Rebeca Hwang is a venture capital investor, serial entrepreneur and educator who bridges innovation ecosystems between Silicon Valley and emerging markets. She is Managing Director and General Partner at Kalei Ventures, an early-stage fund backing technology startups from Latin America, and General Partner at Rivet Ventures, which invests in companies serving women-led markets and female-driven consumer segments.

Born in Seoul and raised in Buenos Aires, Rebeca studied at the Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires and later earned engineering degrees at MIT and conducted doctoral work at Stanford University. She has been recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and as one of the 35 global innovators under 35 by MIT Technology Review.

Alongside her investing career, Rebeca is Professor of Practice at Thunderbird School of Global Management and Senior Director of its Global Center for Family Business and Entrepreneurship, as well as a Lecturer in Technology Entrepreneurship at Stanford University. She previously co-founded YouNoodle, a platform that helps corporates and governments run global startup challenges, and was a founding force behind initiatives such as Cleantech Open and Startup Malaysia, focused on building entrepreneurship ecosystems around the world.

Rebeca is a frequent speaker at global forums on innovation, AI, and the future of work, and has advised governments and institutions in countries from Mexico and Chile to Spain, South Korea and Iceland on their national startup and innovation strategies.

Investor Profile

Based In: San Francisco, United States

Investor Type: VC Firm

Preferred Sector(s): Agnostic

Preferred Stage(s): Pre-Seed, Seed

Preferred Geo(s): Latin America

Website: https://www.lavca.org/people/rebeca-hwang/

LAVCA Honors

Top Women Investors in Latin America 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025