Maria brings over a decade of experience accelerating innovation across Latin America and emerging markets, with deep expertise in venture capital, startup growth, and ecosystem building.

Most recently, Maria was an investor at Magical, a top Latin American VC fund based in Chile, where she led portfolio development and investment evaluation, and worked hands-on with early-stage founders to develop and execute go-to-market strategy. Prior to that, she led the regional growth of Seedstars, expanding its footprint across 20+ cities in Latin America through strategic partnerships, startup competitions, and founder support programs.

Maria was previously Chief Community Builder at Start-Up Chile, the world’s first government-backed startup accelerator, where she helped build and lead a global community of over 1,000 startups from 72 countries.

Throughout her career, Maria has advised and trained hundreds of startups and investors globally, and is an active mentor with Founder Institute, German Accelerator, and Swiss EP, supporting innovation ecosystems in emerging markets.

Maria holds a bachelor's degree in Communication from Universidad Católica del Uruguay, and a postgraduate degree in Strategic Communication from Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona.