Multidisciplinary team of passionate and commited individuals, with a shared purpose to create positive impact in the region.

Investment Committee

Richard Aitkenhead

Héctor Valero

  • Founder of IDC Group and Valante Capital. Co-Founder of 6 PE and VC funds in Latam, USA, and Europe with +$2B AUM Accumulated.

    Investor in PE/VC, Energy, Infrastructure and Real Estate Projects with more than 25 years of experience in Investment Banking.

    Former Finance Minister and leader of the Peace Accords in Guatemala.

    Master of Public Administration from Harvard University and a Bs in Economics from Rafael Landivar University of Guatemala.

Director & Co-founder

Co-founder & MP

  • 23+ years of experience in consulting, corporate finance and Private Equity.

    Former CEO and current Board Chairman of Vitali Alimentos, portfolio company managed by Valante Capital and board member of multiple portfolio companies.

    Served as Managing Director at CMI Foods, a leading food business conglomerate where he led multiple M&A transactions in LATAM and the US.

    Member of multiple boards of Animal Protein counsels and served as Principal at Booz & Company.

    Developed a career in management in companies such as BAT, CAF and P&G.

    MBA from Emory University, Master in Finance from IESA of Venezuela and a Bs in Economics from the Catholic University Andrés Bello of Venezuela.

  • Managing Partner at IDC.

    Experience in consulting, finance, and investment banking in various industries.

    Serves as a board member of different IDC Investment Funds and portfolio companies.

    Independent board member and advisor.

    Elected to Guatemala City Council 2020-2024.

    MBA from INCAE Business School of Costa Rica and Bs in Economics from NC State University.

Director

Managing Partner

  • 15+ years of experience in originating, structuring and executing cross-border M&A and capital markets transactions (including SPACs, PIPEs, IPOs, project finance, high yield and structured debt) totaling +US$20 billion.

    Former head of Citigroup Infrastructure, Consumer & Retail Latin America Investment Banking.

    CPG experience at Procter & Gamble finance and corporate strategy team, in the Latin America headquarters.

    Co-Founder and board member of “For a Brighter Venezuela” (NYC based 501c3).

    MBA from MIT, and a Bs with honors in Industrial Engineer from Simon Bolivar University of Venezuela.

Melissa Ramírez

Richard Lee

Vertical Partners & Advisors

Personal, Beauty & Home Partner

Personal, Beauty & Home Partner

  • 20+ years of experience with best-in-class consumer goods industry leaders as a supply chain executive with a broad international experience.

    Dynamic career with experience in P&G, GOJO Industries/Purell and consultant Firm PwC.

    Proven track record developing high performance teams, effective business and supply chain strategies for cosmetics and regulated products (FDA and EPA).

    MSc in industrial Engineering and Operations Research from the University of Oklahoma and a Bs in Mechanical Engineering from Simón Bolivar University of Venezuela.

  • 30+ years of experience as consumer goods director and entrepreneur with international experience and expertise in personal and home care.

    Co-founded “Corpañal” a Venezuelan personal care company and Co-founded “Anthem South” a world leading manufacturer of skin, body and hair care products located in the US and former director at Excelcare Products.

    Served as a teacher in Strategic Marketing at Universidad Metropolitana.

    MBA from the university of Bath of the UK and a BS in Economics from Catholic University Andrés Bello of Venezuela.

OOH Food Partner

Senior Advisor

  • 20+ years of experience in the restaurant industry of Central America.

    Serves as general partner of “Grupo R2C”, a company that acquired “Guate Burger” and QS Restaurant “QueDely”.

    Founder of “Greenergyze”, a company specialized in electricity generation an energy consumption.

    Former Operations manager for “Pollo Campero” a restaurant brand of CMI Foods where he also led the logistics and call center of the home delivery service.

    MBA from INCAE Business School of Costa Rica and a Bs in Industrial Engineering from North Carolina State University.

  • 40+ years of experience in banking and corporate law, mergers & acquisitions, international commerce, fiscal planning and litigations and arbitrations, having participated in some of the biggest and most complex transactions in the region in recent times.

    Current Board Member of Vitali Alimentos and Chairman of Arias Law Firm, one of the leading law firms in Central America.

