Noramay Cadena
Engineer & Investor; Managing Partner at MiLA Capital
Engineer, venture capitalist, and the former head of a nonprofit organization. Professional career has spanned a diverse range of operating and investing environments, from early-stage startups to Fortune 50 companies. Three degrees from MIT and personal journey as a teen mom turned first generation Ivy League college graduate have earned recognition as a trailblazer and inspirational leader by Forbes, Mashable, and CNET.
Noramay Cadena is a Founding Partner at MiLA Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm in Los Angeles focused on funding tech you can touch. She's also a lead investor in Portfolia's Rising America fund investing in Latinx, Black and LGBTQ founders, and an advisory board member of the Homeboy Ventures and Jobs Fund. Noramay is a Kauffman Fellow and holds a MBA, a Master’s in Engineering Systems and a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering – all from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Noramay Cadena is a Founding Partner at MiLA Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm in Los Angeles focused on funding tech you can touch. She's also a lead investor in Portfolia's Rising America fund investing in Latinx, Black and LGBTQ founders, and an advisory board member of the Homeboy Ventures and Jobs Fund. Noramay is a Kauffman Fellow and holds a MBA, a Master’s in Engineering Systems and a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering – all from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Noramay Cadena is a Founding Partner at MiLA Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm in Los Angeles focused on funding tech you can touch. MiLA leverages their extensive experience in manufacturing and supply chain to help startup founders tackle production challenges and get to market in a capital-efficient manner.
Previously, Noramay spent over a decade at Boeing leading large teams working on new complex aviation/aerospace programs. As an engineer and business leader, she specializes in manufacturing, affordability, and integration & test and couples that technical expertise with coaching on strategy, operations and culture. Noramay believes that solving the biggest challenges facing our world will hinge on extracting value from connected machines and that there’s an opportunity for dynamic venture capital firms to seed and nurture high growth companies.
Noramay is also a lead investor in Portfolia's Rising America fund investing in Latinx, Black and LGBTQ founders, and an advisory board member of the Homeboy Ventures and Jobs Fund. She’s a Mayoral appointee to the board of the Housing Authority Commission of Los Angeles and was a cofounder of the Latinas in STEM Foundation.
In 2020, Noramay was recognized as one of the world’s top 50 most renowned women in robotics by Analytics Insight and one of the most influential Latinas by Latino Leaders magazine. In 2016, she was recognized as one of the 26 most powerful women engineers by Business Insider. She has been a featured speaker in platforms including TEDx and the World Summit on Innovation and Entrepreneurship and has been featured in Forbes, Mashable, TechCrunch and Entrepreneur Magazine.
Noramay is a Kauffman Fellow and holds a MBA, a Master’s in Engineering Systems and a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering – all from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Previously, Noramay spent over a decade at Boeing leading large teams working on new complex aviation/aerospace programs. As an engineer and business leader, she specializes in manufacturing, affordability, and integration & test and couples that technical expertise with coaching on strategy, operations and culture. Noramay believes that solving the biggest challenges facing our world will hinge on extracting value from connected machines and that there’s an opportunity for dynamic venture capital firms to seed and nurture high growth companies.
Noramay is also a lead investor in Portfolia's Rising America fund investing in Latinx, Black and LGBTQ founders, and an advisory board member of the Homeboy Ventures and Jobs Fund. She’s a Mayoral appointee to the board of the Housing Authority Commission of Los Angeles and was a cofounder of the Latinas in STEM Foundation.
In 2020, Noramay was recognized as one of the world’s top 50 most renowned women in robotics by Analytics Insight and one of the most influential Latinas by Latino Leaders magazine. In 2016, she was recognized as one of the 26 most powerful women engineers by Business Insider. She has been a featured speaker in platforms including TEDx and the World Summit on Innovation and Entrepreneurship and has been featured in Forbes, Mashable, TechCrunch and Entrepreneur Magazine.
Noramay is a Kauffman Fellow and holds a MBA, a Master’s in Engineering Systems and a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering – all from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Topics:
- One Woman's Journey from Pacoima to Startup Investor
To encourage people everywhere to support women and their ideas, Noramay, Cofounder & Managing Director at Make in LA, tells the story of her path to success, and shows the importance of entrepreneurship in tech. - A Conversation with Noramay Cadena
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