Cristina Garmendia technology firms. Therefore, in May 2012, with Andreu Buenafuente and a group of business angels, she invested in the website Bananity. The firm closed it first firm round with €400,000 of capital. Cristina Garmendia Dr. Cristina Garmendia y Mendizábal (San Sebastian, 1962) is a Spanish biologist and businesswoman. With no previous political career, she was appointed as Minister of Science and Innovation in April 2008 by the President of the Government of Spain, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. With a PhD in Biology from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, before her election as a minister, she was the president of the
Alliance of Civilizations which uses the latest video conferencing technology to connect young people in different parts of the world; the first conference of the Global Youth Movement; the creation of the United Nations University International Institute for the Alliance of Civilizations; and launching of the Online Community on Migration and Integration in partnership with the International Organization for Migration. The Alliance was presented with the "Dialogue of Civilizations" award, which was given by the Rumi Forum and the Georgetown University Center for Peace and Security Research in Washington. Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan