# Carolina Huaranca Mendoza

> Carolina Huaranca Mendoza is co-founder and General Partner of First Close Partners, a fund-of-funds backing venture firms led by underrepresented managers. She got her start in M&A banking, built Girls Who Code's Clubs program from zero, became a Principal at Kapor Capital where she designed the firm's first LP strategy for diverse emerging managers, and now writes checks into 100+ funds worldwide.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & General Partner at First Close Partners
- **Organizations:** First Close Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners (Scout), Latinas in Tech (Board), Kauffman Fellows
- **Nationality:** Peruvian-American
- **Education:** Undergraduate, Cornell University, MBA (Konolige Merit Fellowship), The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
- **Known for:** Co-founded First Close Partners, a fund-of-funds that has backed 100+ venture funds led by underrepresented managers, Designed Kapor Capital's first LP strategy for diverse emerging managers, Founding Director of Girls Who Code's Clubs Division, scaling computer science programs to 2,000+ girls

## Career timeline

- **post-Cornell** — Investment banker in M&A in New York City
- **early 2010s** — Sales & Marketing Manager at SchoolNet (acquired by Pearson for $230M)
- **early 2010s** — Helped launch a high-performing charter school network serving 6,500 students
- **2012-2014** — Founding Director of the Clubs Division at Girls Who Code (2,000+ girls reached)
- **mid 2010s** — Founded Spriggle, a STEM education marketplace
- **2016** — Joined Kapor Capital as Principal in Oakland, CA
- **2016-2020** — Principal at Kapor Capital; designed the firm's first formal LP strategy for diverse emerging managers
- **Class 28** — Selected as a Kauffman Fellow
- **2021** — Joined First Close Partners as Co-General Partner with Betsy Zikakis
- **ongoing** — Scout for Lightspeed Venture Partners; serves on Board of Latinas in Tech

## Achievements

- Co-founded First Close Partners, a fund-of-funds that has backed 100+ venture funds led by underrepresented managers
- Designed Kapor Capital's first LP strategy for diverse emerging managers
- Founding Director of Girls Who Code's Clubs Division, scaling computer science programs to 2,000+ girls
- Konolige Merit MBA Fellowship recipient at Wharton
- Kauffman Fellow, Class 28
- Recognized by Venture Forward as a VC Trailblazer for Hispanic Heritage Month 2023
- Featured in TechCrunch, CNN Money, SF Chronicle and USA Today

## Latest updates

- **2023-09** — Profiled by Venture Forward among 8 VC Trailblazers for Hispanic Heritage Month.
- **2021-10** — Announced as Co-General Partner of First Close Partners alongside Betsy Zikakis.

## Links

- Website: https://carolinahuaranca.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolina-huaranca-mendoza-a573374/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/carohuaranca

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/carolina-mendoza
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-19