Manuel Barreiro Castañeda

Real Estate Leader Emphasizing Sustainability

Manuel Barreiro Castañeda is the founder and chairman of the Aston Group, a private equity firm with $1 billion in investments to date. The firm develops real estate projects and makes private equity investments with a focus on the North American and European continents. Mr. Barreiro Castañeda is a strategic leader with more than 20 years of high-level experience in international real estate and a history of success advising public and private sector stakeholders on the intersection between technology, sustainability, mobility, and smart cities.

Mr. Barreiro Castañeda is committed to sustainability and works to ensure that his firm’s development projects benefit the local community by improving the quality of life, reducing inequality gaps, and positively impacting the environment according to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Passionate about empowering younger generations through entrepreneurship, he has supported, coached, and mentored several young emerging technology entrepreneurs, helping them transform ideas into world-changing companies.

In addition to his business tenure, Mr. Barreiro Castañeda is also an active member of The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies. Currently, he is the Vice Chairman of the ITU’s “WG 8 on the Metaverse – Sustainability, Accessibility & Inclusion”, dedicated to overseeing accessibility, environmental sustainability-related issues, social considerations, diversity, equity, and inclusion matters related to the metaverse. He is also a board member of the Executive Committee of the “Global Initiative on Virtual Worlds – discovering the CitiVerse.”, a new initiative that will play a crucial role in assessing the societal impact of these technologies and will serve as a global platform to foster open, interoperable, and innovative virtual worlds.

Complementing his industry experience, he completed the Oxford Real Estate Programme and the Oxford Programme on Valuation of Private Assets at the University of Oxford. In addition to these accomplishments, he has been lecturing as a professor at Oxford in the Real Estate Programme, helping executives understand the differences in investing between developed and developing markets. His expertise enriches the academic community by contributing insights and support. He also holds an Executive Master of Science (MSc) in Cities from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where he further developed his knowledge in sustainable urban development, mobility, and water management to enhance the quality of life in large cities and small urban areas. This degree also sparked his interest in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT), which will be central to his future projects.

Mr. Barreiro Castañeda also holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business and a Bachelor’s in International Business from Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, where he completed academic exchange programs at higher learning institutions in Japan and Argentina. During his time in Japan, he realized the importance of using technology for the benefit of vulnerable groups and made it his life’s mission to create better cities for the future, starting in his native Mexico.

Apart from his business, Mr. Barreiro Castañeda dedicates his time to raising awareness on mobility issues as a frequent speaker at top-level international events, planting trees in his hometown, Queretaro, and taking pictures in beautiful Mexico. He is also the president of his non-profit organization, The Aston Barreiro-Ugalde Foundation (www.astonfoundationbu.org), which seeks to offer educational support to children from low-income families.