ACCELERATING ACTION: An interview with Cristina Diez Santos, CEO of Open Hydro

If there’s one thing I can’t say enough, it’s this: believe in yourself and be true to yourself.

This International Women’s Day 2025, our Emerging Companies team are highlighting the gender funding gap. Burges Salmon is proud to be connected with a number of inspirational women and will be sharing a series of articles and interviews (including our first interview with Jane Pearce, CEO of Rookwood Operations Ltd) to inspire the next generation of female entrepreneurs, and demonstrate the potential and impact of investing in female innovators and female-led businesses. 

Our next spotlight is on Cristina Diez Santos, CEO and co-founder of Open Hydro, a leading company providing (i) tools to automate water greenhouse emissions quantification and allocation, and (ii) decarbonisation recommendations to reduce emissions at any given point in the supply chain.  Open Hydro is revolutionising the way water is valued and managed worldwide, decarbonising freshwater systems, mobilising investment in hydropower and accelerating action in water industries on the path to a climate resilient future.

Cristina kindly took the time to share her insights and experiences as a female entrepreneur and the advice she would give to other women looking to start a business. 

What inspired you to start your company?

I spent many years working in the hydropower industry and researching water-related challenges, especially the fact that water is simply not valued enough. There aren’t enough incentives to take care of our most precious resource. That’s when my co-founder and I realised that, with our expertise and the growing need for solutions that link climate and water, we could build something that would truly change how we value water.

What were the biggest challenges you faced in the early stages, and how did you overcome them?

We are still very much in the early stages and constantly facing big challenges. We’ve experienced many roller coasters—from having our abilities questioned as female founders because we didn’t appear as confident as our peers, to proving the size of our market and demonstrating why investing in water now is a massive opportunity. But more than anything, my biggest challenge has been navigating the contradiction between being told that “this is a marathon, not a race” and, at the same time, constantly being pushed to go faster. I remind myself to stay on the marathon, but I also don’t want to be the last one to cross the finish line. And that makes it hard to know who to compare ourselves to.

What are the key factors that have contributed to your company's success?

One of my biggest struggles is defining success—especially when that definition comes from us. Something I hold close to my heart is a piece of wisdom from the tennis player Rafa Nadal: he says that the key to his career was not over-celebrating wins or beating himself up over losses but staying balanced. That mindset resonates with me deeply. The way I see it, success isn’t just about hitting milestones—it’s about finding that balance, staying grounded, and keeping the journey going.

What advice would you give to female entrepreneurs looking to start a business?

If there’s one thing I can’t say enough, it’s this: believe in yourself and be true to yourself. I don’t know if that’s what guarantees success — honestly, I don’t think there’s a single key that makes it all work. But what I do know is that it’s what keeps me going when things are hard. It gives me the peace of mind to know that no matter what happens, I’m doing something I believe in. And that’s what gives me the resilience to keep moving forward — so that, at some point, there will be something worth celebrating.

How do you balance work and personal life as an entrepreneur?

I think as founders we need an anchor — something that keeps us steady when everything else is shaking. In the startup world, your personal life and your company are always intertwined, and it’s easy to lose yourself in the process. Having that anchor, whatever it is, helps bring back the balance when you need it most. For me, having a child — challenging as it is — is what has kept me, and continues to keep me, grounded. Time always feels short, and when things get tough, he reminds me of what really matters. That, along with having a close relationship with my co-founder and my partner, helps me prioritise and focus, which is so important in this journey.

We would like to thank Cristina for taking the time to share her experiences and insights!

If you would like to discuss any of the points raised in this article, please get in touch with your Burges Salmon contact or the Emerging Companies Team on [email protected]. In addition to providing legal advice generally to start-ups, scale-ups, founders, and investors, we deliver legal advice to early-stage companies through the firm’s legal accelerator: BScale, with the aim of supporting early-stage businesses in scaling up their operations by providing corporate, regulatory, tax, employment, IP and commercial advice.

Written by Eleanor Furlong and Joanna Gray