In this episode, we sit down with Maria Gutierrez Peñaloza, co-founding partner of Nido Ventures, to explore why Mexico may be entering its “golden decade” for tech and cross-border innovation. Maria shares how her background working in supply chain in Silicon Valley shaped Nido’s investment thesis, and why they’re backing B2B startups transforming legacy industries. We dive into nearshoring trends turbocharging Mexico’s economy, the specific industries ripe for disruption, and how Nido bridges two worlds – mobilizing U.S. capital to seize opportunities south of the border.

From her days managing Apple’s supply chain to launching a VC fund with a fellow engineer, Maria’s journey offers a masterclass in leveraging operational expertise in venture capital. She breaks down the “arbitrage opportunity” she sees in Mexican tech, how Nido navigates tariff turbulence and geopolitical shifts with a long-term lens, and why engineers-turned-investors can spot and scale the next wave of industrial innovation in Latin America.

We were introduced to Maria by our friend Renata (Nido’s boots-on-the-ground in CDMX – gracias, Renata!). We knew we had to talk to Maria after hearing about Nido’s product-driven approach and bold cross-border thesis. This conversation didn’t disappoint – it’s packed with candid insights and actionable takeaways for investors and founders alike, from scaling B2B startups to building community around venture.

💰 Assets Under Management: $7M (Fund I)
📍 HQ: Los Angeles & San Francisco, with team in Mexico City
🎯 Stage Focus: Pre-Seed and Seed
🌎 Geographic Focus: U.S./Mexico corridor (selectively broader LatAm adjacency)
💵 Check Size: $100K–$200K initial; selective follow-ons via SPVs
🏆 Portfolio: 23 B2B startups in fintech, compliance, industrial tech, logistics, healthcare, and AI

🚀 Notable Investments:

🔧 Unique Model: Founded by engineers with deep operator experience, Nido takes a product-driven lens to investing. The team specifically backs founders modernizing “boring” legacy industries with high-friction workflows, where technical edge and early commercial traction matter most.

📈 Exit Strategy: Structured for long-term ownership, but opportunistic about liquidity via M&A or secondaries by Series B/C (no waiting 10+ years for an IPO to cash out).

(Learn more at nido.ventures)

Maria and her co-founder Ana Carolina first met as engineering students at Stanford, never imagining they’d one day run a VC fund together. Post-college, Maria managed supply chain operations for Apple (yes, the iPhone supply chain!), while Caro was writing code at LinkedIn and leading engineering at a Mexican startup. They both dreamed of launching a startup, but while brainstorming ideas they stumbled on a different opportunity: investing in the kinds of companies they wished they could build.

In 2020, the duo started angel investing and quickly found their niche. With backgrounds in hardware and software, they could spot technically solid founders and assess products in industries they knew inside-out. This gave them an edge to get into high-quality cap tables early. By 2022, they launched Nido Ventures around a clear thesis: back B2B tech startups transforming traditional sectors in Mexico and the U.S. cross-border space – areas they not only understand, but where their experience can meaningfully help founders go from 0 to 1.

Armed with engineering know-how and on-the-ground experience, Maria and Caro set out to be the kind of investors they wished they’d had as founders – rolling up their sleeves, debugging problems alongside startups, and focusing on solving real industrial pain points. That tech-operator DNA remains Nido’s secret sauce in sourcing deals and helping portfolio companies scale.

If you ask Maria “Why Mexico, why now?”, be prepared for some eye-opening numbers and historical context. Latin America’s second-largest economy is on the cusp of a major tech-driven boom – and Nido doesn’t want to miss it.

Mexico today enjoys unprecedented tailwinds: global manufacturers are “nearshoring” operations to Mexico at record rates (thank you, strained U.S.–China relations), and the U.S.–Mexico trade corridor is a whopping $800 billion market that’s not slowing down. Yet tech investment is still relatively tiny compared to the opportunity, which spells upside. Maria argues that over the next decade, Mexico’s tech ecosystem could mature rapidly, delivering outsized returns to those who get in early.

Crucially, Mexico’s macro stability and leadership are bolstering this optimism. While headlines often focus on political noise or U.S. tariff threats, the reality on the ground is confidence: Mexico’s likely next president (Claudia Sheinbaum, a PhD in energy) is signaling pragmatic, pro-growth policies. When a recent U.S. tariff tantrum hit, Sheinbaum responded with calm and contingency plans “A through F” rather than panic. Nido’s take? Don’t sweat short-term turbulence.

In other words, contrarian investing 101: when nervous money pulls back, smart money leans in. By focusing on Mexico’s strong fundamentals – a huge young population, rising internet adoption, industrial resurgence – Nido aims to capitalize on the gap between perception and reality. The bet is that global VC dollars will inevitably correct upward to reflect Mexico’s true potential. As Maria puts it, “If everyone else is fearful, we’re greedy.”

Nido’s thesis isn’t just macro theory – it’s very specific about where innovation (and investment) can have the biggest impact. Maria lights up when talking about the unsexy, “old-school” industries that keep Mexico (and the world) running: manufacturing, logistics, construction, energy, agriculture, mining, you name it. These sectors share two things: they’re critically important and they’ve lagged in tech adoption. Perfect recipe for disruption.

Some areas Nido is particularly excited about in the next 5–10 years: