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LATIN AMERICA • ECOSYSTEM ENABLER, EDUCATION & CONSULTING
Nadia Mykhalevych
NOV. 11, 2019
Final destination - Colombia, Medellin. Date of the journey - November 27-29. The 7th edition of the Seedstars World Competition in Latin America will wrap up with the regional Seedstars Summit Latam taking place in Colombia, the third-largest market in Latin America and one of the fastest-growing economies in the region.
More than 20% of adults in the country are involved in entrepreneurial activities, and twice as many Colombians launch a business out of opportunity rather than a necessity (67% vs 33%).
Over the past decades, Colombia has proven to be very friendly to foreign investment. In the second quarter of 2019, the country’s funding from abroad reached $3855.17 million showing a significant increase in comparison to the previous period. The local government initiates various programs like Fondo Emprender, a seed capital fund created by the Colombian government in 2002, to support local entrepreneurs. A crucial role in the country's development is played by organizations such as Ruta N, which is one of the major drivers in building an entrepreneurial ecosystem and improving people's lives through science, technology and innovation in Colombia.
During the previous years of Seedstars Word, we had a chance to discover bright startups such as Rebajatuscuentas, a financial advisor that helps people make better mortgage loan decisions in Peru, Mexico, and Colombia; Wisy, a solution that simplifies omnichannel engagement and enables companies to gain customer, product, brand and employee experience insights at any location via mobile experiences, and many more. The founders of both startups - Sully Siucho and Orlando Reyes Jiménez will give their keynote speeches at the Seedstars Summit Latam on November 29.
After travelling to more than 16 countries and scouting for the best startups in 2019, we are ready to announce the names of the local winners:
🇵🇪Peru
Manzana Verde is a meal delivery and nutritional advice platform.
🇻🇪Venezuela
Social Gest is a comprehensive set of tools for professional social media management.
🇺🇾Uruguay
Evimed provides international multilingual programs for the continuing education of healthcare professionals all over Latin America.
🇨🇱Chile
Mesa attracts diners to restaurants at off-peak times with dynamic time-based discounts, generating additional revenue.
🇨🇴Colombia
Cuantis is dedicated to solving small and medium-sized business data problems with cloud software.
Ruedata is a digital platform which optimizes tire and gas consumption and reduces CO2 in bus and trucks fleets through machine learning algorithms and data analytics.
🇦🇷Argentina
SomosFit is an online service platform that connects nutritional & fitness experts with people looking to pursue a healthier lifestyle.
🇩🇴Dominican Republic
PostEarly is an easy-to-use virtual assistant for Instagram marketing.
🇨🇷Costa Rica
PIXDEA transforms traditional education into a useful and practical model by implementing accessible VR classroom program in schools.
🇵🇾Paraguay
Unnaki helps to avoid a break in stock with the help of its credit module connected to the bank; it controls all users in real time, processes and analyzes all data.
🇧🇷Brazil
Ribon is a freemium app that allows you to make donations even without spending money.
🇪🇨Ecuador
Mynkana is a crowd-sourced market research company that uses crowdsourcing to collect data much faster & cost-efficiently.
🇧🇴Bolivia
Elemental School is an education platform that prepares a new generation of digital natives for the jobs of the future through personalized blended learning.
🇲🇽Mexico
Baubap is a financial platform delivering a world-class 24/7 micro-lending service to people with no credit history using an alternative score.
🇵🇦Panama City
Eprezto shortens and simplifies the insurance buying process. User can buy their policies entirely online, submitting minimal data.
🇬🇹Guatemala
Afinidata is a smart assistant that allows kids under 6 to get access to quality education programs.
This year, Seedstars Summit Latam is aimed at bringing more than 350 attendees under one roof to create an environment that fosters collaboration and learning between all the attendees. The Summit will last three days. The first day (November 27) will host a private Growth Bootcamp for the selected startups. This year, we have opened the event to all early-stage tech startups in the region, not just Seedstars World Competition winners. It means that the Summit will be a meeting point for 40 of the brightest startups from Latin America, who will be working together with the Seedstars Investment team on their acquisition model, pitch and growth strategy.
"Creating business opportunities in Latam is all about getting people in the same room to discuss their ideas and find ways to collaborate. By inviting all tech entrepreneurs with existing businesses in the region to the event, we will be able to foster an atmosphere where the brightest entrepreneurial minds in the region can join industry experts and investors in creating new possibilities in the region, today and in the future."
The Investor Forum powered by Amazon will take place on the second day, November 28. It will gather the Latam investors community to discuss the funding opportunities for startups in the region. Among the investors attending the Latam Summit are Paula Arango, Principal at Ewa Capital, Paula Barrientos, Managing Partner at INQLAB, Miguel Angel Vallone, Principal at Axon Partners Group, Sullyen Almeida, Associate at Monashees, and Anna Raptis, Founder at Amplifica Capital.
The Investor Forum will also host a pitching session of the 40 attending startups, including the 16 Seedstars World local winners, who will compete for a chance to pass to the next phase of the competition — the Seedstars Summit in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The 28th will also host a fireside chat with speakers Laura Gaviria Halaby, Tech Hub Lead at SoftBank and Diego Tovar, CEO of Everis who will share their points of view on how entrepreneurs should prepare themselves to be ready for investment in Latam.
The third day (November 29) will take place in 2 parts — a series of private workshops powered by Hubspot, Seedstars, Procolombia and ACI for selected startups and investors in the morning, and the Seedstars Summit Main Stage Day starting in the afternoon and open via invitation only for the public. To attend the event, please request your invite.
One of the highlights of the third day will be the keynote speech of Freddy Marimon, a 13-year-old surfer who has become the first Colombian paralympic extreme sports athlete. His inspiring story is an example of what we can achieve with a bit of resilience and a big dream.
Jose Cayasso, CEO of Slidebean and Gabriela Rocha, Partner & COO at Laboratoria will also join us for a panel discussion to share their insights on how we can work towards creating a talent pool of high-level professionals that is accessible across industries in Latam.
The Summit will wrap up with an award ceremony and screening of the first Seedstars Documentary about entrepreneurs in emerging markets.
Among the companies and institutions that help make the Seedstars Summit Latam 2019 possible are Ruta N, the Swiss Embassy of Colombia, Avianca, Amazon, ISA and the UPB with the media support of France24, Entrepreneur, & Forbes.
