In the modern economic landscape, launching and sustaining a small business requires far more than just a foundational education or a standard business plan. For entrepreneurs operating outside traditional networks—particularly those from historically underserved and underrepresented communities—the path to sustainable growth is frequently blocked by a systemic lack of access to capital. Recognizing this critical barrier, Martha Hernandez, CEO and co-founder of ESO Ventures, has dedicated her career to making entrepreneurship not only accessible but genuinely worthwhile in every community.
Since its inception, ESO Ventures has achieved remarkable milestones, deploying more than $8 million in capital and actively supporting over 700 entrepreneurs. Yet, despite these impressive figures, Hernandez views this momentum as merely the beginning of a much larger mission. Her work is rooted in the belief that talent is universally distributed, but opportunity and financial infrastructure are not. By combining comprehensive business advising with direct lending solutions, ESO Ventures is building a new model for economic empowerment that prioritizes tangible, measurable outcomes over superficial training metrics.
The Genesis of ESO Ventures During a Global Crisis
The origins of ESO Ventures date back to the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, a period of unprecedented economic turbulence that disproportionately affected minority-owned and community-based small businesses. Recognizing the urgent need for intervention, Hernandez and her business partners chose to put their ideas into immediate action, partnering closely with the city of Oakland to address the crisis on the ground.
"We wanted to do something great and support entrepreneurs as business advisors," Hernandez reflects, looking back on the early days of the organization.
During these initial months, Hernandez and her team worked closely with repeated cohorts of local business owners, guiding them through a structured framework known as the "40 Steps to Launch." However, as these entrepreneurs successfully navigated the educational curriculum and prepared to bring their businesses to market, Hernandez encountered a glaring, systemic obstacle. Despite having solid business plans and operational readiness, these founders found that institutional capital was almost entirely inaccessible to them. Traditional banks and conventional venture capital firms routinely overlooked these businesses, leaving founders trapped in a cycle of preparation without the financial fuel necessary to launch, survive, and scale.
Beyond Education: A Comprehensive Solution for Real-World Results
This realization transformed the trajectory of ESO Ventures. Rather than functioning purely as an educational incubator or a traditional non-profit training organization, Hernandez and her team resolved to build a comprehensive, end-to-end model that bridged the chasm between education and finance.
"What ESO is doing better than anyone else is that we have built a full solution in one place," Hernandez explains. "We’re able to grow the business and invest in the business through lending."
What fundamentally separates ESO Ventures from many conventional non-profit organizations operating in the economic development space is its strict adherence to accountability and real-world results. While many programs measure their success by the number of workshop attendees or the hours of instruction delivered, ESO ties its operational impact directly to the financial health and operational milestones of the businesses it backs.
"We are very excited to be able to say that we have a growth rate in relation to revenue generation, the ability for an entrepreneur to pay themselves, actually open a brick-and-mortar, or even hire somebody else," the CEO notes.
By actively working with entrepreneurs, providing direct loans, and addressing immediate business needs, ESO helps founders navigate the critical transition from surviving day-to-day to achieving long-term sustainability and growth.
Personal Experience Driving Institutional Change
For Hernandez, the mission of ESO Ventures is deeply personal. She understands intimately what it means to build a business from scratch while lacking access to traditional capital networks—particularly for founders who do not possess a conventional Silicon Valley pedigree. Finding her true professional calling in service and community elevation, Hernandez recognized that her own struggles were shared by countless other innovative business owners across the country.
"There are so many of us that share this trajectory, and all we need is infrastructure, a model, a formula, and an actual investor," she says.
This firsthand understanding of systemic barriers has informed the operational framework of ESO Ventures from day one. By providing the missing infrastructure and acting as a committed financial partner, the organization removes the guesswork and financial isolation that so often causes promising enterprises to fail before they can secure a foothold in their respective markets.
Scaling the Impact Through Collaboration and Community
As part of her ongoing effort to expand the reach and influence of ESO Ventures, Hernandez attended the AVANCE Global 2026 conference. The gathering provided a vital platform to connect with potential strategic partners, exchange innovative economic models, and examine new pathways for scaling ESO’s operations to support an even broader cohort of entrepreneurs nationwide.
Among the various events at the conference, Hernandez’s participation in an invite-only CEO Roundtable proved to be particularly enlightening and reinforcing. The session underscored the importance of shared experiences and cross-sector collaboration among leaders dedicated to economic equity.
"Just hearing from other leaders that opportunity is there, and if we collaborate and support each other—this was a message that was reinforced by every session I went to this week. Someone has already gone through what you’re going through," the founder reflects. "So, if we do this, grab the one behind, grab the one in front of us, we are all going to avanzar juntos, right? The avance part is going to be real."
