Mexican.vc

Mexican.vc was the first Silicon Valley venture fund focused exclusively on investing in Mexico-based startups, founded in April 2011 by David E. Weekly, Santiago Zavala, and Cesar Salazar, and operating out of San Francisco. The micro-fund raised $250,000 with 500 Startups as an LP and invested in seven to eight companies targeting lightweight, scalable internet startups in the Mexican market with Latin American and global expansion potential. Average investment sizes were $25,000 to $52,000 at seed and angel stages, with the fund leading rounds. The fund generated more than 11x cash-on-cash returns for LPs, making it the most successful Mexican tech fund ever created at the time of its exit. The most notable portfolio company is Conekta, a payment gateway for Mexico that went on to raise a $6.6 million Series A from FEMSA. Other portfolio companies include ShopIntoIt and Yogome (edtech, partial exit March 2018). Top sectors were consumer and retail, reflecting the fund's focus on Mexico's emerging internet consumer economy. In August 2012, Mexican.vc was acquired by 500 Startups. Co-founders Santiago Zavala and Cesar Salazar became venture partners at 500 Startups to lead its Latin America operations, while David Weekly departed for other ventures. The 500 Startups Latin America program subsequently made more than 250 early-stage investments across Spanish-speaking countries over the following decade, building directly on the Mexican.vc foundation. The fund's brief life and outsized returns established it as the origin story of institutionalized early-stage investing in Mexico's technology ecosystem.