Ana Carolina (Caro) Mexia and Maria Gutierrez are the co-founders of Nido Ventures, a venture capital firm investing in pre-seed B2B companies transforming traditional industries in the U.S./Mexico corridor. Originally launched as an angel syndicate, Nido Ventures officially became a VC firm in 2021 while Ana Caro and Maria were attending Stanford Graduate School of Business. They closed Nido Ventures Fund I at $7 million in August 2023.
We sat down with Ana Caro and Maria to discuss the journey of starting a fund with your best friend, raising capital from LPs, and the unique dynamics of U.S./Mexico trade.
CARTA: You’ve been friends for years before partnering on Nido. How did you first connect?
MARIA: Caro and I met about ten years ago during our undergrad years at Stanford, where we both studied engineering. We instantly connected over our shared roots in Mexico City. The Latin American community at Stanford was small and tight-knit, and a fun fact—Caro and I actually met at a Halloween party! It was refreshing to meet someone who shared my background and ambitions.
CARTA: When did the idea for Nido first blossom?
MARIA: After graduating, I worked at Apple in semiconductor procurement, while Caro was a software engineer at LinkedIn, building B2B products. We both lived in San Francisco and shared an entrepreneurial mindset. We knew we wanted to start something, but we weren’t sure whether it would be in the U.S. or Mexico.
That’s when the idea of an angel syndicate came up. We joined a few friends in making early-stage investments, primarily in Mexico. We quickly realized there were few, if any, local technical investors. Most GPs came from private equity or banking backgrounds. As engineers, we stood out—and this unique positioning gave us access to coveted cap tables, co-investing with firms like Andreessen Horowitz, QED (Investors), Tiger (Global Management), and SoftBank.
While at GSB, we decided to take things further. We realized we loved what we were doing and wanted to commit full-time. That’s when we decided to raise our first fund—diving in completely blind.
CARO: Completely blind! Looking back, it’s wild how naive we were. But that naivete was a blessing. Had we known the challenges ahead, we might not have had the guts to do it. We felt like entrepreneurs building something that represented us—something new. It clicked for us that Nido could be both a fund and a startup.
CARTA: What was the fundraising process like, transitioning from a syndicate to a VC firm?
MARIA: We could talk about this for hours! The biggest shift was going from investing our own money to managing other people’s capital—a huge responsibility. It forced us to refine our thesis and institutionalize our processes.
Caro is incredibly process-driven, which made the transition smoother. But fundraising was tough. The LP world is incredibly opaque, especially for first-time funds. Institutional LPs—pension funds, large asset managers—weren’t options for us.
We had to get creative. We started with first-degree connections—GSB peers, Stanford undergrad networks, friends, and family in Mexico. Slowly, introductions expanded our circle. Fund I’s LP base ended up being primarily high-net-worth individuals, family offices, and a few strategic investors. It was a grind—cold emails, countless conversations—but we learned invaluable lessons.
CARO: One key learning? Fundraising never stops. Some LPs we’re speaking with today might invest in Fund Five, fifteen years from now. Another surprise was that some people we thought were long shots said yes, while others we expected to invest didn’t. The process taught us to keep an open mind and always take the meeting.
CARTA: What does a typical day running Nido look like now?
CARO: One of the best surprises about VC is that there’s no single way to do it. Some investors spend their days meeting founders; others dive deep into market research. Maria and I complement each other in this regard.
I love writing, so I focus on our weekly newsletter. I also still enjoy coding, which allows me to automate processes internally. Maria, on the other hand, thrives on meeting people and energizes the firm through her networking. Our different working styles are a strength—they let us cover more ground while staying true to ourselves.
CARTA: You mentioned your engineering backgrounds give you an edge. How so?
MARIA: Our technical backgrounds allow us to evaluate companies faster and more deeply. Many funds outsource technical due diligence, which slows down decision-making and adds costs. We handle it ourselves, giving us a time advantage—crucial at the pre-seed stage where rounds move fast.
Also, in Mexico, CTOs rarely have investors they can talk to. Caro, our resident "CTO whisperer," bridges that gap. Our agility also sets us apart. Caro has built robust internal tools connecting all our data systems, making us as efficient as a $50 million fund, despite Fund I being $7 million. This allows us to stay founder-friendly and iterate processes quickly, making life easier for our portfolio companies.
CARO: Exactly. If something isn’t working for founders, we fix it ourselves. For example, our initial investor reporting process was too tedious. We automated it, and now founders actually enjoy providing updates because it’s tailored for them.
CARTA: Why focus on B2B companies in legacy industries between the U.S. and Mexico?
MARIA: Caro and I understand both sides of the border. The U.S.-Mexico trade relationship is massive—an $800 billion market. Traditional industries like manufacturing, supply chain, and automotive are deeply interconnected. Even AI advancements rely on these foundational sectors for data center infrastructure and chip manufacturing.
These industries provide stable, scalable ARR opportunities for startups, which is critical for sustainable growth. Plus, in Mexico, 80% of businesses are family-owned. The next generation is now stepping in, eager to adopt te
chnology. We saw a unique opportunity: industries that need modernization, an emerging appetite for tech, and a dual-market advantage. It felt like a perfect fund/market fit.
CARTA: Let’s end on a personal note. What’s something surprising about you?
CARO: Maria has been to 72 countries—an impressive number that always surprises people!
MARIA: Caro’s superpower is how she seems to fit more hours into a day. One moment she’s discussing the latest Prada collection; the next, she’s breaking down an AI algorithm from a Stanford research paper. She’s taught me that you can be both—a technophile and a fashion enthusiast—all at once.
