Maria de los Ángeles Romo, director at SQM Lithium Ventures, is one of our top 50 Emerging Leaders in corporate venturing for 2026.
Maria de los Ángeles Romo’s unique background spanning the venture ecosystem has served her well, as she has built SQM Lithium Ventures, defining its strategy, governance and processes. She has positioned the CVC arm to sit between the R&D and M&A functions of SQMi (SQM International Lithium), acting as a bridge between emerging technologies and SQMi’s core lithium business.
The $40m fund, managed by a team of four, is almost fully invested across seven startups. Recent investments include a $3m commitment to Vok Bikes and a $2.2m investment in Kite Magnetics. This year she expects to deploy the rest of the fund, with one or two new companies in the portfolio and some follow-on investments.
The challenges of her role have evolved as SQM Lithium Ventures has. Early on, Romo focused on building internal credibility in a highly traditional organisation, prioritising quick wins to show how corporate venture investing could add value to the core business. Most recently, she has focused on portfolio management and exit planning, aligning investments with the fund’s four-year deployment period and subsequent four-year divestment strategy.
“She works closely with founders on day-to-day problem solving, helping them navigate technical, operational and strategic challenges, while maintaining the pace and urgency of a startup environment”
For Romo, the most rewarding aspect of her role is managing relationships. She works closely with founders on day-to-day problem solving, helping them navigate technical, operational and strategic challenges, while maintaining the pace and urgency of a startup environment. At the same time, she aligns internal stakeholders – from operational teams to the CEO – on how emerging technologies can strengthen SQMi’s core business. This constant movement between startups and corporate leadership is both demanding and energising.
Her advice to those entering corporate venture capital reflects this complexity. Success requires clarity about a company’s risk appetite, strong board-level support and a realistic understanding of what the organisation can absorb.
Emerging Leaders are mid-career CVC professionals who are making an outstanding contribution to their team and the industry.
