Caricaco VC
Caricaco is a Costa Rica-based impact catalyst operating Caricaco Ventures (early-stage VC investing in Central American startups) and Caricaco Fundación (education and employability programs for Costa Rican youth), convening 300+ investors and entrepreneurs from 20 countries via the annual Caricaco Summit.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersSan José, Costa Rica
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Caricaco VC does
Caricaco is a privately held impact catalyst organization founded in 2015 and headquartered in San José, Costa Rica, that operates a dual-entity model combining venture capital deployment with philanthropic programming. Its two principal arms are Caricaco Ventures, which invests equity capital in early-stage Central American startups and founders, and Caricaco Fundación, which delivers employment-oriented education and social-impact programs aimed at young people in Costa Rica. The organization was founded and is led by Amadeo Quirós Martín (President), with Andrés Lang serving as CEO and a small operating team of 1-10 employees split across investment, foundation, finance, communications, and community roles. Its stated purpose is to narrow the opportunity gap for entrepreneurs and youth in the region while positioning Central America on the venture-capital map.
The venture arm deploys capital directly into founders across Costa Rica, Honduras, and other Central American markets, with featured portfolio names spanning fintech (Ginih), logistics (Boxful LATAM), and investment platforms (Ábaco). The foundation arm runs education and employability initiatives aimed at Costa Rican youth. Revenue mechanics for the venture arm derive from standard VC economics — management fees on committed capital plus future carried interest from portfolio realizations — though neither AUM, fund vintage, fund size, nor realized returns have been disclosed in the available data. There is no proprietary technology stack, software product, or AI/ML capability associated with the firm; its commercial surface is capital allocation and ecosystem convening. The annual Caricaco Summit is the firm's principal community-building mechanism, drawing over 300 investors and entrepreneurs from 20 countries and serving as the platform for regional rankings and ecosystem announcements.
Caricaco's market context is an emerging Central America and Caribbean venture ecosystem that attracted $107M across 41 rounds in 2025 — a fivefold increase over five years but only 2.6% of total Latin American venture activity. Partnerships with peer fund Carao Ventures and ecosystem body CINDE anchor its positioning within Costa Rica, identified as the region's most mature VC hub. No institutional fundraising rounds, LP composition, or fund vintages have been disclosed, and ownership remains founder-controlled with no third-party investment or acquisition activity referenced.
Caricaco VC firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Caricaco VC
- Legal name
- Caricaco
- Website
- https://caricaco.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2015
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Caricaco is a Costa Rica-based impact catalyst operating Caricaco Ventures (early-stage VC investing in Central American startups) and Caricaco Fundación (education and employability programs for Costa Rican youth), convening 300+ investors and entrepreneurs from 20 countries via the annual Caricaco Summit.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Caricaco VC industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Venture Capital and Impact Philanthropy
- NAICS
- Grantmaking Foundations (813211)
- SIC
- Miscellaneous Business Credit Institution (6159)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Corporate Strategic Partnership & Ecosystem Investment Arms (FSANAHAF)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Corporate Impact / Climate & Sustainability CVC (FSANAHAJ), Corporate Foundations & CSR Grantmaking (BPAGAKAC)
Keywords
Where Caricaco VC is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San José
- HQ country
- Costa Rica
- HQ region
- Latin America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Caricaco VC business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Caricaco Ventures - Venture Capital Returns: Investment returns from venture capital activities, generating carry and equity gains from portfolio companies in Central America and the Caribbean startup ecosystem.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels2 records
Caricaco VC product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Caricaco is an impact catalyst organization operating through two divisions: Caricaco Ventures, a venture capital fund that invests in Central American startup founders and strengthens the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem, and Caricaco Foundation, a philanthropy that creates opportunities for young people in Costa Rica through employment-oriented education and social impact projects.
