Maxeme Tuchman is CEO and co-founder of Caribu, an interactive video-calling platform that was one of Apple’s 15 “Best Apps of 2020,” one of Time magazine’s Best Inventions, and made Fast Company’s list of World Changing Ideas. She is an alumna of the 2018 Young Leaders Conference.

Raising startup funding as a Latina is challenging. The odds were not in my favor, and they still aren’t. Over the years, I’ve had plenty of investors advise me to just give up. It was never because they thought that the concept of Caribu was a bad idea, they just weren’t willing to take a risk on someone who didn’t fit their preconceived mold of a successful entrepreneur. But I never let that stop me. Today, my company is thriving. Fast-forward and we’ve now raised over $5 million in funding. I am the first Latinx founder, male or female, to raise over $1 million in equity crowdfunding, and the 59th Latina to raise over $1 million in venture funding. My last round was led by a Latina and consisted of only women and black men as investors. As a Latina, it’s in my DNA to keep fighting for what I believe in. It hasn’t been easy, but I’ve had a blast, broken some glass ceilings, and made it a point to bring other women and people of color along with me.