Geographer, colorblind and practical
I’m a tech entrepreneur and investor who was born in Seville and now lives in Madrid.
I’m the founder and former CEO of Geographica (bought by CARTO).
I invest in tech startups from Habichuelas Ventures and currently work as COO at MOGU https://www.moguplatform.com/
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GEOGRAPHICA
I founded Geographica with Juan Pedro Pérez and Daniel Martín Cajaraville in 2004 and was its CEO until 2019. Through good luck, hard work and no investment we put together a fantastic team, managed to live off our clients and succeeded in becoming one of the best geospatial technology companies in the world. In 2019 we were included in the Top 100 Geospatial Companies and Startups List by Geoawesomeness, one of the most highly regarded portals in the sector. That same year we were bought by CARTO, one of the best mapping companies in the world.
At Geographica I learned to suffer, to check the bank account every morning and to treat each client as a unique and wonderful being. Over time the first 100,000 euros arrived – they're always the hardest. When we passed the first million, we put our whole focus on continuing to treat our clients in practically the same way. I believe we more than achieved that.
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I’m particularly satisfied to have succeeded in implementing and consolidating a business culture among everyone, a culture that inspired a sense of identification, focusing dozens of workers on the same objective: “happy clients”, “transparency”, “story and design”, “extreme meritocracy” and “from the south of the world”.
Looking back, I’m proud that we managed to overcome the challenge of managing and selling over 100 tech projects to, among others, 14 IBEX35 (Spain) companies listed in France, the United States, etc.
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People like Alberto, Paula, Jose, Isa, Cayetano, Josema, Javi, Jorge, Pablo, Raúl, Marta, Edu, Margara, Alejandro, Álvaro, and many more who are missing from this list, who are more than colleagues, they’re friends and family.
Habichuelas ventures
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I’m an extremely optimistic person. A chronic, rational optimist. I want to share and use everything I’ve learned and am taking steps in this direction. My business partner and friend Alberto Asuero, current CTO at CARTO, and I have a company called Habichuelas Ventures and from there we invest in tech startups at the seed stage. We have invested in companies such as: Dentaltix, PlusVitech, Nailted, Zensei, Wuolah and Motoreto, among others. And also in MOGU Platform, a tourism company that I co-founded with my brother Andrés García and the wonderful Sara Hernández in 2020. Yes, 2020, you read that right. I’m a radical optimist.
Los18.org
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Much of the greatest personal satisfaction that I have recently experienced has inevitably been linked to Los18.org, and with this solidarity project we have achieved things that seemed unthinkable when we started out.
In 2018 we received an award for being the best solidarity project at the Open Awards at OpenExpo Europe. In 2019 we succeeded in causing a real stir when we brought together over 2,500 people in Plaza de Cibeles y Neptuno in Madrid to create the largest human figure for sustainable development. Also in 2019, we devised and drove an initiative that saw Salesforce USA donate 17 million dollars + 1 million pro bono hours to social initiatives related to the SDG. In 2020 and 2021 we are focused on incubating and launching sustainable projects via our HackatODS. My best moments are when I’m working side by side with the fantastic and diverse team at Los18.org.
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Also, Ginko was created from this team; it’s a small investment vehicle headed up by Julio Ceballos that focuses on tech companies that are linked to sustainability and it has its sights set firmly on China. Why on China? Several reasons: because it’s the “factory” of the world, Julio has lived there for 15 years and because if we act there, our impact will be far greater. The first investments have already closed and we expect to add more.