    Former President of the American Chamber of Commerce of El Salvador (AmCham) and current board member. Former President of El Salvador’s Banking Association (ABANSA) and current board member. Awarded multiple recognitions in the last decades by Chambers and Partners Global, Latin Lawyer, World Finance Magazine, Summa Magazine, among others.

    Advised business groups in the negotiations of the free trade agreement (CAFTA) between the United States and Central America and the Association Agreement, a free trade agreement with the European Union.

    Doctorate degree in Law from Universidad de El Salvador, studied economics at Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas of El Salvador.

Carlos Caballero

Oscar Uzcátegui

Armando Arias

Sebastián García

Valante Team

Jennifer Argueta

Omar Pantoja

  • 20+ years of experience in planning, valuation and strategic business development of food processing, energy, telecom, banking, finance and industrial manufacturing industries in LATAM.

    Served as M&A Corporate Manager at CMI, a leading food business conglomerate where she was responsible for M&A transactions throughout all strategic business units.

    Specialized in M&A, JV, Private Equity Funds, Business Growth Strategy and Business Development.

    Certified Executive Coach by INCAE Business School.

    Master in Finance from Universidad Pontificia de Comillas of Spain, and a Bs in Business Administration from Francisco Marroquín University of Guatemala.

  • 15+ years of experience in mass consumption in the industries of food and beverages in LATAM.

    Former Sales Manager at PEPSICO where he led different sales channels of the Food and Beverages Business Units in Chile, Peru, Central America, and the Caribbean.

    Served as Manager of Food Service at AgroSuper, one of the largest Food companies in Chile.

    MBA from Chile University, Master in Executive Marketing from Catholic University Andrés Bello of Venezuela and a Bs in Business Administration from Nueva Esparta University of Venezuela.

  • 18+ years of experience in a diversity of fields such as M&A, energy, litigation, among others.

    Served as an Associate at Alegalis, part of Legic legal network, where he led the Energy, Civil, and Criminal department and acted as General Counsel for a relevant client’s operations in the region.

    Former Legal Director of Pollo Campero’s operations in the US and Europe and part of CMI and La Estancia’s legal team where led the legal front for M&A and handled corporate needs in jurisdictions throughout the western hemisphere

    Master in Business Law (LLM) from Universidad Católica de Chile, postgraduate degree in Management of International Commerce from San Carlos University of Guatemala and a Lawyer and Public Notary degree from Francisco Marroquín University of Guatemala.

José Antonio Medrano

Fernando Blanco

Legal Manager

Analyst

  • Former Jr. Financial Analyst at Abbott Laboratories where he managed and analyzed the expenses for Central America and Dominican Republic.

    Prior to this, Fernando completed an internship at Banco Agromercantil de Guatemala in addition he served as the financial coordinator for the first Fintech Association of Guatemala.

    Certified by Bloomberg for financial market analysis.

    Bs with honors in Economics with a minor in Finance from Francisco Marroquín University of Guatemala.

Gerardo Palacios

Francisco Castro

Investments & Business Dev. Leader

Business Transformation Sr Advisor

  • 12+ years of experience having analyzed, advised and executed various multi-industry investment transactions.

    Former Strategy and Transactions Manager at EY (Ernst & Young) for the Central America and Dominican Republic office where he led debt and M&A transactions as well as corporate strategy and corporate financial advisory projects in several industries across the region.

    Served as an Associate at a boutique investment bank with focus in the Central American region, based in El Salvador.

    Master in Finance from EADA Business School of Spain, studies in economics at Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo of México (ITAM) and a Bs in Business & Economics from Escuela Superior de Economía y Negocios (ESEN) of El Salvador.

  • 25+ years of local and international experience in LATAM FMCG and retail leading and improving multifunctional teams.

    Former Marketing Director of Poultry, Pork and nex business unit at CMI Foods, a leading food business conglomerate where he led the businesses brand strategies, communications, business intelligence and innovation projects.

    He also served as the Head of the marketing department at FIFCO.

    Specialized in Trade Marketing.

    MBA from Simón Bolivar University of Venezuela and an Bs in Industrial Engineer from Catholic University Andrés Bello of Venezuela.

  • 5+ years of legal experience with expertise in commercial and financial matters with focus on M&A transactions, private equity and structuring private and public issuances.

    Served as Legal Associate at Carrillo & Asociados, dedicated to the financial, banking, and real estate industries within Central America. 

