# Oriol Rius

> Oriol Rius is the CEO of Microwd Inversiones, a Madrid-based social-impact fintech that connects women entrepreneurs across Latin America with microloans funded by impact investors. A senior banking executive with more than two decades in Latin American capital markets at Santander, Merrill Lynch and BBVA, he now channels that corporate-finance machinery toward microcredit, helping run a fund that became the first in Spain to securitize microloans for women entrepreneurs. He also sits on the board of Vista Alta Impact Investments.

- **Role:** Chief Executive Officer at Microwd Inversiones
- **Organizations:** Microwd Inversiones, Vista Alta Impact Investments, empatIA, Alaya Capital, Banco Santander, Merrill Lynch, BBVA, CaixaBank
- **Nationality:** Spanish
- **Education:** Bachelor's in Business Administration, Universitat de Barcelona, Master of Public Administration / International and Public Affairs, Columbia University (SIPA)
- **Known for:** Leads Microwd, a fintech that has reached more than 11,000 women entrepreneurs in Latin America, Helped build the first and only fund in Spain to securitize microloans for women entrepreneurs subscribed with microfinance institutions (CNMV approved), Oversees a fund managing more than 15 million euros with plans to deploy roughly 18 million euros in new financing across 2025-2026

## Career timeline

- **2004-2006** — Master in International and Public Affairs at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) in New York
- **2009-2012** — Responsible for Equity Derivatives Sales for Latin America at Santander's Madrid headquarters, executing transactions with institutions in Mexico, Peru and Colombia
- **—** — Head of Corporate Finance Solutions at Santander Private Banking International
- **—** — Held positions at Merrill Lynch, BBVA (New York) and CaixaBank across two decades in Latin American capital markets
- **—** — Chief Financial Officer at empatIA
- **—** — Board of Directors member at Vista Alta Impact Investments
- **Present** — Chief Executive Officer of Microwd Inversiones
- **2026** — Speaker at GLI Forum Latam 2026 on the panel 'Rewriting the Rules of Money'

## Achievements

- Leads Microwd, a fintech that has reached more than 11,000 women entrepreneurs in Latin America
- Helped build the first and only fund in Spain to securitize microloans for women entrepreneurs subscribed with microfinance institutions (CNMV approved)
- Oversees a fund managing more than 15 million euros with plans to deploy roughly 18 million euros in new financing across 2025-2026
- Brought capital-markets and corporate-finance discipline from Santander, Merrill Lynch and BBVA into the microfinance sector
- Executed sizable equity derivatives transactions with institutions in Mexico, Peru and Colombia during his Santander years

## Latest updates

- **2026** — Listed as a speaker at GLI Forum Latam 2026 on the panel 'Rewriting the Rules of Money'.
- **2025** — Microwd projected deploying roughly 18 million euros in new financing across 2025-2026, up from the more than 15 million euros it currently manages.

## Links

- Website: https://microwd.es
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/oriol-rius
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/mi_crowd
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/microwd

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/oriol-rius
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-21