Carlos García Ottati
Co-Founder & CEO, Kavak at independent
Reviewed Updated Jun 30, 2026This profile is AI-generated. If you spot an error, please help us fix it by sharing a URL to the correct information.
Background
Carlos García Ottati is the co-founder and CEO of Kavak, the Mexico City-based used-car marketplace that became Mexico’s first technology unicorn in October 2020 and reached an $8.7 billion valuation in September 2021 123. Born September 6, 1983 in Caracas, Venezuela, he holds an economics degree from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello and earned an MBA at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School in 2010 1. He interned at Amazon during his MBA, then spent two years as a consultant at McKinsey & Company before joining Rocket Internet–backed Latin American marketplace Linio, where he served as Chief Marketplace Officer and helped build the company’s logistics and digital payments operations 14.
He founded Kavak in October 2016 with his sister Loreanne García Ottati and Roger Laughlin after a personal experience being defrauded while trying to sell a car in Mexico, where roughly 90% of used-car transactions were informal at the time 245. The company raised an initial $3M seed round from Mountain Nazca, led by Héctor Sepúlveda 56. Subsequent rounds were led by Kaszek Ventures, SoftBank Latin America Fund, and General Catalyst, ultimately raising more than $1.5B and expanding the platform from Mexico into Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Turkey, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Oman 236.
Alongside his operating role, García Ottati has made a small number of angel investments in other Latin American startups, primarily in fintech, insurtech, and marketplace companies, and is a backer of LatAm-focused early-stage fund Latitud Ventures 78910. He has been named to Bloomberg Línea’s “500 People Who Move Latin America” list 1.
Stated Thesis
(Self-reported: García Ottati has not published an angel investing thesis. The summary below reflects observable patterns from sourced investments rather than a formal stated thesis.)
García Ottati’s public commentary centers on Latin America’s potential for category-defining consumer and financial-services companies built on top of underserved emerging-market demand, not on a formal angel investing thesis. Speaking about Kavak’s 2021 Series E, he framed the opportunity as expanding access for excluded consumers: “If we do our job well, in the next 20 years, the middle class should grow up by 30% in emerging markets just by granting financing products to a huge amount of people that are excluded today, giving them a tool that can definitely enhance their lives” 3. He has also publicly welcomed new international capital into the region, stating it is “wonderful bringing in new funds who had not previously invested in the region to see how LatAm looks and works” 3.
No public statement of personal angel-investing criteria (sector, stage, check size, founder profile) has been independently sourced. Readers should rely on the Inferred Thesis section below.
Inferred Thesis
Sample size is small. Only four angel/LP commitments by García Ottati could be independently verified from primary press coverage at the time of writing. With n=4, percentages are not meaningful; below is a qualitative summary of observable patterns.
- Geography: All four verified investments are LatAm-focused — Chile (Xepelin), Brazil (Justos), Mexico (Fairplay), and a pan-LatAm fund (Latitud Ventures) 78910.
- Sector: 3 of 4 (Xepelin, Justos, Fairplay) are fintech/insurtech businesses serving SMBs or consumers in LatAm 789. The fourth (Latitud Ventures) is a pre-seed VC fund 10.
- Stage: García Ottati typically participates in Series A rounds alongside institutional leads, often as one of several operator-angels rather than as a lead investor. He is publicly named in the Justos Series A (Oct 2021, Ribbit-led), Xepelin Series A (Jul 2021, Kaszek-led), and Fairplay Series A (Jan 2022, Dila/Kayyak co-led) 789.
- Co-investor pattern: Repeatedly appears alongside other LatAm operator-angels in the same syndicates — Ricardo Weder (Jüsto founder) appears in both Xepelin and Fairplay; David Vélez (Nubank) and Sergio Furio (Creditas) appear in Justos 789. This suggests participation in a tight LatAm founder-investor network rather than independent deal sourcing.
- Role: Primary identity is operator (Kavak CEO), with angel investing as a secondary activity. Tracxn lists him as having a “portfolio of 3 companies” as of 2023, consistent with the verified count 11.
What can NOT be inferred from this data: typical check size, decision speed, board involvement, follow-on behavior, or deal-sourcing pattern. The verified sample is too small to support reliable claims on any of these dimensions.
Portfolio
This table reflects only investments where García Ottati is explicitly named as a participant in primary press coverage of the round. Tracxn lists ~16 investments and a 3-company portfolio across data providers, but the publicly verifiable subset is small 11.
| Company | Year | Stage | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Justos (insurtech, Brazil) | 2021 | Seed (existing backer at Series A) | 7 |
| Xepelin (SMB fintech, Chile) | 2021 | Series A | 8 |
| Fairplay (revenue-based finance, Mexico) | 2022 | Series A | 9 |
| Latitud Ventures (LatAm pre-seed fund) | 2022 | LP / individual backer | 10 |
Operating role (not counted as an angel investment): Co-founder and CEO of Kavak (founded October 2016) 256.
