From Stanford to Venture Capital: Jazmín Gustale Gill’s Bet on Regional Startups

“You have to take the step, even when things are not perfect.” For Jazmín Gustale Gill, the phrase captures the career turn that took her from public policy and Paraguayan government programs to technology investing.

She had also worked at the World Bank before entering venture capital. “The main challenges were changing sectors completely and relearning so many things about the business or the industry I now work in,” she said. With no clear local models for that transition, she relied on mentors, colleagues and the experience of her partner, Juan Cruz Valdez Rojas, who already invested in technology. Together, they now lead iThink VC.

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You have to take the step, even when things are not perfect.

The Paraguayan firm focuses on early-stage technology, a segment still developing in the country’s startup ecosystem. Its investments span Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile. They include Reforest Latam, which uses drones and artificial intelligence to reforest at low cost, and PriceLab, which applies AI to improve other companies’ pricing strategies.

Gustale Gill highlights two milestones: iThink VC’s first investment, completed even before the fund was formally established because of confidence in the company’s potential, and the fund’s final formation after nearly two and a half years of work with investors. The firm is now preparing a second fund worth US$20 million to increase its investment pace across the region.

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The main challenges were changing sectors completely and relearning so many things about the business or the industry I now work in.

Her interest in startups took shape in 2017, when a BECAL scholarship allowed her to pursue an MBA at Stanford and experience the startup and venture-capital ecosystem firsthand. She says continuous learning is essential in an industry where technology and business models change constantly. iThink VC’s record reflects the scale of the screening process: the firm analyzed nearly 1,400 projects before making 21 investments.

Gustale Gill also wants more women in leadership and decision-making positions. She argues that organizations lose capacity when women are absent from those spaces. Female role models, she says, can help other women imagine themselves in similar roles, although she acknowledges that motherhood and the choices it brings create difficult questions at every stage of a professional career.

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We need more women in leadership positions, in decision-making positions.