Jonathan Soto-Nieves left Puerto Rico in his 20s to serve in the Marine Corps. After a career in the defense industry, he returned to his home country last year to launch iTerra Solutions, a new company focused on cybersecurity. This essay, adapted from a conversation with Soto-Nieves, 40, reflects his journey from military service to entrepreneurship.
“I was born and raised in the outskirts of San Juan, Puerto Rico,” Soto-Nieves recalls. “I’m from a town called Hatillo, which is in the countryside and very rural. I always say that being Puerto Rican is the best thing that ever happened to me. The country is very family-oriented and culturally vibrant. Plus the beaches and mountains make Puerto Rico very idyllic.”
Soto-Nieves’s decision to join the Marines in 2010, at the age of 24, was influenced by his brother’s military service. During his almost ten years of active duty, he completed six deployments, including service in Afghanistan, Africa, South America, and Europe. “Being a Marine shaped me into who I am. I developed an interest in operations and learned leadership skills. It helped me start to shape my professional life and opened a lot of doors. I’m still in the reserves.”
His military career took him to various locations, including San Diego, North Carolina, and Germany. “Puerto Rico was always on my mind. I thought maybe one day I’d get to retire here.”
After leaving active duty in 2019, Soto-Nieves transitioned to the corporate world. He worked at several companies before joining Microsoft in Virginia, where he spent three years and developed expertise in technology and cybersecurity.
The idea for iTerra Solutions emerged while he was working in Virginia. He connected with former Marines and other colleagues in the defense industry. “We provide cybersecurity help and data analytics across several defense-related sectors. We were originally planning to open and operate iTerra Solutions in the US. We even registered the company in Virginia in May 2023.”
However, the pull of Puerto Rico was strong. In 2024, he discovered Invest Puerto Rico, a nonprofit that supports businesses looking to establish themselves on the island. “I filled out a form explaining the idea behind iTerra Solutions and someone from Invest Puerto Rico reached out immediately. I went to my wife, who was pregnant with our son Sebastian at the time, and told her we were going to be able to move back home. We started the moving process at the end of 2024 and officially moved from Virginia to Puerto Rico in January 2025.”
Invest Puerto Rico proved invaluable in helping Soto-Nieves navigate the local business ecosystem. “I didn’t know a lot of people in Puerto Rico anymore since I’d been gone from the country for 20 years. I didn’t know the ecosystem and they helped me with networking and transitioning.”
iTerra Solutions is currently participating in a program through the Puerto Rico Scientific Trust, an accelerator for startups. “I call it an ecosystem because the whole community is working in conjunction with one another. It’s amazing.”
Soto-Nieves is enthusiastic about the opportunities in Puerto Rico. “I am just so stoked to be a part of this amazing movement happening in Puerto Rico right now. It really is the place to be. There are so many interesting companies on the rise in aerospace engineering, biopharma, and other future-oriented sectors.”
The move back to Puerto Rico was especially meaningful for Soto-Nieves and his growing family. “My son was born last year in the US, but I always wanted him to have the life I had growing up in Puerto Rico and I’m so happy to be able to give him that. Now, in 2025, I’m ready to hit the ground running as both a first-time father and a startup founder.”
Today, iTerra Solutions is operational in Puerto Rico, supporting customers in the healthcare sector in modernizing their data systems. “It feels so good to be back. I missed the culture here so much, and it’s so wonderful to see all the collaboration in the business sector, as well as my family. My son has two grandmothers here to love him. The country feels different from when I grew up here. Puerto Rico is becoming a real powerhouse and I think that’s only going to continue to grow. And from a personal standpoint, you just can’t beat living here. I work from the beach with my computer regularly in 80-degree weather. I smell the salt from the ocean each morning. I love to go running along the beach and feel the breeze. You never know what life is going to throw at you, but our plan is to stay here in Puerto Rico forever. This is Plan A and we don’t have a B or C.”