In Their Own Words
On founding Kavak after being defrauded while selling a car in Mexico:
“I realized the risks that exist when there is no transparency or guarantee for these transactions.” — Carlos García Ottati, Forbes, July 23, 2022 2
On the company’s product ambition:
“I like to describe it as if Spotify, Amazon, Toyota and Citibank had a kid, then something like Kavak would be born.” — Carlos García Ottati, TechCrunch, September 21, 2021 3
On the motivation for Kavak’s $700M Series E:
“What excites me about this raise is a reflection of Kavak’s ambition we have and what we want to build, and less so about need… Most importantly, it’s going to allow us to think long term and build a true generational company.” — Carlos García Ottati, TechCrunch, September 21, 2021 3
On the broader thesis for emerging-market financial inclusion:
“If we do our job well, in the next 20 years, the middle class should grow up by 30% in emerging markets just by granting financing products to a huge amount of people that are excluded today, giving them a tool that can definitely enhance their lives.” — Carlos García Ottati, TechCrunch, September 21, 2021 3
On Kavak as a platform business:
“We want to be a super app, or an ecosystem of services, that empowers mobility and financial health and do more than just help people buy and sell cars.” — Carlos García Ottati, TechCrunch, September 21, 2021 3
On international capital entering LatAm:
“It’s wonderful bringing in new funds who had not previously invested in the region to see how LatAm looks and works.” — Carlos García Ottati, TechCrunch, September 21, 2021 3
What Founders Say
No independently sourced founder testimonials about García Ottati’s behavior as an angel investor were found at the time of writing. His public profile centers on his operating role at Kavak rather than published founder reviews of his angel work.
Sources
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Wikipedia, “Carlos García Ottati,” accessed June 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Garc%C3%ADa_Ottati↩↩↩↩
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Forbes, “How This Mexico-Based Used-Car Seller Became The Most Valuable Startup In Latin America,” July 23, 2022. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesinternational/2022/07/23/how-this-mexico-based-used-car-seller-became-the-most-valuable-startup-in-latin-america/↩↩↩↩↩
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TechCrunch, “Mexico’s Kavak drives away with $700M in new funding, doubling its valuation to $8.7B,” September 21, 2021. https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/21/mexicos-kavak-raises-700m-for-its-used-car-marketplace-doubling-its-valuation-to-8-7b/↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩
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Rest of World, “Carlos García Ottati — Founder/CEO at Kavak,” accessed June 2026. https://restofworld.org/profile/carlos-garcia-ottati/↩↩
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Mexico Business News, “Kavak: Story of a US$4 Billion Company,” accessed June 2026. https://mexicobusiness.news/automotive/news/kavak-story-us4-billion-company↩↩↩
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Wikipedia, “Kavak (company),” accessed June 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kavak_(company) ↩↩↩
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TechCrunch, “Brazilian insurtech Justos raises $35.8M in Ribbit Capital-led Series A,” October 24, 2021. https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/24/brazilian-insurtech-justos-raises-35-8m-in-ribbit-capital-led-series-a/↩↩↩↩↩↩
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TechCrunch, “Chilean fintech Xepelin secures $230M in debt and equity from Kaszek, high-profile angels,” July 30, 2021. https://techcrunch.com/2021/07/30/chilean-fintech-xepelin-secures-230m-in-debt-equity-from-kaszek-high-profile-angels/↩↩↩↩↩↩
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TechCrunch, “Fairplay closes $35M in equity, debt to provide revenue-based financing to entrepreneurs,” January 18, 2022. https://techcrunch.com/2022/01/18/fairplay-closes-35m-in-equity-debt-to-provide-revenue-based-financing-to-entrepreneurs/↩↩↩↩↩↩
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Bloomberg Línea, “Seasoned Entrepreneurs Emerge As Angel Investors for Latin American Startups,” accessed June 2026. https://www.bloomberglinea.com/english/seasoned-entrepreneurs-emerge-as-angel-investors-for-latin-american-startups/↩↩↩↩
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Tracxn, “Carlos Ottati — Portfolio & Founded Companies,” accessed June 2026. https://tracxn.com/d/people/carlos-garcia-ottati/__arAKODeZ2Z65KJHA9zr5OAxrUdF3uV-6ybg7chQUTyw↩↩