Gustavo K Contreras, Ph.D.

Firm overview Mendoza Ventures is an early-stage and growth venture fund based in Boston. The firm is run by husband and wife Adrian and Senofer Mendoza, entrepreneurs and prior operators who are veterans of the local startup ecosystem. The firm focuses on investments in fintech, AI, and cybersecurity, with diversity playing an important role in their investment decisions—about 70% of their portfolio consists of startups led by immigrants, people of color, and women. Mendoza started off as a pilot fund in 2016; after an exit and the realization that they had good traction with early-stage startups in Boston, Adrian and Senofer decided to focus exclusively on the seed-stage and formally launched Mendoza Ventures Fund II in 2019. Since then, the firm has made twelve investments and recruited senior managers, C-level executives, and domain experts as operating partners from places like State Street, Amazon Web Services, and Microsoft. Firm strategy Mendoza Ventures takes a depth-focused approach, looking for founders who demonstrate domain expertise in one of their three main focus areas across fintech, AI, and cybersecurity. Adrian and Senofer pride themselves on being hands-on investors and setting up companies for success beyond just writing a check—they will help create a strong early funding syndicate, make customer introductions, and assist with partnership conversations. They really tap into their experience as former entrepreneurs to get in the trenches with their founders, with Adrian optimizing business structures and Senofer leveraging her sales and marketing expertise. Since its inception five years ago, Adrian and Senofer raised two funds, had one successful exit, and expanded their reach from their Boston hometown to as far as Norway.

Every company has a mission. Whats ours? To empower every person and every organization to achieve more. We believe technology can and should be a force for good and that meaningful innovation contributes to a brighter world in the future and today. Our culture doesn’t just encourage curiosity; it embraces it. Each day we make progress together by showing up as our authentic selves. We show up with a learn-it-all mentality. We show up cheering on others, knowing their success doesnt diminish our own. We show up every day open to learning our own biases, changing our behavior, and inviting in differences. Because impact matters. Microsoft operates in 190 countries and is made up of approximately 228,000 passionate employees worldwide.

Firm overview Mendoza Ventures is an early-stage and growth venture fund based in Boston. The firm is run by husband and wife Adrian and Senofer Mendoza, entrepreneurs and prior operators who are veterans of the local startup ecosystem. The firm focuses on investments in fintech, AI, and cybersecurity, with diversity playing an important role in their investment decisions—about 70% of their portfolio consists of startups led by immigrants, people of color, and women. Mendoza started off as a pilot fund in 2016; after an exit and the realization that they had good traction with early-stage startups in Boston, Adrian and Senofer decided to focus exclusively on the seed-stage and formally launched Mendoza Ventures Fund II in 2019. Since then, the firm has made twelve investments and recruited senior managers, C-level executives, and domain experts as operating partners from places like State Street, Amazon Web Services, and Microsoft. Firm strategy Mendoza Ventures takes a depth-focused approach, looking for founders who demonstrate domain expertise in one of their three main focus areas across fintech, AI, and cybersecurity. Adrian and Senofer pride themselves on being hands-on investors and setting up companies for success beyond just writing a check—they will help create a strong early funding syndicate, make customer introductions, and assist with partnership conversations. They really tap into their experience as former entrepreneurs to get in the trenches with their founders, with Adrian optimizing business structures and Senofer leveraging her sales and marketing expertise. Since its inception five years ago, Adrian and Senofer raised two funds, had one successful exit, and expanded their reach from their Boston hometown to as far as Norway.