We are thrilled to welcome Miguel Arias as our newest partner. He will be supporting our vision to make Kanoar Ventures, the fund management company behind K Fund I, K Fund II and MVB, the most relevant player in the region. All by supporting entrepreneurs and organizations during their entire life cycle. From start to IPO.
He is a key addition to our team, building on our learnings over the last years, understanding that the recipe for success in great companies not only includes the ability to build products people want to use and pay for, but also the creation of high-performance organizations that operate and execute fast and effectively.
And Miguel is an expert on that.
Miguel has had a remarkable career over the last 15 years and the best is yet to come. He is a serial entrepreneur and experienced investor. He started in the webcasting industry with his company Imaste, which was later acquired by ON24 Inc.
Later he became an integral part of CARTO(DB) where he led the sales, financial, and operational efforts as COO, from its Madrid and NYC offices, directing the company's scaling-up up to more than 100 employees, raising over $40 million from top tier VCs.
He then moved into the corporate world as Global Entrepreneurship Director at Telefonica, where he was responsible for leading a new stage in Telefónica's open innovation strategy, creating an enhanced connection with international ecosystems from Brazil or Colombia to the UK, Germany or Spain. As responsible for Telefonica's seed stage funds through Wayra and Open Future, since 2018, he led the investments in more than 130 startups in Europe and LATAM in the fields of Cybersecurity, Data, AI, Mobility, IoT, VR, Fintech…
Miguel is a skilled generalist who understands technology as well as people-matters. His expertise encompasses from the vision and strategy definition to operations, go-to-market and HR, with special dedication to SaaS scale up growth. He is a ruthless operator, who will provide honest advice and concrete expertise to our entrepreneurs.
We have worked with him for years, as investors in CARTO (Iñaki), mentors (Carina), team mates in various startups (Sergio) and we are deeply impressed by his passion to support entrepreneurs and his ability to connect different pieces to create impact for society.
Miguel is a strong believer in the idea that trusted peer networks generate tremendous value in the ecosystem and has deep connections and understanding of founders, investors and corporate stakeholders. It’s truly rare to find an experienced investor, accomplished entrepreneur and global corporate executive in one. As it is hard to find anyone around, who does not know Miguel and does not speak greatly about his generous and open approach.
As the maturity and intersection of AI, Blockchain, 5G/Edge, IoT & Cloud services create a perfect storm for disruption, we are very bullish on the ambition and creativity of deep tech founders in the region.
We are excited to have Miguel at Kanoar to help mentor and invest in the next generation of entrepreneurs, as we invest in companies which build the tech infrastructure, tools and services that will power new productive models in the region, from software to next generation devices, digital services or enablers to enhance customer experience.
We are not just happy because Miguel will make our team stronger but also because he is a great guy, generous and fun to work with. We are looking forward to the future!
The Kanoar team.
We are thrilled to welcome Miguel Arias as our newest partner. He will be supporting our vision to make Kanoar Ventures, the fund management company behind K Fund I, K Fund II and MVB, the most relevant player in the region. All by supporting entrepreneurs and organizations during their entire life cycle. From start to IPO.
He is a key addition to our team, building on our learnings over the last years, understanding that the recipe for success in great companies not only includes the ability to build products people want to use and pay for, but also the creation of high-performance organizations that operate and execute fast and effectively.
And Miguel is an expert on that.
Miguel has had a remarkable career over the last 15 years and the best is yet to come. He is a serial entrepreneur and experienced investor. He started in the webcasting industry with his company Imaste, which was later acquired by ON24 Inc.
Later he became an integral part of CARTO(DB) where he led the sales, financial, and operational efforts as COO, from its Madrid and NYC offices, directing the company's scaling-up up to more than 100 employees, raising over $40 million from top tier VCs.
He then moved into the corporate world as Global Entrepreneurship Director at Telefonica, where he was responsible for leading a new stage in Telefónica's open innovation strategy, creating an enhanced connection with international ecosystems from Brazil or Colombia to the UK, Germany or Spain. As responsible for Telefonica's seed stage funds through Wayra and Open Future, since 2018, he led the investments in more than 130 startups in Europe and LATAM in the fields of Cybersecurity, Data, AI, Mobility, IoT, VR, Fintech…
Miguel is a skilled generalist who understands technology as well as people-matters. His expertise encompasses from the vision and strategy definition to operations, go-to-market and HR, with special dedication to SaaS scale up growth. He is a ruthless operator, who will provide honest advice and concrete expertise to our entrepreneurs.
We have worked with him for years, as investors in CARTO (Iñaki), mentors (Carina), team mates in various startups (Sergio) and we are deeply impressed by his passion to support entrepreneurs and his ability to connect different pieces to create impact for society.
Miguel is a strong believer in the idea that trusted peer networks generate tremendous value in the ecosystem and has deep connections and understanding of founders, investors and corporate stakeholders. It’s truly rare to find an experienced investor, accomplished entrepreneur and global corporate executive in one. As it is hard to find anyone around, who does not know Miguel and does not speak greatly about his generous and open approach.
As the maturity and intersection of AI, Blockchain, 5G/Edge, IoT & Cloud services create a perfect storm for disruption, we are very bullish on the ambition and creativity of deep tech founders in the region.
We are excited to have Miguel at Kanoar to help mentor and invest in the next generation of entrepreneurs, as we invest in companies which build the tech infrastructure, tools and services that will power new productive models in the region, from software to next generation devices, digital services or enablers to enhance customer experience.
We are not just happy because Miguel will make our team stronger but also because he is a great guy, generous and fun to work with. We are looking forward to the future!
The Kanoar team.
