What Chingona Ventures does

Chingona Ventures is a Miami-based (per first-party firmographics records Chicago, unresolved conflict) pre-seed venture capital firm founded in 2019 by Samara Mejia Hernandez. The firm invests between $250k and $2 million for 5-10% equity in U.S. founders raising their first institutional round of capital, with sector focus on financial technology, future of work, future of learning, and health and wellness. Its stated thesis centers on "badass founders" building in massively changing, often-overlooked growth markets, with a notable emphasis on underrepresented founders.

The portfolio spans 35+ companies across consumer products (Dame Products, Encantos, Suma Wealth), fintech (Finix, Linker Finance, Leaf Trade), health (BetterLeave, ConnectCareHero), and applied AI (Chord, Ciphero, LuminX, Hologram). Recent 2025-2026 deal flow shows an explicit tilt toward AI infrastructure and applied AI themes, including co-lead positions in Ciphero's $2.5M pre-seed (enterprise AI verification) and LuminX's $5.5M seed (Vision Language Models for warehouse automation). The firm can lead, co-lead, or participate and typically completes diligence in roughly two weeks when not leading.

Operationally, Chingona is a small firm (1-10 employees) built around Founding Partner Samara Mejia Hernandez, with a lean team of Senior Principal Fernando Carranza, Chief of Staff Veronica Crystal Mejia, CFO Lori Deluca, Senior Advisor Sonia Sahney Nagar, and Stella Garber. Revenue mechanics are typical of an emerging venture manager: management fees on committed fund capital and carried interest from portfolio exits. No fund size, AUM, or revenue figures are publicly disclosed. Distribution is handled via direct founder relationships, a Typeform application pipeline, a published diligence transparency document, a monthly newsletter, and a portfolio job board that doubles as a founder community tool.

Name

Chingona Ventures

Website

https://chingona.ventures

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Chingona Ventures is a Miami-based pre-seed venture capital firm founded in 2019 that writes $250k-$2M checks into first-round U.S. founders building in fintech, future of work, future of learning, and health technology, with a portfolio of 35+ companies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital and Private Equity

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), All Other Financial Investment Activities (52399), Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities (523)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Pre-Seed/Seed) (FSANAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB), Micro-VC & Angel Funds (FSANAAAI)

Keywords

• Venture capital investing
• Pre-seed funding
• Early-stage investments
• Startup equity financing
• Institutional capital rounds

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Investment Returns: Chingona Ventures generates returns through equity ownership in portfolio companies. They target 5-10% equity ownership per investment. Returns realized through portfolio company exits, acquisitions, or IPOs.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Chingona Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests at the pre-seed stage in startups raising their first institutional round of capital. Initial check sizes range from $250k to $2MM, typically targeting 5-10% equity ownership, with a stated focus on financial technology, future of work, future of learning, and health/wellness sectors in the United States.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Pre-Seed Venture Capital Investment
• Chingona Portfolio Job Board

Named customers4 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Hustle Fund: Pre-seed venture fund investing globally with a thesis around overlooked founders. Both Chingona and Hustle Fund co-invest at pre-seed and target similar founder profiles, making them direct peers at the pre-seed micro-VC layer.
• Halogen Ventures: Pre-seed fund focused on consumer tech companies led by founders from underestimated backgrounds, especially women and people of color. Same thesis lens, same stage, same check-size band as Chingona Ventures.
• Female Founders Fund: Pre-seed fund backing female founders building transformative technology companies. Highly comparable in stage, check size, and the focus on overlooked / underrepresented founders that defines Chingona's brand.
• BBG Ventures: Pre-seed and seed fund investing in female-led startups, typically the first institutional check. Directly comparable to Chingona in stage, mandate, and diversity-led sourcing strategy.
• SoGal Ventures: Early-stage venture fund backing diverse founders globally, with a strong brand around 'borderless' founder backing. Highly comparable pre-seed mandate and mission-driven sourcing approach.
• Susa Ventures: Early-stage fund that has historically led pre-seed and seed rounds in software and fintech. Overlaps with Chingona in stage, check size, and partial thesis overlap in fintech.
• Reach Capital: Early-stage edtech and future-of-learning investor. Directly overlaps with one of Chingona's four thesis verticals (future of learning) and shares the pre-seed stage focus.
• Ulu Ventures: Early-stage venture fund targeting seed and pre-seed rounds in fintech, future of work, and digital health. Significant thematic overlap with Chingona's four-pillar thesis.
• Equal Ventures: Early-stage fund focused on commerce and consumer infrastructure. Co-invested with Chingona on Chord's $7M round and shares the pre-seed/seed stage focus with thematic adjacency to Chingona's fintech and future-of-work pillars.

Broad incumbents

• M13: Multi-stage venture firm that has co-invested alongside Chingona (e.g., Chord). While operating at multiple stages and larger check sizes, M13 shares consumer-tech and fintech investment overlap and serves as a relevant benchmark for portfolio follow-on dynamics.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ChingonaVC
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/chingona-ventures

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments57 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Chingona Ventures