E23 - Susana Garcia Robles, Managing Partner at Capria Ventures

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. Please review the episode, share your feedback, and subscribe to the podcast! 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.