NuMundo Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
NuMundo Ventures is a Silicon Valley-based pre-seed and seed stage fund founded in December 2022 by Ivan Montoya, a Colombian-born VC with backgrounds at McKinsey and as a venture-backed operator. The fund views Latin America as an emerging innovation hub — comparing it to Silicon Valley in the 1970s and China in the early 2000s — and positions itself as a hands-on partner to LatAm founders building iconic companies. The firm's thesis centers on backing overlooked founders who lack traditional VC credentials (elite degrees, English fluency, tight networks) but demonstrate deep market insight, resilience, and execution ability. NuMundo explicitly rejects the 'growth at all costs' mentality common in US VC and models its portfolio on sustainable-scaling companies like Atlassian and Klaviyo.
Stage Focus
NuMundo is a pre-seed and seed stage fund. Fund I launched in December 2022 and has deployed into 19 companies as of mid-2026, split roughly 11 pre-seed and 8 seed investments. The firm targets founders from inception through IPO and reserves follow-on capital to support breakout portfolio companies through later rounds.
Check Size
Typical check sizes range from $100,000 to $2,000,000. Early-stage personal investments of $20K followed by $150K tranches are on record, with staged deployment common for pre-seed companies that demonstrate early traction. The fund participates in rounds ranging from small pre-seed tickets to larger seed rounds.
Lead Tendency
As a solo GP fund, NuMundo Ventures can make faster decisions and bypasses traditional firm hierarchies. Ivan Montoya often leads or co-leads pre-seed rounds, taking a highly involved role with founders. On seed rounds, the firm may lead or co-invest alongside other LatAm-focused funds.
Geographic Focus
Primarily Latin America with expansion to the United States. The fund has particular concentration in Mexico and Colombia, with portfolio companies also in Venezuela, Central America, and other LatAm markets. NuMundo positions itself as a bridge between Silicon Valley networks and Latin American founders, helping LatAm startups access US capital markets and operational expertise.
Sector Focus
The firm's three stated primary sectors are fintech/payments, proptech, and supply chain. In practice, the portfolio reflects a broader mandate that includes:
- Fintech & Payments: Consumer credit (Cashea), car financing (OCN), credit infrastructure (Altscore, Finvero), remittances (Tumoni), bill payments (Neatpagos), embedded finance for fleets (Uvicuo), and AI-native financial platforms for the underserved (Beloz)
- Enterprise Software & AI: AI for GTM/ops for SMBs (Dapta), AI employees for wholesalers (Seals), AI headhunting (Time To Hire), AI for software documentation (Oqoqo), voice AI for debt collection (Altur), finance/treasury automation (Tesote), AI Telco for businesses (Mirlo)
- PropTech & Construction: Construction project management SaaS (Buildpeer), property marketplace (GoJom)
- Consumer & Media: Super app for Venezuela (Cashea), LatAm micro-dramas streaming platform (Idilio)
- Agentic Commerce: Next-generation shopping experience (Hexagon)
Recent Activity
NuMundo's Fund I portfolio has been performing strongly:
- OCN raised an $86M Series A in mid-2024, one of the largest LatAm early-stage portfolio milestones in the cohort
- Altscore closed an $8.5M Series A in August 2024
- Buildpeer raised $2.5M in seed financing in December 2024
- Tumoni raised $2.29M in a pre-seed round in October 2024
- Mirlo closed a $200K Pre-Seed II in April 2025 with co-investors Platanus Ventures and Wollef
The broader portfolio has collectively raised $130M+ in follow-on capital and hit $380M+ aggregate ARR.
Portfolio Highlights
Breakout Companies:
- OCN (onecarnow.com): Rent-to-own EV financing for gig workers (Uber/Lyft drivers). Raised $86M Series A (2024), expanding across the Americas and into Brazil.
- Cashea (cashea.app): Consumer credit and shopping super app for Venezuela. Significant traction in a historically underserved market.
- Altscore (altscore.ai): B2B credit infrastructure for LatAm lenders. $8.5M Series A (August 2024).
- Buildpeer (buildpeer.com): Construction project management SaaS focused on LatAm. $2.5M Seed round (December 2024), led by Brick & Mortar Ventures.
2025 Cohort (AI-focused): Dapta, Seals, Mirlo, Time To Hire, Oqoqo, Altur, Tesote, Uvicuo, Beloz — all AI-native companies targeting LatAm SMBs and enterprise.
Team
Ivan Montoya — Founding General Partner: Born in Colombia, Stanford MBA, Harvard BA. Former McKinsey consultant and venture-backed operator. Was a LatAm super angel making 30+ investments before launching NuMundo in 2022. Based in Silicon Valley. Known for backing non-traditional founders — those without elite credentials — who demonstrate deep market understanding.
Diego Bartoli — Venture Partner: Argentine. Go-to-market specialist with experience across fintech, proptech, and marketplaces. Prior roles at Cashea (NuMundo portfolio), Roofstock, Uber, and VRBO.
Jose Menendez — Venture Partner: Mexican. Combines deep technical expertise (particularly in AI) with go-to-market knowledge. Prior experience at Nvidia, Groq, Autonomiq, and as founder of Goplek.
Decision Process
Solo GP structure under Ivan Montoya. Partners spend weeks or months evaluating founders before committing capital. Investment decisions prioritize founder quality, clarity, resilience, and deep market insight over early metrics or pedigree. Warm introductions are noted as beneficial for securing initial meetings.
LatAm 100 Initiative
NuMundo runs the LatAm Early Stage 100 lists for Mexico and Colombia, identifying the top 100 early-stage companies annually in partnership with local tech weeks (Mexico Tech Week, Colombia Tech Week). This functions as a deal sourcing, brand-building, and ecosystem development initiative.
Founder Preferences
NuMundo specifically seeks founders who: (1) have deep insight into underserved LatAm market problems, (2) demonstrate resilience and execution over credentials, (3) are 'competitive but also possess listening capacity,' (4) build toward sustainable business models rather than burning capital for growth metrics. The firm explicitly values curiosity and open-mindedness in founders.