Latinas in tech continue to reach milestones in Silicon Valley and the whole U.S. Whether they are engineers, data scientists, entrepreneurs, investors or marketing professionals, they are not only succeeding in established companies, but also forging new paths with ventures of their own.
The 'Latinas in Tech' nonprofit, a community of professionals that began in 2014, estimates that over 27,000 Latino women are working in the sector in the U.S. "We are more and more present in tech companies but overwhelmingly at the lowest positions. Overqualified, underutilized", Rocio van Nierop, CEO at Latinas in Tech, said.
The revenue from Latina-owned businesses is close to $78.7 billion, according to an estimation from The National Women's Business Council. However, in the the third quarter of 2022 Latinas and black women founded companies received only 5% of the venture capital funding for female founded companies, says a recent paper of Project Diane.
Here are three inspiring stories of Latinas in tech who have founded their own ventures:
1- Alexandra Zatarain
Raised in Tijuana, Mexico, Alexandra Zatarain is the Co-Founder and VP of Brand and Marketing of Eight Sleep, a sleep technology company based in New York that developed a smart mattress and smart mattress cover that use machine learning and other AI-based algorithms to help improve users' sleep.
The wellness startup's flagship product is the 'Pod mattress cover,' which warms and cools between 55° and 110° F. By using an "intelligent sleep system" that analyzes the body of the person sleeping and the environment, it makes adjustments through the night to keep its users asleep and increase the duration of their deep and REM sleep stages.
As a marketer and brand-builder, Zatarain has helped build the Eight Sleep brand and scaled the company's to its current valuation of close to $500 million. She has achieved this by "redefining a once dormant category, changing the narrative around sleep through the creation of the sleep fitness movement," according to her LinkedIn profile.
In 2017, Zatarain was included by Forbes in the 30 Under 30 list in Consumer Technology, and in 2020 she was named by INC as one of the top 100 Female Founders. She is also an investor in female-founded companies as a scout for Cleo Capital.
2- Karla Gallardo
"Proudly Ecuadorian" is one of the first statements that Karla Gallardo includes in her bio. And she means it: this Latina, who two years ago co-founded tech company Cuyana, is not only a businesswoman, but also a dedicated activist with regards to her Latin heritage. An example is her current campaign to rename the iconic "Panama Hat" as "The Ecuador Hat."
According to its website, this tech company is a "women-built, heritage-led company offering fewer, better collections that embody timeless design, luxury quality, and sustainability." It specializes in selling high-quality leather handbags and accessories, but it also offers clothing.
It continues: "Heritage craftsmanship is at the heart of each piece we create—our relationships with our suppliers, factories, and mills are part of our extended Cuyana family. We are dedicated to doing our part to preserve heritage craft traditions. We have traveled the world—from Ecuador to Peru to Vietnam—to build close-knit ties with our global partners. Each product in our collection reflects a genuine partnership between Cuyana and the individuals who bring our products to life."
Cuyana's System Tote bag is one of the star products of the company. Chosen as the best work bag in a review in Forbes, the leather product can be customized to fit the user's lifestyle is "spacious and durable, and it holds the essentials without being bulky," reads the article.
3- Cecilia Corral
Named by Forbes to the 30 Under 30 list in Healthcare 2019 and selected by Univision among 'The 20 Latina Business Women Who Have Raised the Most Money in the United States.'", Cecilia Corral has become a recognized entrepreneur advocating for healthcare equity in the U.S.
Corral, a Stanford engineer who was raised in a low-income immigrant household, is co-founder and VP of Product of CareMessage, a startup based in San Francisco, California. This nonprofit tech company offers mobile technology, such as text messages, to help people to manage chronic diseases when they are not able to visit a healthcare facility.
The venture has raised over $20 million. "There are not enough founders who know how to apply for food stamps, visit a relative in prison, or go to bed hungry. I would rather fail 10 times trying to do something to help low-income communities than spend my time and mental capacity helping the rich get richer," she expressed.
"At CareMessage, I build teams where diversity and inclusion are prioritized, and nurture that environment to build innovative products for the underserved. Outside of work, I advocate for the inclusion of Latinas in tech and regularly collect data on Latina founders," she explains in her LinkedIn profile.
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