harvard College. |
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Ashley Aydin – Principal More Info
Ashley started her career at Morgan Stanley in Capital Markets and moved into strategic roles at YC startup Shoptiques.com, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Estee Lauder focused on the intersection of consumers and technology. She was previously an investor at Brand Foundry Ventures, Founders Factory, and Dorm Room Fund across commerce, health and wellness, and FinTech. Ashley holds a BA from Brown University and an MBA from MIT Sloan. |
Financial Performance
Impact Performance
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Percentage of Total Assets Under
Management that are Impact Investments: |
100%
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We source companies that fall within one of our three impact categories. 1. Product Impact Companies (PIC) are led by diverse founders and have an impact product/experience targeting diverse communities. 2. General Impact Companies (GIC) are led by diverse teams and have an impact product/experience targeting all users. 3. Team Impact Companies (TIC) are led by diverse teams. Our investment mandate is diverse founders, and every company we source and diligence is led by a diverse team. All our portfolio companies are TIC, and 19 of 25 deliver an impact product (PIC or GIC). 71% of our companies have customer bases that are largely diverse, female, children, low-wealth, and/or immigrant. The startups we source must develop sustainable solutions to meaningful problems. Every company we diligence must focus on one of our four target impact solutions: equitable and accessible healthcare platforms, economic development programs, upskilling diverse workers, and/or climate change solutions.
Diverse founders tend to hire diverse teams, expanding the pipeline impact of our portfolio companies. At the time of investment, our startups must fill out and sign an Impact Certification Letter, which requests that the founder confirm several diversity metrics – including that at least one co-founder have meaningful ownership, that the goods/services provided address challenges found in diverse communities, and that the company will make reasonable efforts to hire diverse employees, consultants and third-party service providers. Our portfolio companies fill out our Annual Impact Survey. To date, four have completed this survey (2020 investments). The survey requests that our companies report on total number of diverse employees, female employees, employees that identify as people of color, employees from economically distressed areas, and jobs created. We also ask founders to identify the challenges they face in recruiting diverse talent and partner with them to tackle the challenges.
Impact Tracking and Monitoring
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333 South Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90071 USA
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