Who we are

20 years building Costa Rica's tech ecosystem — from the inside.

Before anyone called it nearshore, our founders started building here. 20 years later, the companies they helped grow have exited at $400M, won Google Cloud Partner of the Year, and built teams that never left. That's not a strategy. That's a track record.

2006

Crest Partners founded — before nearshore had a name

1000+

High-value tech jobs created in Costa Rica

<1%

Involuntary turnover across all partnerships

$1B+

Combined revenue of client companies

97.6

GPTW Trust Index at LTV Co. — among the highest scores globally

98/100

eNPS at LTV Co.

Full accountability

We don't hand off. We own the result.

Culture is strategy

Less than 1% involuntary turnover doesn't happen by accident.

Built around one table

Aligned working hours, same work culture, same execution as your HQ.

OUR PEOPLE

Built by operators.
Not by a sales team.

A founder-led team with 20 years building Costa Rica's tech ecosystem from the inside — and the partners who back every entity we run.

CO-FOUNDER

01 — CO-FOUNDER

Marcela Villalta

Co-founder & CEO

25+ years building U.S. technology operations in Costa Rica from the ground up — in leadership roles at TARGUSinfo, Infutor and LTV Co., and through Crest Partners. Across that career she has created 1,000+ tech positions, built entire departments and engineering teams from zero, launched data and software products, and grown hubs that went on to exits of up to $400M — with less than 1% involuntary turnover and a 97.6 GPTW Trust Index. MBA, Universidad de Costa Rica. Co-founder of Forward Costa Rica.

General management
Tech organization design
Engineering & data operations
Product launches
Scaling to exit
Culture & retention

Career

Co-founder · Crest Partners2006 – present
Country Manager · LTV Co. (f.k.a. BeenVerified)2015 – 2025
President · Infutor Data Solutions de Costa Rica2007 – 2014
Production Manager · TARGUSinfo (now Neustar)2001 – 2007

Business architecture · Nearshore entity model · U.S. client relations · Social tech impact

PARTNERS

02 — PARTNER

José Villalta

Partner & Head of Data Operations

25+ years building and scaling data operations for U.S. enterprise clients. Grew through every layer of one of Costa Rica's most sophisticated data intelligence operations — from production supervisor to Country Manager.

Enterprise data operations
Product strategy
Cross-functional technical leadership
Data architecture & pipelines
Country operations management
U.S. enterprise delivery

Data operations strategy · Enterprise-scale data architecture · Country-level operations leadership

03 — PARTNER

Roberto Fernandez

Partner & CTO

20+ years in software development, data engineering and modern systems architecture. Grew from developer to Director of Engineering and VP of Product Engineering across some of the most data-intensive companies in the U.S. market. Leads all technical delivery and engineering hiring for Crest Partners clients.

Software architecture
Engineering org leadership
Engineering talent strategy
Data engineering
Product engineering leadership
Cross-border tech delivery

Engineering vision & strategy · AI strategy & adoption · Modernization architecture

04 — PARTNER

Gary Walter

Strategic Partner

Mid-market acceleration executive with extensive background in general management, strategic planning, SaaS and Big Data. Led Infutor Data Solutions from $1M to its $225M acquisition by Verisk — with the Costa Rica team at the core of that growth. Brings the operator perspective of someone who has lived the model from the client side for over a decade.

General management
SaaS & Big Data
Business development
Strategic planning
Private equity & M&A
Harvard KSC certified

SaaS & Big Data · Private equity · M&A · Harvard KSC certified

05 — PARTNER

Marco López Volio

Legal Partner · Zurcher Odio & Raven

Partner & Director of the IP & Regulatory Department at Zurcher Odio & Raven — one of Costa Rica's most recognized law firms. 20+ years advising multinational companies in regulatory, antitrust, intellectual property, data privacy and compliance. All Crest Partners client entities are backed by his firm.

Entity setup & corporate law
IP & trademark protection
Antitrust & competition
Labor & employment law
Data privacy & regulatory
Commercial contracts

Chambers & Partners IP · Chambers & Partners Antitrust · Leaders League Band 1 IP

Democratizing tech education for those locked out by economics.

Forward Costa Rica — co-founded by our team — delivers full-stack engineering, English and professional skills training to young Costa Ricans who couldn't otherwise afford it. Entirely free.

Programs

01 Fullstack development
02 English language
03 Employability & professional skills
04 Sports & arts formation

Crest Partners co-founder

Marcela Villalta — curriculum design

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