Nazca Capital has added to its team as 'operating partner' the former Secretary of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence, Carme Artigas. The former official will lead the new technology committee of the management company and will also become part of its industrial advisory council, as the firm communicated this Monday through a press release.
The entity has indicated that, with this incorporation, it significantly strengthens its capabilities in digital transformation, artificial intelligence (AI), and dual-use technologies, areas that it considers key both for business competitiveness and for the strategic autonomy of the European Union.
Artigas will actively integrate into the organization and will work alongside the investment team in the origination, evaluation, and monitoring of operations in 'deep tech' companies, characterized by their highly disruptive models and by being in early stages of development.
This is a segment in which the management company has been progressively expanding its scope of action and in which the combination of deep technological knowledge and investment discipline is considered essential for decision-making.
As part of this push, Nazca will launch a technology committee chaired by Artigas, whose mission will be, among other things, to analyze in detail the technological solidity of each possible investment and to support the portfolio companies in accelerating their transformation processes and technological evolution.
In addition, the new head will take on the task of incorporating top-level experts in advanced technologies into this body, with the aim of providing it with a cutting-edge and multidisciplinary vision.
Pioneering trajectory in digitalization and artificial intelligence
Artigas's career in the field of technological investment dates back to the beginnings of her professional life. Between 1999 and 2003, she held the position of CEO of Ericsson Innova, the first venture capital fund of Ericsson in Europe, from which she assumed management and governance functions in nine unlisted technology companies.
Later, she co-founded and served as CEO of Synergic Partners, a pioneering firm in 'big data' in Europe that was acquired by the Telefónica group in 2015. After the operation, she continued at the helm of the company until its complete integration within the telecommunications group.
In January 2020, the first Secretary of State for Digitalization and AI was appointed, a responsibility she held until December 2023. From that position, she promoted the 'Startup Law', encouraged the creation of the Next Tech Fund, and led the negotiation and approval of the European Artificial Intelligence Law.
Likewise, she has served as co-chair of the United Nations Artificial Intelligence Advisory Council and, since October 2023, holds the position of 'senior fellow' at the Belfer Center of the Harvard Kennedy School, being the first Spanish woman to access this position.
According to Nazca, her arrival will help strengthen the overall investment strategies of the management company, both in identifying new opportunities and in promoting the technological development of portfolio companies, particularly in the aerospace, security, and defense sectors, where technological advancement requires highly specialized technical criteria.
The executive president of Nazca, Carlos Carbó, has emphasized that addressing investment in technology and dual-use capabilities with its own criteria is a "clear ambition" for the firm, and has highlighted that Artigas's background, both in the business and investment fields as well as in the institutional realm, will allow them to make a leap in technical depth.
For her part, Artigas has pointed out that "Europe is betting a large part of its strategic autonomy on critical technologies, and the challenge is not to generate knowledge, but to turn it into companies capable of competing on a global scale."
In the same vein, she has emphasized that "this requires technical criteria alongside financial ones." "I am very excited to join the Nazca team, with a consolidated track record of success and a top-level human team, eager to contribute my experience to define this new stage," she concluded.