Mercedes Bent, Partner at Lightspeed – Unlocking Fintech’s Potential Across the Americas & Balancing Priorities in Venture Capital Investing

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[Original air date, March 28, 2023] Miguel Armaza interviews Mercedes Bent, Partner at Lightspeed, a global venture capital firm founded in the year 2000. Over the last 23 years, they have secured over $18 billion in committed capital and backed over 500 companies, including Snap, Affirm, Faire, Grubhub, Carta, Blend, and a long list of great firms.
In this episode, we discuss:

• Investing in marketplaces or credit-driven businesses and what founders and investors should keep in mind when looking at these verticals.
• Benefits of having a global investment team how Lightspeed often invests in similar trends and businesses around the world
• The Latin American fintech opportunity. Mercedes leads the LatAm practice at Lightspeed – what are some of the biggest ideas taking place in Brazil, Mexico, and beyond?
• Potential AI applications in Fintech
• Lessons for emerging VCs
• Lightspeed’s portfolio construction strategy… and a lot more!

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Miguel Armaza is Co-Founder and General Partner of Gilgamesh Ventures, a seed-stage investment fund focused on fintech in the Americas. He also hosts and writes the Fintech Leaders podcast and newsletter.
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