Facilitator of Returns, Empowerment & Diversity

The 10 Spearheading Businesswomen Beyond Brilliance

She had no clue about what she wanted to do when she was a child. In her teenage years, she remember watching TV series about lawyers and feeling attracted by that profession because they all seem to be smart people working towards a better world. Later on, she wanted to be a pilot because she love travelling and discovering new places. What she always had very clear was that she wanted to work in a successful professional business firm that had a positive impact on society. She believes that’s one of the main reasons that eventually led her to create RED Capital Partners. She is Luz Ramírez Pascual and this is her story!

Creating outstanding returns by doing good and doing well

Luz spotted opportunities during her experience in the venture capital scene and Red Capital Partners was the solution. She believes opportunities that are overlooked and where she has developed a unique selling proposition has given her a predominant position. RED Capital Partner is a unique venture capital firm that has launched RED Ventures Fund I, the largest VC fund investing in tech companies led or co-led by women in EMEA. Diverse teams of entrepreneurs, with men and women working together, prefer RED because diversity is part of its core values and the company has a different way of investing and bringing value to their startups. “We have a seasoned and successful diverse investment team led by women with a “company builder” and “hands-on” approach towards our portfolio companies. In two words, they choose us because we are different and bring value. On the other hand, investors value our capacity to create outstanding returns by doing good and doing well,” shares Luz.

Analyzing opportunities from different angles and perspectives

For Luz, managing your team is the most difficult thing to do in any company. Being able to empower each of the team members and help them discover and achieve their full potential is key. According to her, leaders need to take their egos and fears away and flourish a culture where everybody is included, respected and challenged independently of his or her position in the company. At RED Capital Partners, she has consciously built a diverse and complementary team so they will always analyze opportunities from different angles and perspectives allowing for creativity to bloom. Luz has tried to impart this respect for each team member and embrace everybody’s opinions and challenges setting an example. In this sense, the project is the most important thing and not the person who is leading it.

A pioneer in launching unique and distinctive projects

When asked whether she has achieved all that she desired, Luz answers, “Not at all, I believe that I am at the beginning of the journey. There are many other opportunities and challenges that rest ahead. However, some of my hard work has begun to pay-off, especially when I consider what an incredible project and team I have been able to put together. Being surrounded by such an amazing group of people is one of the main motivations that keeps me driven towards work.” Additionally, she is committed to creating a paradigm shift in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Women-founded startups only obtain 11% of the total venture capital funding in Europe whilst generating returns 35% higher than those led exclusively by men. This means that there exists a gap in the market on which RED can capitalize, representing a tremendous motivation for Luz and the rest of her team. Another thing that keeps her motivated is being a pioneer in launching unique and distinctive projects, which is one of the core values of her firm.

Years of hard work, strong commitment and consistent performance coming to fruition

According to Luz, “leader” and “businesswoman” are warm and powerful words to her heart that bring her images of unknown women that have made incredible achievements and have changed the world for the better. Luz’s drive in life has always been to go the extra mile, be fearless and do things nobody has done before. These drivers have certainly helped her emerge as a business leader.

Her journey as a Managing Partner has had its lights and shadows with inspiring moments and tough ones. But basically there have been years of hard work, strong commitment and consistent performance. Her desire to continuously learn and have a global exposure has made her live in different parts of the world -Luxembourg, Israel, France, Spain and the US- and change career paths several times – from IT consultant to entrepreneur to VC investor. But most importantly, Luz has always believed in herself, left her “comfort zone” and made the most of the opportunities that came her way.

When asked to talk about her big achievement, Luz answers, “My key achievement has been, undoubtedly, to be able to attract such a talented group of professional people to be part of the RED Capital Partners team. I feel honored to work with them and I am sure that we will make incredible things together.” Going further, Luz’s plan is to empower her team to excellence and become a “facilitator” for them in the day-to-day operations so she can have time to think about the “next steps” and launch new innovative projects with RED Capital Partners.

Meet the maestro

Luz has 15 years of experience in the European and Israeli venture capital scene after being an entrepreneur, a VC Fund Manager, and a VC Fund-of-Funds Manager. Luz made investments totaling more than €400m of commitments and held more than 40 advisory seats. Luz worked for 6 years as a senior fund-of-funds manager at the European Investment Fund. Previously, she was fund manager at Corsabe, a €50m Spanish VC fund including companies such as lnfojobs Internacional, Eolia Renovables, Oryzon and Softonic in her portfolio. Luz has also founded 2 companies: MWL-RJL, a consulting company advising on the best investment opportunities in venture and growth capital globally and Arlas Invest, a clean tech company with a disruptive technology. Luz holds an MSc in Computer Engineering from CPS, a Master in “Haute Etudes Technologiques” from ENSEEIHT in Toulouse, and an MBA from IESE Business School.

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