Chingona Ventures: Demystifying our Focus Areas
Reviewing hundreds of intake forms, speaking with early-stage founders, and diving deep into company due diligence is how associates spend their time at Chingona Ventures. We take pride in reviewing every deal and assess all opportunities by leveraging the 5 P’s framework: People, Product, Profit, Potential, and Portfolio. As former intern Yuval Tamir stated, the 5 P’s provide Chingona with three key benefits: Simplicity, Consistency, and Removing Bias. This framework is the basis for all founder meetings and during our due diligence process we drill deep into each area. As a team we debrief every deal and agree to proceed with the investment or pass due to several reasons. By the time we complete our internal due diligence and are ready to make an investment, we are confident in our decision and thrilled to help the founder elevate the next badass solution.
Why do we stress portfolio fit for new investments?
With the high volume of intake forms being submitted each day, how do associates review every deal and make timely decisions? Well, over time we have developed opinions, capabilities, and knowledge in areas we now consider our “sweet spots” or areas of expertise. These areas are ones where we believe we can provide the most value to the founder based on prior work experience or involvement with other companies within the space. We believe that strategic partnerships are critical for early-stage venture success, and thus are transparent about where we think Chingona Ventures fits best.
We are industry agnostic but focus on financial technology, female technology, food technology, health/wellness technology, future of learning, and future of work.
Financial Technology — We look for technology disrupting the financial services industry. Perhaps a new way of thinking about investing or automation of payment services. We enjoy learning about innovations in this space and continue to invest a large part of our portfolio in FinTech. Samara’s prior work experience at Goldman Sachs, and early stage deals at other funds uniquely positions Chingona to make expedited decisions in this space and contribute as strategic partners to our portfolio companies. Portfolio companies: EarlyBird — Investing in children’s financial future, Scout — Only finance app for athletes by athletes, Finix — Simplification of payment process for businesses, Suma Wealth — B2C financial wellness company for the U.S. Latinx community.
Female Technology — As we aim to provide funding to founders in growth markets that are often overlooked, we strongly aspire to address the gap in women’s healthcare. We believe this can be accomplished by investing in companies that are finding new and innovative solutions for women. We are always searching for the next company that will figure out how to address all stages of women’s health. This industry has already seen $14B invested to date and we believe that it will only continue to grow. Portfolio companies: Expectful — A wellness platform for new and expecting mothers, Dame — A sexual wellness company.
Food technology — At Chingona we believe food is medicine. We look for innovative solutions that are on the path towards democratizing healthy food by providing them at an affordable price. Additionally, we are excited about companies that help reduce waste / global greenhouse gas emission, currently estimated to be ~8–10% just from food waste alone. We are eager to find solutions that appeal to the new age consumers focused on having a healthier lifestyle while saving the planet. Portfolio companies: Tiny — Organic, ready to eat baby and toddler food, Zero — Delivery of groceries via zero-plastic movement, Paerpay — Contactless payment platform for restaurants.
Health / Wellness — We seek companies that provide alternatives to the traditional idea of health and wellness. We become excited when learning about companies that are improving the way patients treat their conditions, increasing access to services, and providing alternatives to activities / foods that promote healthy lifestyles. Last year we saw investments into digital health companies double, and anticipate the industry to continue to grow. Portfolio companies: Tiny — Fresh, organic, ready-to-eat baby and toddler meals, Care Advisors — Social Care Automation for Community Health, Connect Care Hero — Engaging community for older adults to help tackle social isolation and loneliness at scale.
Future of Learning — We believe that education is critical to promoting advancement opportunities for underserved communities. Through our investments we seek to help companies grow so they can provide the benefits to society that they set out to accomplish. We like to invest in companies that are thinking outside of the box, have their own secret sauce that gets people engaged and excited to learn, and are pioneers in the new way of learning. Portfolio companies: Suma Wealth — B2C financial wellness company for the U.S. Latinx community, Encantos — Storyteaching platform for children, Certiverse — Automated AI-assisted technology to quickly and easily develop a single exam or entire test program, Innovare — Cutting-edge analytics and strategic planning technology empowering leaders of organizations in the education ecosystem.
Future of Work — The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted working modalities for employees all over the world. In 2020, we saw companies within industries that would have never imagined a remote working environment, transform in just a matter of days. Now, almost 2 years since the start of the pandemic, we still see many employers embracing flexible working arrangements and believe that many changes that resulted from the pandemic are here to stay. We are excited to invest in innovative solutions that are making things better, faster, and optimal for the new norm. Portfolio companies: Career Karma — Retraining capabilities for people wanting to pivot into a career in technology, Toolchain — Fast and stable development workflows.
Does Chingona invest outside of its focus areas?
Yes, in fact, we have a few companies within our portfolio that do not directly align with our 6 focus areas. Although we prefer to invest within our verticals, we will consider investing in companies solving a compelling problem and where the founder blows us away. Ultimately, the ability of the founder to make us comfortable with the investment will greatly influence our decision. The founder will need to clearly articulate the company’s roadmap, show how they are uniquely positioned to lead the company, and meet key metrics that we believe will be critical for future growth. We do not tend to lead deals outside of our focus areas, so founders will be better positioned if they have already secured a strong VC lead.
Final thoughts
The work performed at Chingona Ventures is exciting and fast-paced. As associates, we are lucky to have the opportunity to speak with such impressive founders. I like to describe my experience as an opportunity to learn from some of the most innovative thinkers, whose excitement is contagious as it radiates through my screen.
