Negocios Now

www.negociosnow.com Febrero 2023 11 By DaviD SteinkrauS With Google and Microsoft laying off more than 20,000 people recently, times look bad for the technology business. To David Olivencia, CEO and co- founder of the venture capitala company Angeles Investors in Chicago, times look good for startups, even in technology. "If you look historically, some of the best times to start a star- tup have been during economic downturns," he said. Second, he said, disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, virtual and augmen- ted reality, and robotic automa- tion, are just starting to emerge. Third, startups operate in huge markets, and because they're rela- tively small, the effect of industry layoffs is not that great, he said. The other point to keep in mind about technology giants such as Google and Microsoft, he added, is that they have hired hundreds of thousands of people during the last few years, and the announced layoffs represent a fraction of that. NOT SILICON VALLEY Angeles Investors doesn't invest exclusively in technology compa- nies, he said, but leans that way. While Silicon Valley still makes 70% to 80% of venture capital deals, he said, interest is exploding in places like Chicago and Miami. "Even towns like Indianapolis, South Bend — you're seeing a lot of college towns pop up and have dynamic entrepreneurial environ- ments," he said. "The technology has been in place for a while. The pandemic just accelerated it." He sees two trends favoring Hispanic startups. One is conti- nuing disruption from those new technologies. Every year, he said, he pauses to look at how techno- logy is likely to transform our lives. "Every year I've been doing that for the last 15 years, and I don't see it slowing down. It may be accele- rating. I mean, think about your iPhone 10 years ago. Now you're picking up Ubers, booking flights, making transactions." The other trend is the growth of the U.S. Hispanic population. Estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau put the 2022 Hispanic population at 18.9%, about 63 million people. That is a lot of buying power, Olivencia said, and a lot of entrepreneurs who are hungry for success and have the right work ethic. DEEP EXPERIENCE Olivencia has been CEO of Ange- les since late January. He has a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the Rose-Hul- man Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana, an MBA from the University of Notre Dame, and has worked on IT stra- tegy at Ford Motor Co. and Veri- zon. Most recently he was a mana- ger at Accenture and left that job to join Angeles Investors as CEO. He made the switch because of the potential for Hispanic startups, he said, and noted that Angeles is one of the fastest growing angel inves- tor groups in the country. He wants to grow the number of accredited investor members at Angeles, he said, and the num- ber of associate members who can work toward becoming accre- dited investors by building their knowledge and skills, and perhaps by getting a job with one of the companies Angeles invests in. Even if only 5% of the Hispanic community meets federal criteria for accredited investors, that's a huge group of people who can contribute money to help grow Hispanic startups, help the His- panic community, and make returns for themselves, he said. LONG-TERM GAIN In Silicon Valley, he said, people invested, made five or 10 times their investment, then put money into another startup. "That's how they generated all that wealth in the last 20 years of this massive technology boom," he said. "Our community has been kind of left behind in this whole space in general." Every quarter, Angeles recei- ves pitches for about 100 deals, Olivencia said. Those are win- nowed to four or five that are put before the company's inves- tor members, and they decide who receives capital. A member of Angeles is now chief financial officer of one com- pany that is a lesson in what can happen, Olivencia said. Isabel Rafferty pitched about 100 venture capital firms with her idea of a video streaming company providing Latino-focu- sed content funded by Latino- focused ads, he said. She was turned down, and her business was close to closing. Through an article in Negocios Now, she lear- ned about Angeles Investors. "We came along, helped her structure some things, make some connections," he said. With money from Angeles and others, Canela continued. Today, three years later, the company has more than 50 million unique Hispanic viewers, according to Forbes, and some brands have spent $100,000 to $5 million per quarter on advertising. "There's hundreds and thou- sands of Canela Medias out the- re. We want to find them, fund them, and help them grow," Olivencia said. From the experience of two decades in executive positions of technology companies, David Olivencia takes the helm as CEO of Angeles Investors, an organization that seeks to support Hispanic startups with growth potential. Negocios Now brings you an exclusive interview. " If you look historically, some of the best times to start a startup have been during economic downturns." New CEO at Angeles Investors Sees Huge Potential in Hispanic Startups Latinos en Tecnología CONTACT INFORMATION To contact David Olivencia, whether to ask about becoming a member of Angeles Investors or ask about funding, you can reach him at: david@angelesinvestors.com, or connect with him on LinkedIn. For more information about funding, visit the company's web page for startups: https://angelesinvestors.com/startups/

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