Early on, Zenda challenged investor groupthink with honest feedback on key decisions, like selecting my technical co-founder. Their operating experience helps them think like founders and get to the ground truth, not just echo popular opinions. That’s why we invited them to join our board and stay closely involved.
Matt Silver
Co-Founder & CEO @ Cargado
I’ve spoken with many investors across my two startups and quickly learned to spot the transactional versus long-term thinkers. Zenda connected with us well before we had revenue, a product, or even a website, and their thoughtful, sincere approach is why we chose them and Esteban as our first board member.
Akash Nandi
Co-Founder & CEO @ Tendrel
We had multiple investor options, but Zenda stood out to us as the best choice. They’ve already been incredibly helpful, and we look forward to an amazing journey alongside them.
Jaime Tabachnik
Founder & CEO @ Solvento
The Zenda team is always our first call—they dive deep into the trenches with us like true members of our team. They bring not only their operator expertise but also a genuine care and agility that's rare to find.
Emil Stefanutti
Co-Founder & CEO @ Gaia Dynamics
Zenda's exceptional support, 24/7 availability, and valuable network connections have been invaluable in hiring our technical founding team.
Adrian Carabias Barroso
Co-Founder & CEO @ Zatlas
Esteban is an exceptional partner and board member at Cypress. I’ve had the opportunity to work with many top-tier VCs and Esteban clearly stands out.
Drew Lanham
CEO @ Cypress.io
Esteban has been a helpful, early backer of Nova Credit. As a founder who's started and exited multiple businesses, he brings a a depth of operating experience that is rare among investors. And he can go pretty deep in fintech infrastructure too.
Misha Esipov
Founder & CEO @ Nova Credit
Esteban has been instrumental to us since the beginning of SmartHop. Being a founder, having exited, and now investing gives him a unique perspective when supporting founders.
Guillermo Garcia
Founder & CEO @ Smarthop
Team
supporting founders from day one
Our team has started and exited multiple companies in fintech, software, commerce, and education.
With 21 years building startups and 10 years investing in them, Esteban co-founded and successfully exited four B2B companies totaling $1.1 billion and incubated eight companies with personal capital.
Esteban Reyes
General Partner
Sol was an M&A advisor at Deloitte, where she worked for seven years.
Sol Franco
Operations
Chetan is an entrepreneurial executive with a strong history of providing business development leadership.
Chetan Chaudhary
Venture Partner
Evan is the Chief Product Officer of Aerospike. Previously, he served as the CEO of Fin.com.
He joined Twilio as the first solutions engineer.
Evan Cummack
Venture Partner
Jeffrey is an investor and research lead at Zenda Capital, responsible for supporting early-stage companies and leading thesis development efforts.
Jeffrey Dong
Research & Investments
Adam Gross
product-led GTM
Drew Lanham
growth & team building
Guillermo Garcia
logistics & transportation
Harold Giménez
product, engineering & security
James Rowe
data science
Misha Esipov
fintech
Raphael is an investment and research analyst at Zenda Capital, responsible for supporting early-stage companies and leading thesis development efforts.
Raphael Santolin
Research & Investments
Matt Silver
logistics & transportation
Jaime Tabachnik
logistics, transportation & fintech
Esteban Reyes
General Partner
Esteban Reyes is a former founder with 4 exits totaling $1.1 billion, coming from a family of coalminers turned entrepreneurs, which shaped his ability to spot opportunities in traditional industries. Now, through Zenda Capital, he invests in founders transforming how money and goods flow across the economy, focusing on tech for traditional sectors like vertical AI and software. Originally from Cartagena and based in Miami for 27 years, Esteban enjoys diving, fishing, kitesurfing, and is passionate about music—earning a spot in the Recording Academy.
Sol Franco
Operations
Sol was an M&A advisor at Deloitte, where she worked for seven years. She was an M&A advisor at KPMG for a year. Her M&A and corporate audit experience includes buy-side and sell-side assistance. She was an independent sell side advisor in the acquisition of Kapow by América TV (Perú). She attended the University of Buenos Aires.
Chetan Chaudhary
Venture Partner
Chetan is an entrepreneurial executive with a proven track record in business development. He's a partner at NewView Capital, a late-stage venture firm in Silicon Valley. He previously held the role of CRO at Scale.ai and has a strong focus on developer-led GTM strategies. During his 9-year tenure at Twilio, he led product distribution strategies and partnered with Evan Cummack to establish Twilio's wireless business unit from the ground up.
Evan Cummack
Venture Partner
Evan is the Chief Product Officer for Aerospike. Previously, he was advising for AI startups and was formerly the CEO of Fin.com. Evan started at Twilio as the first solutions engineer and spent nine years there, leading product teams. He partnered with Chetan Chaudhary to build Twilio's wireless business unit from scratch.
Jeffrey Dong
Research & Investments
Jeff previously worked with the investment team at Golden Gate Ventures, a Singapore-based early-stage venture firm investing into emerging markets in Asia. Prior to Golden Gate, he was a business analyst at BASF in the U.S. and Hong Kong. He's an INSEAD and Bucknell University graduate.
Adam Gross
product-led GTM
Drew Lanham
growth & team building
Guillermo Garcia
logistics & transportation
Harold Giménez
product, engineering & security
James Rowe
data science
Misha Esipov
fintech
Raphael Santolin
Research & Investments
Rapha previously worked on the investment team of Valor Capital Group, an American venture capital firm investing in Latin America. Before Valor, he worked on the investment team of Cedro Capital, an early-stage VC firm investing in Brazil. He's a University of Brasília graduate.