Grupo
Tavares
A century of building. Four generations of leadership. From Dominican industry to global enterprise.
A Century of Building
the Dominican Republic
In 1921, Juan Tomas Tavares Julia established Tavares Industrial in Santo Domingo, laying the cornerstone of what would become one of the Dominican Republic's most consequential family enterprises. A Cornell University graduate, Tavares Julia returned to his homeland with a vision to industrialize a nation still finding its footing in the early twentieth century.
What began as a single manufacturing operation has evolved, across four generations, into a diversified family office spanning global trade infrastructure, telecommunications, financial technology, data center operations, food-tech, and luxury real estate development. Each generation has not merely inherited the enterprise but fundamentally expanded its scope and ambition.
The Tavares family's contributions extend well beyond commerce. From the halls of government to the founding of industry associations, from stabilizing democratic institutions to pioneering the free trade zone regime that transformed the national economy, the family's legacy is inseparable from the modern history of the Dominican Republic.
Juan Tomas Tavares Julia
Founder · Cornell University · Est. 1921
Three Generations of
Nation Building
First Generation
Juan Tomas Tavares Julia
A Cornell University graduate, Juan Tomas Tavares Julia returned to the Dominican Republic and founded Tavares Industrial in 1921, establishing one of the nation's earliest manufacturing enterprises in Santo Domingo. His vision for industrial self-sufficiency laid the foundation for a family legacy that would shape the country's economic trajectory for the next century.
Second Generation
Manuel Enrique Tavares Espaillat
Educated at Phillips Academy Andover and Yale University, Manuel Enrique Tavares Espaillat transitioned the family's influence from industry into public service at a pivotal moment in Dominican history. He served as President of the Dominican Republic during the Triumvirate government (1963-1965), playing a critical role in stabilizing the nation and establishing democratic governance after a period of political upheaval.
He later served as Secretary of State in 1978 under President Antonio Guzman, further cementing the family's commitment to institutional development and democratic values.
Third Generation
Manuel Enrique Tavares Sánchez
Graduating from Phillips Academy Andover and later Syracuse University, Manuel Enrique Tavares Sanchez returned to the Dominican Republic in the mid-1970s and seized the opportunities of globalization to architect the country's modern economic infrastructure. He played the leading role in the industrialization of the Dominican Republic, developing critical assets including the PIISA industrial parks and the Caucedo Port, now operated by DP World as one of the Caribbean's premier logistics hubs.
As the founding president of ADOZONA (Asociacion Dominicana de Zonas Francas), he was the principal architect of the free trade zone regime that transformed the Dominican Republic into a competitive manufacturing and export platform. He was also a driving force behind bringing French Telecom to the country under the brand Orange, which became the catalyst for democratizing access to telecommunications nationwide.
An active member of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Dominican Republic, he has documented his perspective on the nation's economic evolution in his autobiography, Bulle. He is the founder of Grupo Tavares, the family office that oversees the family's diversified investments and carries the mission of expanding the family's reach beyond the Caribbean region.
At the American Chamber of Commerce, Dominican Republic
Bulle
Autobiography by Manuel Enrique Tavares Sanchez
Global Reach,
Generational Vision
The fourth generation of the Tavares family has expanded the enterprise beyond the Caribbean, establishing leadership positions across fintech, technology infrastructure, and luxury real estate development.
Juan Eduardo Tavares
Co-Founder & Director of Development
Grupo Tavares | Sylvan Food Group
A Phillips Academy Andover and University of Miami graduate (B.B.A. Entrepreneurship, 2002), Juan Eduardo has spent two decades building platforms at the intersection of technology and essential services. His early work in biotech through Biologique gave way pioneering regenerative medicine in the region. In parallel, co-founding AvanzaMe in the Dominican Republic (acquired by Banco Popular Dominicano) and later LendingPoint in the United States, resulting in a fifteen year career in FinTech. Today he applies the same strategic lens to food technology as co-founder of Sylvan Food Group. Beyond business, he served as Vice President of the Board of EDUCA (Acción Empresarial por la Educación), the leading private-sector institution advocating for quality education in the Dominican Republic.
Manuel Enrique Tavares
Head, Technology Division
NAP del Caribe
Manuel Enrique Tavares leads the family's technology division through NAP del Caribe, the Caribbean's premier carrier-neutral data center and internet exchange point. Under his direction, NAP del Caribe serves as the critical digital infrastructure backbone for the region, connecting international carriers and enabling the growth of the Dominican Republic's digital economy.
Raul Tavares
Chief Revenue Officer
LendingPoint
Raul Tavares continues to operate as Chief Revenue Officer at LendingPoint, driving the company's growth strategy and revenue operations. His ongoing leadership at the fintech platform maintains the family's active presence in the U.S. financial technology sector.
Gabriella Tavares & Salvador Iglesias
Founders & Principals
Itron Group
Gabriella Tavares, in partnership with her husband Salvador Iglesias, founded Itron Group, a luxury real estate development firm in the Dominican Republic. Itron Group specializes in the creation of exceptional residential and commercial properties, bringing world-class design and construction standards to the Caribbean market.
Building Platforms
That Shape Economies
Grupo Tavares maintains a diversified portfolio spanning industrial infrastructure, global logistics, technology, financial services, real estate, and food technology. Each investment reflects the family's philosophy of building enduring platforms that create systemic value.
Manuel Enrique Tavares Sanchez served as the founding president of ADOZONA, the Asociacion Dominicana de Zonas Francas, playing the leading role in establishing the free trade zone regime that transformed the Dominican Republic into a competitive manufacturing and export platform, attracting billions in foreign direct investment and creating hundreds of thousands of jobs.
Beyond the
Caribbean Horizon
Grupo Tavares was founded with the mission of expanding the family's reach beyond the Caribbean region. As the fourth generation assumes leadership across fintech, technology, food-tech, and real estate, the family office continues to identify and develop platforms that create enduring value at the intersection of emerging markets and global capital.
The principles that guided Juan Tomas Tavares Julia in 1921 remain the foundation of every investment decision: build infrastructure that others depend on, create access where barriers exist, and think in generations, not quarters.
Infrastructure First
We invest in platforms and systems that become essential to the economies they serve. From ports to data centers, our assets form the backbone of commerce and connectivity.
Generational Thinking
Our investment horizon is measured in decades, not quarters. We build enterprises designed to endure, creating compounding value across generations.
Democratizing Access
From telecommunications to financial technology, we have consistently backed ventures that expand access to essential services for underserved populations.