ImpactAlpha Latin America

ImpactAlpha Latin America: Mapping a way forward in Mexico and Venezuela

ImpactAlpha · January 8, 2026

Saludos, Agents of Impact! 

In this month’s newsletter:

  • Mexican family offices leaning into impact
  • Cautious optimism among impact investors around Venezuela
  • Climate-resilient berry farming in Peru
  • Catalytic capital for climate justice in Brazil

 ¡Empecemos! – Jessica Pothering

These Mexican families are stepping up to impact investing, even as others step back. In Mexico, as elsewhere, venture capital fundraising fell off a cliff in 2022. Bucking the trend, that’s the year that the Coppel family, which runs one of Mexico’s most popular department store chains, launched its own VC firm, 1200VC, with $150 million to back impact technology across the Americas and Europe. The venture fund grew out of the Coppels’ family office, Talipot. “The funding landscape in Latin America is not retreating, it is evolving,” Esteban Coppel Gómez tells ImpactAlpha on behalf of the family. “The pullback after the recent capital bubble has created a healthier environment that rewards discipline, operational depth and long-term alignment.” As other investors have retreated, a handful of wealthy Mexican families are stepping up their allocations to impact investments in an effort to build a more vibrant ecosystem for startups and entrepreneurs tackling the country’s social challenges. Family businesses make up the backbone of Mexico’s economy, accounting for three-quarters of all businesses valued above $1 billion. “While some international capital has stepped back, this moment favors patient, informed investors – particularly regional families and global family offices willing to engage with the real economy rather than financial cycles,” says Lupe Rodriguez, who runs Talipot’s investments.

  • Durable capital. The Sánchez Navarro family, once one of the biggest landowners in the country, co-founded CO_Capital in 2018 to invest in ventures addressing poverty and climate change. The fund is part of CO_Plataforma, an impact investing initiative working to build Mexico’s impact ecosystem. The Coppel family defines impact as “sustained improvements in economic agency and institutional resilience, alongside competitive financial returns.” That includes expanding access to essential services, strengthening market institutions, and deploying technology to improve productivity across borders. Through 1200VC, Talipot has invested in Earth AI and in climate venture funds such as Lowercarbon Capital and Third Sphere. “Meeting the region’s capital needs will require strong governance, collaboration across families, and a willingness to build durable platforms rather than pursue isolated deals,” the family says. “Impact ultimately means stewardship – of capital, institutions, and the conditions that allow prosperity to compound over generations.”
  • Leaning in. The Servitje family, which controls the world’s largest baking conglomerate Grupo Bimbo, is preparing to make its first impact investments to complement its grantmaking in Mexico’s underserved communities. The Servitje family has built an estimated $7 billion fortune since Bimbo was founded in 1945. At the family’s annual assembly last year, María Cecilia Gabriela Servitje Montull, daughter of Grupo Bimbo founder Lorenzo Servitje, gathered more than 80 members to discuss impact funding, particularly environmental investments. With seven other regional family foundations, she is mapping where capital should flow before starting to write checks. Servitje is now pursuing what she calls “systemic” work, to find ways to help Mexico’s long-divided public and private sectors work together. “When you’re not in the investment world, trying to understand the language is difficult,” she explains. “It’s like trying to learn a new way of speaking. It’s totally different from philanthropy.”
  • Keep reading, “These Mexican families are stepping up to impact investing even as others step back,” by Erik Stein.

Signals: Geopolitical Risk

Now what? Like Venezuela, Latin American fund managers start to map a way forward. Across Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and elsewhere, the diaspora of Venezuelan entrepreneurs has helped build investment networks to improve conditions for farmers, urban residents and natural ecosystems. They’re eager to do the same for their own country. “We think about the possibility of returning and applying everything we have learned and built over the years,” says Adriana Mata of Agile Impacts, an impact measurement startup based in Valencia, Spain, who left Venezuela about a decade ago (see, “Impact measurement was very complicated – before AI”). Proximity to Venezuela was reflected in the range of reactions to the dramatic US seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. From afar, the exercise of gunboat diplomacy raised alarms about the rule of law and US designs on Venezuela’s vast oil reserves. But fund managers and field builders close to the ground also are assessing possible opportunities to play a constructive role in improving livelihoods and communities in the once-prosperous country if and when conditions improve. “The key question now is how Venezuela might transition peacefully toward the democracy its people deserve,” said Michelle Arevalo-Carpenter of Quito-based Impaqto Capital, “and how impact capital could help by leveraging Venezuelan entrepreneurial talent, rebuilding trust in the private sector, and creating inclusive pathways for development rooted in dignity and opportunity.”

