In 2016, after founding DreamFunded, he was named Hispanic Shark of the Year by the California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Hispanic Angel Investor of the Year by California State Controller John Chiang, Silicon Valley Equity CrowdFunding Pioneer by Menlo College, and was invited to the White House by the Obama administration.
Fernandez’s energetic and inspiring presence has led him to become a frequent judge, international keynote speaker, and panelist for Silicon Valley corporations, startup demo days, and universities.
He has been a featured guest speaker for events at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Harvard University, Angel Capital Association Summit (ACA), TiE New York Conference, University of San Francisco (USF), Pepperdine University, Draper University, Plug and Play, Yahoo!, USAWeek in Europe, Qianhai Equity Exchange in China, Intel, California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s (CHCC), Shark Tank, Startup Grind, AngelHack Global Demo, Slush Singapore, Slush Shanghai, Slush Finland, Startup Weekend, SXSW, and many more.