Carlos Covarrubias is a first-gen Latino and Managing Director at Angeles Investors. He contributes to all aspects of the team including sourcing, strategy and operations. Outside of Angeles Investors, Carlos is an Associate at Mesirow Financial in the Direct Real Estate team as well as a Board Member of Chicago-ALPFA. Carlos received his BBA at the University of Notre Dame. 

01. What inspired the creation of Angeles Investors?

It’s simple. There is an enormous need for equity in venture capital. It’s no secret that Black and Latinx founders face a disproportionate lack of access to capital. More recently, Crunchbase found that, as of the end of August 2020, Black and Latinx founders made up only 2.6% of the total funding deployed by VCs. 

This institutional problem inspired the creation of Angeles Investors. Our mission is clear, simple and powerful: to find, fund, and grow the most promising Latinx and Hispanic ventures. 

For nearly a year now, our team has been passionately dedicated to bridging the funding gap by creating a community of Hispanic and Latinx investors. By focusing on seed stage investments, we aim to have a multiplier effect on both the number and total amount of funding achieved by Hispanic and Latinx founders. 

02. How did you get started?

Angeles Investors started with a single pitch night in September 2019. In a Chicago WeWork, a small group of Hispanic and Latinx business executives and VCs gathered to listen to pitches from three Hispanic & Latinx-founded startups. Checks were cut for two of those founders. By November 2019, a second pitch night was organized, this time with a few more investors. The result, again, was a founder walking away with a check. 

These early signs of validation inspired us to build a scalable, national community. Angeles Investors launched in January of 2020 to be that bridge between great founders and our community’s capital. We know that brilliant Hispanic & Latinx founders are out there building great startups, and are actively fundraising for capital. Equally important, there are many Hispanic & Latinx angel investors or potential angel investors that are aligned with our core mission. 

03. What are Angeles’ main accomplishments so far?

At inception, we had established clear goals for 2020. While the list of challenges this year, especially for the Hispanic and Latinx community, are no in short supply, Angeles has been able not only meet but exceed our year end goals. 

To date, we have grown past our target of 50 Founding Members; created a portfolio of 7 companies, and at our August 2020 pitch night, deployed over half a million dollars. And this is despite the challenges we’re facing because of the pandemic. 

By 2025, Angeles Investors plans to build a community of 250 members, have a portfolio of 50 startups and invest at least $10 million. 

04. What important lessons have you learned so far?

Given that we are a young organization, our team is constantly learning — and we welcome that. Whether it’s performing diligence, executing the legal process, or creating educational content for members, there are always new things to learn from and experiment with. We’re fortunate enough to have a platform where we can pilot concepts and pivot quickly if we need to. 

The biggest positive realization has been the degree to which the Hispanic and Latinx community is not only willing, but ready, to join the ecosystem we are building and to support our mission. Many in the Hispanic and Latinx community have felt the same frustrations and share our passion for investing and empowering others in our community, but there was no platform for them to congregate, learn and have a positive impact. The Angeles platform gives Latinx and Hispanic entrepreneurs a place to go for capital, investors the opportunity to support the founders, and our community a place to come together. 

05. One recommendation to minority tech entrepreneurs?

Your ideas and intellect have the same value as those of anyone else: you do not need to fit into any mold to get funding. The most powerful business leaders are those that feel good in their own skin. These entrepreneurs know, deeply, the problem they are trying to solve, and solve it by building both a talented team and a product that delivers a powerful customer value proposition.

It’s showtime for Latinx entrepreneurs.

We are delighted to collaborate with Techstars. We had the pleasure to host David Cohen as the keynote speaker in our Q3 pitch night. David and his team have been extremely supportive of our mission from the beginning. 

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