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.
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.
Location: United States, Massachusetts, Boston
Employees: 1-10
Founded date: 2016
Investment Type: Venture Capital
Investment Stage: Pre-Seed; Seed; Series A
Portfolio 2
| Date | Name | Website | Total Raised | Location |
| 21.11.2022 | Daylight | joindaylight.com | $15M | United Sta... |
| 02.11.2021 | Wabbi | wabbisoft.com | $2M | United Sta... |
Persons 1
| Date | First Name | Last Name | Title | |||
| - | Catalina | Barros | - | linkedin.c... | - | - |
News 70
| Date | Title | Description |
| 21.11.2023 | American Banker – How scammers use of AI is affecting fintech investment | Anticipating the heightened risk, Mendoza Ventures, a Boston-based fintech investor, is looking for opportunities that intersect AI and cybersecurity and lead to collaboration with banks. |
| 16.11.2023 | Boston Globe – After affirmative action ruling, one Boston VC firm is looking to redefine DEi | Despite gloomy statistics about the lack of diversity in venture capital funding, Adrian Mendoza remains optimistic that change is coming. Mendoza, with his wife Senofer Mendoza, runs a VC firm based in the Back Bay that focuses on funding ... |
| 09.11.2023 | Charlotte Inno – Truist joins Bank of America as investor in Mendoza Ventures’ $100M fund | Charlotte-based Truist Financial Corp.’s (NYSE: TFC) venture capital arm is backing a female- and Latinx-founded VC firm. Truist Ventures is investing in Mendoza Ventures’ early growth fintech fund as a limited partner. |
| 12.09.2023 | MPF: Success or Failure – Strategizing Your Business Exit Adrian Mendoza | - |
| 23.08.2023 | The Achievement Index: Adrian Mendoza – How to Tell Stories that Connect, Inspire, and Sell | - |
| 22.06.2023 | Acquisition: Finder acquires Finch to help people earn and invest more money | Finder.com today announced that it has acquired Mendoza Ventures portfolio company Finch, a New York based wealth management platform that lets customers earn and invest with cash back. |
| 25.03.2023 | Fintech Chatter: A VC account of Silicon Valley Bank Crash | Scott Heyes, Mendoza Ventures | - |
| 13.02.2023 | CNBC: AI pitches are flooding into the venture capital space | Adrian Mendoza, founder and general partner of Mendoza Ventures, joins ‘Power Lunch’ to discuss the state of AI in venture capital, how AI proposes to generate money and the importance of data sources when training AI. |
| 25.01.2023 | Leaders of Analytics: Understanding How Venture Capital Works in 2023 with Scott Heyes | |
| 06.01.2023 | Bloomberg: Bank of America Takes Anchor Investor Role for Diverse Mendoza Fund | Bank of America Corp. was an anchor investor for a new $100 million fund managed by Mendoza Ventures, which backs companies with founders from minority and other diverse backgrounds in the financial-technology, artificial-intelligence and c... |
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Mentions in press and media 5
| Date | Title | Description |
| 28.08.2023 | Mendoza Ventures Launches Mendoza Impact | Mendoza Ventures, a Boston, MA and San Francisco, CA-based female and latinx-founded venture capital firm, launched Mendoza Impact, a nonprofit dedicated to closing the diverse founder funding gap. Led by newly appointed Executive Director ... |
| 10.01.2023 | Mendoza Ventures Holds First Close of $100M Third Early Growth Fintech Fund | Mendoza Ventures, a Boston, MA-based female and Latinx-founded Venture Capital firm, held the first close of its $100M Third Early Growth Fintech fund. The initial close was led by Bank of America, including Grasshopper Bank and other inves... |
| 12.08.2022 | The Value–And Need–For Venture Capital Funding In U.S. Latino Startups | L'Attitude Ventures announces $100 million fund close at Nasdaq L'Attitude Ventures |
| 29.11.2021 | Purpose At Work: How Mendoza Ventures Injects A Diversity-Purpose Along With Millions In Startup And Growth Cash | Purpose At Work: How Mendoza Ventures Injects a Diversity-Purpose Along With Millions in Startup and ... [+] Growth Cash PHOTO PROVIDED BY Mendoza Ventures |
| 02.11.2021 | When female funders invest in female founders — Wabbi raises $2M Seed led by Mendoza Ventures | The $2M Seed round was led by Mendoza Ventures with participation by Cisco Ventures, Workbench, and NLA. Wabbi CEO, Brittany Greenfield will be transforming the cybersecurity ecosystem with her innovative application security platform. Base... |