    Former Legal Staff of EY LAW, supporting the contract drafting and due diligence processes for the M&A of national and international entities. 

    Lawyer and Public Notary degree from Francisco Marroquín University of Guatemala.

Legal Senior Analyst

Analyst

  • Andrea has a solid education background in marketing and sales and is currently working as Trainee in Vitali Alimentos, portfolio company managed by Valante Capital.

    Andrea professional journey began at The Westin Santa Fe in Mexico City, where she was part of the quality assurance team.

    Master in Science in Management and Entrepreneurial Leadership from Babson College and a Bs degree in Business Administration from Del Istmo University of Guatemala.

Director & CEO of Vitali Alimentos

Investor Relations

  • 20+ years of experience in the Latin American food industry, specialized in transformation of operations and B2B commerce.

    CEO of Vitali Alimentos, portfolio company managed by Valante Capital and former Director of Animal Protein at Vitali Alimentos.

    Served as Sales Director at Meyn Food Processing Technology part of the CTB Inc. group for Latin America.

    Served as Director of Industrial Processing at CMI Foods, a leading food business conglomerate where he managed the commercial poultry area in Guatemala and Costa Rica.

    Participated as speaker at the Poultry School of the University of Georgia.

    MBA from UNECET of Spain and a Bs in Engineer in Food Science and Technology from Del Valle University of Guatemala.

  • 16+ years of experience in corporate law, venture capital, energy, infrastructure, investment funds, commercial matters, M&A and private equity.

    Board member of QUANTIC INVESTMENT GROUP.

    Former legal counsel of the largest telecommunications company in Guatemala, where she led the acquisitions and international transactions and served as Legal Head of a family office and investment group.

    Master in Business Law (LLM) from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Lawyer and Public Notary degree from Francisco Marroquín University of Guatemala and studies in International Business Law at the Complutense University of Spain.

Ignacio Penagos

Alejandro Lafée

  • +5 years of experience in Central America in the industries of food processing, logistics and real estate with expertise in corporate finance, financial modeling, and project valuation.

    Former Head of Financial Planning for Vitali Alimentos, portfolio company managed by Valante Capital, served a Jr. Financial Analyst for a private equity firm named Prime Real Estate.

    Master in Finance from Mexican EGADE Business School, and Bs in Business Administration from Francisco Marroquín University of Guatemala.

Business Transformation Director

Senior Analyst

  • 20+ years of combined experience as consultant and managing director, he has led multiple transformations of local and multinational companies in LATAM.

    Former Manager Consultant at EREA Consulting, on of the largest retail consulting firms in LATAM.

    Served as Director at DIUNSA, one of the largest grocery chains in Honduras.

    Certificate in Marketing & Business Strategic Planning from Universidad Metropolitana of Venezuela, PDG Marketing & Sales Advance Program from IESA of Venezuela, Harvard Advanced Negotiation Program from Cambridge CIC and a Organization Coach degree from Central University of Venezuela.

    Bs in Management with honors from Preston University and a Bs in Business Administration from Universidad Metropolitana of Venezuela.

Ana Luisa Martínez

Madeline Salguero

  • 28+ years of experience as the General Counsel and Director of various financial entities in Guatemala.

    Former Senior Associate at Consortium Law Firm where she led the banking and financial area and advised several national and international banks.

    Served as the General Counsel and advisor for Grupo Financiero Citibank in Guatemala (former Grupo Financiero Cuscatlán) where she led the legal process of the merger & acquisition of Banco Cuscatlán and Banco Uno with Citibank.

    Master in Business Law (LLM) from Louisiana State University, Master in Finance from Francisco Marroquín University of Guatemala and a Lawyer and Public Notary degree from Rafael Landívar University of Guatemala.

Legal Director

Analyst

  • Madeline has been part of the transformation team for the past 2 years, where she has participated and executed commercial initiatives and projects at portfolio companies managed by Valante Capital.

    Served as Data Analyst at IBEX, an infrastructure-as-a-service company dedicated to instantly process digital currency payments.

    BS in Business Engineering with honors from Francisco Marroquín University.

Business Transformation Manager

Fund Management Leader

Andrea Sinibaldi

Andrea Cruz

Paula Medrano

Juan Pablo Fernandez