Venture Club Panamá

Venture Club Panamá operates as the first angel investor group in Panama, with a clear focus on fostering an innovative entrepreneurship culture within the country. Founded in 2009, the organization emerged from a collaboration between Panamanian entrepreneurs, Ciudad del Saber (City of Knowledge), and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) through its Multilateral Investment Fund (FOMIN).

The firm connects investors with high-caliber entrepreneurs to provide both financial and strategic capital to promising startups. The business model centers on creating venture capital investment vehicles to fund these early-stage companies. For instance, after an initial fund of $1.5 million that financed five ventures, the club launched a second, more ambitious vehicle aiming for $5 million to support a new cohort of businesses. Beyond capital, Venture Club provides essential coaching and mentorship, leveraging the business experience of its members to guide entrepreneurs toward their goals. Diego Eleta is a key figure, serving as a founder and president of the club.

Venture Club targets innovative startups with high growth potential, as well as established companies seeking to expand beyond Panama's borders. The investment focus is on startups and scale-ups in incubation, acceleration, or seed phases that are either interested in the Latin American market or are from Latin America and looking to go global. The club has a track record of backing successful ventures, including companies like Degusta Panamá, MrMusica.com, and iSyndica. Through events like Pitch Days, the organization facilitates direct engagement between entrepreneurs and its network of angel investors, family offices, and other key players in the innovation ecosystem. This initiative has since evolved and expanded its reach, operating as Venture Club Latam to serve the broader Latin American region.

Keywords: angel investor group, Panama, venture capital, seed funding, startup financing, entrepreneurship culture, mentorship, business coaching, Latin America startups, scale-ups, investment network, early-stage investment, Diego Eleta, Ciudad del Saber, Inter-American Development Bank, high-growth companies, Degusta Panamá, Pitch Day, innovation ecosystem, regional expansion