  • Oil and gas mirage. What if you grabbed the world’s largest reserve of oil and nobody wanted it? Venezuela is thought to have reserves of more than 300 billion barrels of oil, about 17% of the world’s reserves, according to the US Energy Information Administration. President Donald Trump’s administration is already inviting in US oil and gas companies to develop Venezuela’s oil capacity. Industry experts say the president may not get many takers. “Venezuela doesn’t have the world’s largest supply of easy oil – it has the world’s largest inventory of very difficult oil,” say Guy Prince and Harry Benham of UK-based CarbonTracker. Adds Andrew Behar of climate-focused shareholder group As You Sow, “The oil majors do not need or want more oil.”
  • Donroe Doctrine. The US “is itself unwinding its own global order,” the Eurasia Group proclaims in its overview of top risks for 2026. In Latin America, where President Trump’s “Donroe Doctrine” asserts American primacy, “this posture will heighten the risk of policy overreach and unintended consequences,” the consultancy concludes. “The prevailing sentiment at present is one of shock and uncertainty,” says Carolina Suarez of Latimpacto, a network of over 1,100 Latin America-focused impact investors. She adds: “Our role is not to pass judgment, but to remain engaged, attentive and prepared to act in ways that support people and generate positive impact as circumstances evolve.”
  • Keep reading, “Now what? Like Venezuela, Latin American fund managers start to map a way forward,” by Erik Stein, Amy Cortese and David Bank.

Dealflow: Climate Smart

Inka’s Berries secures debt capital for climate-resilient blueberry farming in Peru. Lima-based Inka’s Berries has been farming and exporting blueberries since 2009. The company’s blueberry variety, unlike standard varieties, does not require periods of cool weather to bloom, making Inka’s crops more resilient to less predictable growing conditions. The company secured a long-term debt facility from Darby International Capital and Cordiant Capital. “By backing their significant production expansion, particularly with the zero-chill varieties, we are supporting a high-growth business that is making crucial advancements in climate-resilient agriculture,” said Andres de la Cuesta of Darby, a private debt investor that focuses on Latin America. Darby is increasing its focus on climate opportunities with its $363 million fourth fund, which closed in September.

  • Resilient business. Other food producers also are seeking to mitigate intensifying climate risks. Family-run Driscoll’s, the world’s largest berry company, has invested heavily in water conservation and climate resilient berry varieties. In addition to its environmental focus, Inka’s Berries works with rural communities to share the benefits of its growth. In exchange for 500 acres of land in the Chambara district, about 180 miles outside of Lima, Inka offered community landowners preferred shares in the company, dividend payments, and first access to jobs generated by Inka’s farming activities.
  • Share this post.

Climate Ventures tees up catalytic facility for community climate justice. The São Paulo-based impact think tank is putting in motion several catalytic vehicles to mobilize capital for Brazilian nature preservation and green economy. Its newest is the Financial Instrument for Climate Justice, which will provide concessional capital to cooperatives and community businesses in the Amazon and other strategic bioeconomy regions. Its focus is supporting businesses that are Indigenous and Quilombola-led, the latter representing descendants of enslaved Afro-Brazilians. Climate Ventures launched the facility with Sitawi, the BMW Foundation, Fundo Vale, the Institute for Climate and Society and Fundação Grupo Boticário at COP30 in Belém, Brazil. The goal is to raise an initial $3 million to $5 million and make three investments in the first half of the year. “These are small investments, but they require agility and a governance structure where the community itself is the protagonist in deciding how the resources will be invested,” Climate Ventures’ Daniel Contrucci said. 

  • Learn more. 

Other investment news crossing our desks:

  • Green lending. Chile’s copper giant scored $600 million in loans to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Financial inclusion. Colombian fintech venture Monet secured $24 million in Series A financing to provide digital loans to individuals without credit histories, including Venezuelan migrants in Colombia.
  • Fund news. Investors added $7.5 million to EcoEnterprises’ fourth fund, a women-led fund focused on nature-based solutions and inclusive development in Latin America.
  • Sustainable food systems. DUX Capital backed regeneration-focused snack foods maker Artisan Tropic… S2G Investments led a $25 million investment in Chile-based Oxzo, which manufactures automated aeration systems for fish farms.

Agents of Impact: Follow the Talent

Don’t miss these upcoming impact investing events:

Impaqto Capitalis designing a new impact fund for the Andean Amazon… Visa seeks a social impact manager for its Latin America team… Accenture is recruiting an associate director of sustainability in Brazil… Fitch Rating is looking for an associate director of ESG and sustainable finance in Mexico… Kiva has an opening for a social enterprise investment manager in Bogota… EY is looking for a senior consultant on sustainability for the financial sector in Mexico.