Team & Co-Founders
Who are our Co-Founders?
Torsten Kolind is the Co-Founder and Board Member of YouNoodle in San Francisco, California. A bioinformatics engineer by training, Torsten co-founded YouNoodle, a technology platform to source, select and engage the most promising startups in the world. He has judged startup programs at Stanford University, MIT, and Imperial College, and has written opinion pieces for both Wall Street Journal and Entrepreneur Magazine. Torsten is an advisor to a number of startups, and an investor in two venture funds. He is a frequent speaker on corporate innovation, and on how governments can spur ecosystem growth through global startup engagement.
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Torsten Kolind
Co-Founder, Board Member
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Rebeca is a venture capital investor who has collected experiences as innovator and inventor, founder and entrepreneur, social entrepreneur, educator, and ecosystem builder. Rebeca co-founded Kalei Ventures, Rivet Ventures, YouNoodle, Cleantech Open, Startup Malaysia, and Startup Nations Summit. She also serves on the Global Board of Kauffman's GEN, Imagine H2O, TEDx Rio de la Plata Accelerator, and was a member of the WEF's Global Council on the Future of Migrations, as well as co-lead the Access to Capital committee of the Mexico-U.S. Entrepreneurship and Innovation Council. Rebeca was born in Seoul, raised in Argentina, and educated at MIT and Stanford, and has been recognized as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, and as one of the top 35 under 35 Global Innovators by MIT Tech Review and was a TED speaker in Vancouver, in TED en Español in NYC, as well as TEDx Cordoba in 2018.
Rebeca Hwang
Co-Founder
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Who are our Noodlers?
Diana Iruegas is YouNoodle’s CEO. From her base in Mexico City, she oversees YouNoodle's global operation and always wants to make sure everyone is happy. Her International Trade Major and MBA allows her to have a global vision of things with close attention to details. She has an entrepreneurial soul and understands startups. She believes in the disruptive energy of startups and does think the world will change thanks to them. She is committed to providing solutions, not problems.
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Reliable, Passionate, Committed
Diana Iruegas
CEO
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Happy Nerd
Rafael Hernandez is YouNoodle's Senior Software Engineer, based in Mexico. With a background in computer science, Rafael works on the back-end side of our platform. His professional path has enabled him to work with bootstrap, VC-backed startups, and international organizations. He is passionate about developing solutions that make people's lives easier. Rafael uses his experience to create light, sustainable and scalable solutions.
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Effective, Resourceful, Easygoing
Rafael Hernández
Senior Software Engineer
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Creator Nerd
Pernille Knapmann is Younoodle’s Head of Marketing and Growth based in Mexico. Though Danish by passport, she's a true global citizen at heart. With a strong marketing background and a fervent dedication to organizational growth, Pernille channels her expertise to empower entrepreneurs and organizations worldwide. Armed with marketing savvy and adept project management skills, she catalyzes positive change on a global scale.
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Proactive, Creative, Goal-oriented
Pernille Knapmann
Head of Marketing and Growth
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Yoga Nerd
Natalia Lavalle is YouNoodle's Product Manager based in Mexico. With her expertise as a Neuropsychologist and a deep passion for understanding cognitive abilities and human behavior, she supports YouNoodle's goal of removing bias from entrepreneurs' evaluation and selection process. Natalia wants to generate a change with her knowledge and experience by developing technology products and assessments; Nat wishes to achieve this in an innovative, reliable, and valid way to help clients make objective decisions and entrepreneurs go through a fair application process. She loves doing water and team sports, exercise, travel, research, and learning about neuropsychology topics, psychometrics, and technology products.
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Empathic, purpose-driven, energetic
Natalia Lavalle
Product Manager
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Neuropsychology Nerd
Ana Tamés is YouNoodle’s Head of Operations based in Mexico. Her Industrial Engineering background motivates her to streamline YouNoodle’s global operations. As the Head of Operations, Ana wears many hats, seamlessly transitioning between strategist, problem-solver, and optimizing workflows. Ana’s multifaceted approach ensures every aspect of our operations runs like a well-oiled machine. Her love for YouNoodle's worldwide social impact fuels her conviction that every improvement made within the organization brings us one step closer to making the world a better place. Outside the office, Ana is often found with her camera, capturing the beauty of sunsets, and lost in the pages of a captivating book.
Kind, Loyal, Passionate
Ana Paola Tamés
Head of Operations
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Good Vibes Nerd
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Daniel is a front-end developer based in Bolivia. With a clear sense of purpose and a drive for growth, he is passionate about creating robust and intuitive user interfaces. Daniel dedicates himself to building technology that enhances user experience and accessibility. In his free time, he enjoys reading, listening to music, and taking long walks, always seeking new ways to inspire his creativity.
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Purpose-driven, quality-focused, determined
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Daniel Maydana
Frontend Developer
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Words Nerd
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Julio Sandoval is the Marketing Jr. at YouNoodle based in Mexico. With a major in Marketing and experience throughout his educational career working on projects with businesses across various industries, he has shown a wide range of knowledge and skills in the marketing field. He has a keen interest in data analysis & visualization. He is driven by his goals and values, which go hand-in-hand with those at YouNoodle. When he’s not at work, you can probably find Julio out at the cinema, doing some DIY project, or cooking some veggie meals in the kitchen.​
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Ambitious, Resilient, Analytical
Julio Sandoval
Marketing Jr.​
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Horror Movies Nerd
​Luis Dolores is the Operations Lead at YouNoodle, based in Mexico. With a degree in Sustainable Development Engineering, Luis brings diverse experience in process optimization, customer service, sales, product benchmarking, vendor relations, and data analysis. He has also worked in export service analysis, managing international invoices and logistics for U.S.-based clients. Passionate about problem-solving and improving processes, Luis enjoys diving into data and finding insights that drive better decisions. Outside of work, you’ll likely find him exploring new movies, exercising, or immersing in the gaming world.​
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Analytical, Energetic, Reliable
Luis Dolores
Operations Lead​
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Gaming Nerd
Join Us
YouNoodle is built on diversity, equality, and transparency. Co-founded with a 50/50 gender split, we live and breathe these values every day.