This article is based on our conversation with Victoria Besne, Partner at Aito Capital, where she shared her journey into venture capital, the power of resilience, and why investing in diverse teams is smart business.
Key Takeaways
- Women-led startups deliver 2x the revenue per dollar invested and reach unicorn status with half the capital, yet they receive only 2% of VC funding.
- Victoria Besne’s journey from psychology to venture shows how non-traditional backgrounds bring valuable insight—especially when investing in over looked markets like Latin America.
- Closing the gender gap in entrepreneurship could unlock $5 trillion in global economic value. This isn’t just about fairness, it’s about smarter investing
Why VC Needs More Women Like Victoria Besne
Despite growing momentum and visibility around diversity in tech and entrepreneurship, the venture capital industry remains overwhelmingly male-dominated.
Yet women-led startups deliver 2 x revenue per dollar invested. (BCG)
A clear sign of the untapped potential and missed opportunities in the current investment landscape.
This is particularly important for healthcare leaders to hear because: Women drive 80% of healthcare decisions yet hold only 30% of C-suite roles and13%of CEOpositions within the industry. (OliverWyman)
Women-founded unicorns use 50% less capital before reaching unicorn status (BCG). The data proves this isn’t just founder potential—it’s investor insight. VC firms that increased their female partner hires by 10% saw 1.5% higher fund returns (HBR), because women investors spot undervalued opportunities others miss.
In other words, women founders aren’t just building billion-dollar companies—they’re doing it with fewer resources and smarter execution.
Things have slowly been improving: in 2023, women on mixed-gender founding teams received around 20.7% of VC funding, the highest percentage on record according to Pitchbook. While this remains disproportionately low, it signals a growing trust from investors in diverse leadership
Victoria Besne: The unlikely VC rewriting the playbook
When we talk about the need for more women in venture capital, it’s not just about fairness—it’s about unlocking talent and perspective that’s long been overlooked.
Victoria Besne is one of those voices.
Victoria grew up in Mexico City, in a non-traditional, supportive Latin American family that encouraged her to think for herself. That mindset led her to study psychology, driven by a deep curiosity about how people think, grow, and make decisions. Her first job was in HR at a startup, far from Silicon Valley, but it taught her how to spot talent, measure resilience, and build strong teams—skills that would eventually become her greatest strength as an investor
“I never imagined myself being a VC. But over time, I realized venture is a people business, and that’s exactly what I know best.”
Breaking In Without Fitting In
Victoria’s venture capital journey defied every convention. As a Latina woman without the traditional Ivy League pedigree, she entered an industry where she was often the only person in the room without the “right” credentials or connections. She came from a different world—one grounded in human behavior, emotional ntelligence, and lived experience, which made her question herself.
“I kept asking: Am I good enough? Do I belong here? Everyone else seemed so confident, so polished. I didn’t feel like I fit the mold.”
But over time, she realized that her difference was her strength.
| Psychology background | → | Unique lens for assessing founders |
| Latina perspective | → | Spotting overlooked opportunities in blue markets |
| Non-traditional path | → | Proof that different thinkers create value, in and out of Silicon Valley. |
Today, Victoria is a Partner at Aito Capital, an early-stage venture fund investing in exceptional founders across the U.S. and Latin America. Her focus is clear: backing
purpose-driven, resilient teams, especially those building in overlooked markets and communities.
She also sees enormous, often underestimated, potential in Latin America—a region where innovation is born from constraint, and where founders are used to doing more with less.
“If we’ve built unicorns with so little, imagine what we can build now.”
Her Advice for the Next Generation of Women in Tech and VC
Victoria’s path into venture shaped her view of the industry and taught her what it takes for women to make it in spaces where they’re still underrepresented.
Her message to women who are building companies is encouraging
“Build with purpose and be ready to show your resilience. You’ll probably face harder questions—but your clarity, your vision, and your grit will speak louder than any pitch deck.”
Victoria knows that female founders are often held to a higher standard. Investors may ask tougher questions, focus more on risks than potential, or make assumptions that male founders rarely face. Her advice? Be prepared. Lead with data. And don’t apologize for your ambition.
And for those who want to break into venture capital?
“Start before you’re ready. Don’t wait for a job title or permission. Analyze companies. Write about industries. Reach out to people. Start building relationships—because this industry runs on trust.”
She emphasizes that venture is not just about capital, it’s about people. Building a strong, authentic network is one of the most valuable things you can do, especially as a woman trying to enter a space where you may still be the only one in the room.
The $5 Trillion Opportunity We’re Missing
Let’s go back to the numbers.
If as we metioned in the beginning, only 2% of venture funding goes to women, what happens to the other 98% of ideas?
How many impactful solutions, scalable businesses, and job-creating companies are we leaving behind?
The cost of this gapis more than symbolic—it’s economic
Closing the gender gap inentrepreneurship could add upto$5 trillion to the global economy.(HBR)
This isn’t just about equality—it’s about missed opportunities, unrealized value, and a future we’re holding back by not investing in it.
We don’t need token exceptions like “the first Latina in VC.” We need systems that recognize the talent already there, waiting to befunded
Alternova’s Takeaways
From working with mission-driven healthtech teams that have been successful raising VC funding, we’ve learned:
- Lived experience often sparks the most impactful solutions
- Engagement-focused design proves market fit faster
- Compliance-safe architectures attract serious investors
We need more founders and investors who see opportunity among what others overlook.
The next unicorns are hiding in plain sight.
Are you a healthtech innovator who’s rewriting the rules? We want to meet you and share your story.
