Rod Cuevas is a financial specialist and strategist with over a decade of experience in acquiring, operating, and scaling middle market companies. Before founding RELY Partners, he was a Managing Partner and co-founder of ARCU Capital, a boutique Private Equity firm focused on buying and growing lower middle market businesses in Mexico. During his tenure at ARCU Capital, Rod successfully led the acquisition and turnaround of Grupo Torre Médica, a network of hospitals and clinics in Mexico City, where he served as CFO and CAO for more than ten years. Prior to founding ARCU Capital, Rod served for three years as the CFO of JPMorgan's Treasury and Security Services business in Brazil, where he was responsible for partnering with product directors to achieve revenue growth and improve operational efficiency based on financial information. He has also worked in New York City, Chicago, Sao Paulo, and Mexico City for JPMorgan Chase & Co. and McKinsey & Company.

Rod holds an MBA degree from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management (class of 2008) and a BS degree in Civil Engineering from Universidad Iberoamericana (class of 2003), where he graduated Summa Cum Laude. He is also a member of the Houston Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth.

Originally from Mexico, Rod has lived in Mexico, Brazil, and the United States. He is fluent in Spanish, English, and Portuguese. In his free time, he enjoys playing acoustic guitar, solving Rubik's cubes and reading.

Yelena Ioffe is an early stage Venture Capital investor, start-up mentor, lecturer and an entrepreneur at heart. With more than 10 years of experience in the investments industry, she has been featured as one of the Top Women Investing in Latin American Tech by LAVCA.  In addition to her role at RELY Partners, she is also a lecturer in management with a focus in entrepreneurship at Rice University.  Prior to founding RELY Partners, Yelena was a partner at Cantera Capital and a fund manager at Soldiers Field Angels, where she led seed and follow-on investments in early stage startups across Latin America. She started her career in venture capital after co-founding Zapatito Blanco, a marketplace for children’s products in Mexico. Her work experience also includes Laudex in Mexico City, JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York City and Morningstar Inc. in Chicago.

Yelena holds an MBA degree from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management and a BA degree in Economics from Northwestern University. Originally from Kazakhstan, Yelena has lived in the United States, France, Brazil, and Mexico and is fluent in multiple languages.