Product overview
Caricaco is an impact catalyst organization operating through two distinct divisions: Caricaco Ventures, the venture capital arm that invests in Central American startups and entrepreneurs, and Caricaco Foundation, which focuses on social impact through education and employability programs for youth in Costa Rica. The two divisions work together to strengthen the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem while generating measurable social impact.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Caricaco Ventures
Quantifiable outcome
- 80% of featured startups have foreign venture capital backing
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Caricaco VC
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Caricaco VC technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Caricaco VC partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- CINDEcoreCINDE (Coalición de Iniciativas de Desarrollo) is mentioned as a key organization in Costa Rica's venture capital ecosystem. Costa Rica is identified as the most mature VC hub in the region, home to CINDE and funds like Carao Ventures.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Caricaco VC competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Carao Ventures: Costa Rica-based early-stage venture capital fund investing across Central America. Explicitly partnered with Caricaco Ventures on the first regional startup ranking, making it the closest direct peer in geography, stage, and thesis.
- NOGAL: Central American VC fund investing in early-stage startups across the region. Direct peer given overlapping geography, stage focus, and explicit goal of strengthening the Central American startup ecosystem.
Emerging players
- Pomona Impact: Latin America-focused impact VC firm. Comparable to Caricaco's dual return-plus-impact orientation and to the way Caricaco pairs capital with non-financial support for founders.
- Vox Capital: Brazil-based impact venture capital firm investing in early-stage companies at the base of the pyramid. Comparable as a Latin American impact-led emerging manager pairing financial returns with social outcomes.
Broad incumbents
- Acumen Latam: Acumen's Latin America arm invests patient capital in early-stage companies tackling poverty. Comparable as a larger, established impact investor with a Latin American mandate and similar mission-aligned investing approach to Caricaco's.
- Magma Partners: Pan-Latam early-stage VC fund with a strong Andean and Central American footprint. Comparable as a broader regional VC operating across similar geographies but at larger fund sizes and broader sector coverage.
- 500 Global: Global venture firm with an active Latin American program and accelerator operations in multiple Latam countries. Comparable as a scaled, established player investing across the same emerging-markets geographies Caricaco targets.
- IDB Lab: Innovation and venture arm of the Inter-American Development Bank, active across Latin America and the Caribbean. Comparable as a regional development-finance investor that backs early-stage ventures with impact mandates similar to Caricaco's.
Regional players
- Yunus Social Business: Social-business impact investor/incubator operating primarily in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Comparable as a mission-aligned early-stage investor pairing capital with social objectives, though focused on different geographies than Caricaco.
Others
- Compass Group (CINDE): Costa Rica's investment-promotion agency and ecosystem builder, identified in the data as a key regional VC ecosystem organization. Comparable as an ecosystem enabler — not a direct VC competitor — that Caricaco explicitly partners with to convene the regional startup community.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Caricaco VC social profiles
Digital presenceCaricaco VC financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Caricaco VC leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles8 records
Caricaco VC subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries2 records
Caricaco VC funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Caricaco VC M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments16 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Caricaco VC
What does Caricaco VC do?
Caricaco is an impact catalyst organization operating through two divisions: Caricaco Ventures, a venture capital fund that invests in Central American startup founders and strengthens the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem, and Caricaco Foundation, a philanthropy that creates opportunities for young people in Costa Rica through employment-oriented education and social impact projects.
Is Caricaco VC a public or private company?
Caricaco VC is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Caricaco VC founded?
Caricaco VC was founded in 2015. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Caricaco VC based?
Caricaco VC is headquartered in San José, Costa Rica, in the Latin America region.
How does Caricaco VC make money?
One revenue line is on record: caricaco Ventures - Venture Capital Returns.
Who are Caricaco VC's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Carao Ventures and NOGAL. Emerging players are Pomona Impact and Vox Capital. Broad incumbents are Acumen Latam, Magma Partners, 500 Global and IDB Lab. Yunus Social Business is listed as a regional player. Compass Group (CINDE) is listed as an others.
Does Caricaco VC have an API?
No public API is recorded for Caricaco VC.
What industry is Caricaco VC in?
Caricaco VC's product category is Venture Capital and Impact Philanthropy. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSANAHAF, Corporate Strategic Partnership & Ecosystem Investment Arms, with a secondary code of FSANAHAJ, Corporate Impact / Climate & Sustainability CVC. Its NAICS code is 813211 and its SIC code is 6159.