Laura Martínez, Magma Partners: How an investment analyst evaluates Latin American startups, Ep 184

Nathan Lustig

2 years ago

Laura Martínez is a Senior Investment Analyst at Magma Partners, and she joined the team in 2021. Previously, she spent two years at Mastercard, where she helped launch an in-house accelerator program and fell in love with startups. In this episode, we went through Magma’s investment process, what Magma looks for in startups, and Laura’s experience working as an Investment Analyst.

How to get funded by Magma Partners

Magma invests in Latin American startups solving the region’s biggest problems. The best way to get in touch is by creating a Magma Memo, which explains what your business does in detail, why you wanted to start your business, and gives our team enough information to decide if it may fit our thesis. Next, Magma analysts like Laura review your memo to either provide feedback, ask for additional information, schedule a call, or let you know it doesn’t fit our investment thesis.

As Laura explains, it is essential to provide clear and specific information to help us give you feedback as fast as possible and get you money as quickly as possible if it’s a fit for our thesis.

Listen to this episode of Crossing Borders to learn about Laura’s advice for startups that want to apply for Magma’s funding.

Why Magma looks for founder market fit

Laura reflected on why founder market fit is important to Magma: why are you the best person to solve the problem you’re trying to solve? Why do you care about this problem? Will you keep executing even after it gets hard?

For example, Magma’s portfolio company Kushki’s four founders had deep payments industry experience before starting the company. And Maribel Domínguez, founder and CEO of Círculo de Belleza, had already spent nearly 10 years in the beauty industry.

Check out this episode to find out why Laura believes founder-market fit is key to building a successful business.

Laura’s experience as a Magma Analyst

Laura thinks of her job as an opportunity to help unleash the potential startups have to create groundbreaking technology. And in many cases, the products they build can be life-changing for people in Latin America.

In this Crossing Borders episode, Laura shares what she likes most about working at Magma. She also talked about what the fund is looking for in candidates that apply to Magma’s open positions.

Outline of this episode:

[01:30] – Laura’s background
[02:56] – Making the jump from corporate to the startup world
[04:02] – Why she decided to work in the startup ecosystem
[05:35] – Steps Magma takes towards an investment
[07:20] – Advice for filling out Magma’s Memo
[09:45] – What a first call with Magma Analysts looks like
[11:37] – Founder market fit
[14:30] – The decision to make an investment
[15:20] – Processes after investing in a startup
[18:34] – What does an Investment Analyst do day to day
[22:22] – Advice to herself when starting her journey at Magma
[23:24] – Laura’s favorite things about working at Magma
[24:53] – Book and podcast recommendations

Resources and people mentioned: