Santi Subotovsky

“Growing a business takes time. So you’d better be doing it with people you like.”

Santi is a General Partner at Emergence Capital, and has led several of the firm's biggest investments since he joined in 2010 -- including those in Zoom (NASDAQ: ZM), Chorus, and Openpath Security. He continues to serve on the boards of Zoom, AudiencePlus, Class, Crunchbase, Logik.io, Tundra, and Zipline. On top of these, he works closely with High Alpha, an Indiannapolis-based startup studio and accelerator that provides funding and services to new enterprises, and Quasar Ventures, a firm focused on creating disruptive technology companies in Latin America and abroad.

During his time at Emergence, Santi has been central to its people-first approach. To him, investing means building strong partnerships and friendships with the entrepreneurs he works with. When Zoom Founder Eric Yuan was trying to balance demands of the business with traveling to meet VCs, Santi told him he'd go wherever Eric was, anytime. It was this respect for time, talent and vision that forged an incredible bond -- one that he seeks to foster every time he invests.

Santi grew up in Argentina believing that he'd be a mechanic just like his father. But when he couldn't find a job, he figured he'd better create his own. What could he do that wouldn't require any space or materials or a ton of capital? Code. That's how he founded his company AXG Tecnonexo, a SaaS e-learning platform with operations across Latin America and the U.S.

It was only when he arrived in the U.S. that he discovered and learned how to navigate venture capital. The experience has since inspired him to become a founding board member of Puente Labs, an organization that helps founders of Latin American high-potential growth companies scale their businesses globally. He never intended to become a VC himself, but got hooked on helping many others start their own companies.

Santi earned his MBA at Harvard. He also has his BS in economics from Universidad de San Andrés in Argentina, and is both a Kauffman Fellow and Endeavor Entrepreneur. In his spare time, he's an energetic father of four, avid opera and classical music follower, and, like almost every Argentine, a passionate soccer fan.

Santi was named to the Forbes Midas List in 2021 and 2023. He was one of the first three Latin American VCs to ever make the list.