In this episode of Women Changing Finance, Susana Garcia-Robles, Managing Partner at Capria Ventures, speaks about what it really takes to build financial ecosystems in emerging markets. usana began investing in venture capital in Latin America in the late 1990s, long before “impact” was trendy. She shares the hard lessons why early “green funds” failed, and why sustainable impact must include strong financial returns. Susana reflects on backing 90 venture funds, supporting unicorn founders, and creating WeExchange and WeInvest to amplify women entrepreneurs and investors across Latin America. We talk about: how development banks helped shape Latin America’s startup landscape, why local investors must believe in their own ecosystems, and how AI is transforming health, agriculture, and fintech in emerging markets. This episode is about staying through the ups and downs. Because good investors, and good changemakers, don’t trade trends. They build for the long term.

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You can also:

• Visit our website: womenchangingfinance.org
• Read Susana's full bio
• Follow Susana on LinkedIn

To go further, here are some of the references mentioned during the episode:

• Capria Ventures — https://capria.vc
• Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) — https://www.iadb.org
• IDB Lab — https://bidlab.org
• LAVCA (Association for Private Capital Investment in Latin America) — https://lavca.org
• Apprende Institute — https://aprendeinstitute.com
• Pomona Impact — https://pomonaimpact.com
• Salkantay Ventures — https://salkantay.vc
• NXTP Ventures — https://nxtp.vc
• WeExchange — https://wexchange.co/en/
• Emprendedora LAC — https://emprendedoralac.org
• WeInvest weinvestlatam.org/
• Elevar Equity https://elevarequity.com/
• 5 C Network https://www.5cnetwork.com/
• Agrofy — https://agrofy.com
• Cariaco - https://caricaco.com/
• Global Ventures - https://www.global.vc/
• Coming of Age by Noor Sweid - https://www.comingofage.me/
• The Power Law by Sebastian Mallaby — https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/309693/the-power-law-by-mallaby-sebastian/9780141988948
• The Four Cardinal Virtues by Josef Pieper https://undpress.nd.edu/9780268089894/the-four-cardinal-virtues/

Women Changing Finance is part of the Impact Alpha Podcast Network.