www.negociosnow.com
26 March 2020
Age: 35
Title: Founding Partner
Name of Organization: Chingona
Ventures
Samara Mejia Hernandez,
Founding Partner of an institu-
tionally backed seed stage fund,
Chingona Ventures,
Samara Mejia Hernandez fo-
cuses on investing in technology
and technology-enabled com-
panies all over the U.S. Prior to
this she was an early stage inves-
tor at MATH Venture Partners,
an early-stage venture fund in-
vesting in technology start-ups
with differentiated approaches
to customer acquisition.
Hernandez worked at Gold-
man Sachs, where she was con-
tinually ranked in the top 5 in
selling financial products, pro-
viding market insights, advising
on portfolio construction, and
consulting on business practi-
ces.
She started her career in the
Fixed Income, Currency and
Commodity (FICC) group whe-
re she led multiple technology
enhancing projects across global
exchanges. Hernandez is acti-
vely involved in the Chicago tech
community and is passionate
about helping underrepresented
groups get into STEM education,
venture capital and entrepre-
neurship.
She co-founded the Latinx
Founders Collective organiza-
tion to bring together Latinx
founders, investors, and com-
munity leaders to support the
entrepreneurial ecosystem. Her-
nandez is an active member of
Latinx VCs, a San-Francisco ba-
sed group of experienced ventu-
re investors coming together to
connect, engage, and foster the
Latinx VC ecosystem.
Hernandez is also on the
board of Chicago Blend, an or-
ganization dedicated to sup-
porting and increasing diversity
in the Chicago tech community
and is an advisor to Angeles In-
vestors, an angel group focused
on investing in Latinx founders.
She earned an industrial and
operations engineering degree
from the University of Michigan
and a master's degree in busi-
ness administration from Nor-
thwestern University. She lives in
Chicago with her husband, Ben
Hernandez (also an entrepre-
neur), and 1-year-old son, Santi.
Sparking
Innovation
Samara Mejia
Hernandez
WORDS OF WISDOM:
"Y
ou only need one person
who finds something in
you and is willing to take a chance
on you – look for them and spend
time building that relationship."
