Mendoza Ventures, a Fintech, AI, and Cybersecurity Venture Capital firm, announced that Truist Ventures is investing in its Early Growth Fintech Fund as a limited partner.
The fund is targeting $100M and will “invest in early growth-stage startups with a focus on diverse teams.”
Mendoza Ventures announced its third fund in January.
With this investment, Truist became the third financial institution “invested in Mendoza Ventures, joining Bank of America and Grasshopper Bank.”
Mendoza Ventures supports innovative, early-stage companies “that are shaping the future of finance.”
Adrian Mendoza, General Partner at Mendoza Ventures, stated:
“Our vision has always been to redefine how venture funds collaborate with financial institutions to support portfolio companies strategically. Truist Ventures’ support validates our approach and empowers us to create substantial outcomes for diverse-led startups and investors alike.”
This investment lays a foundation “for a partnership and active collaboration between Truist Ventures and Mendoza Ventures and its portfolio companies that embraces external innovation promotes knowledge exchange and helps empower positive social change.”
Tarun Mehta, Head of Corporate Development and Truist Ventures, said:
“Mendoza Ventures supports innovative, early-stage companies that are shaping the future of finance. This partnership fuels our shared ambition to drive advancements and increase inclusion in the broader fintech industry.”
Mendoza Ventures recently launched “a new non-profit initiative called Mendoza Impact, which aims to provide early-stage diverse founders with greater access to capital and educational resources.”
By addressing gaps in funding and knowledge, Mendoza Impact “seeks to empower a new generation of diverse entrepreneurs.”
Mendoza Ventures is “a fintech, AI, and cybersecurity venture fund based in Boston and San Francisco.”
The firm is run “by husband and wife Adrian and Senofer Mendoza, prior entrepreneurs and veterans of the startup ecosystem.”
The firm focuses on diversity “playing an important role in its investment decisions. Started in 2016 with the launch of its pilot fund, the firm launched its Fund II in 2019. Mendoza Ventures is the first LatinX-owned venture fund on the East Coast.”
Truist Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE: TFC).
Truist Ventures explains that it “delivers touch and technology to Truist clients through partnerships with and investments in innovative companies and exceptional management teams with novel solutions to help Truist shape the future of finance.”
Truist Ventures’ investment focus “includes financial technology, payments and money movement, and regtech and stretches into other adjacent, disruptive technologies.”