In a very tough fundraising market, Peruvian Veef has demonstrated a successful formula for raising money in Peru.
Here are some of its keys to success:
Complementary founding team. Founders Karina Zegarra and Linda Obregon successfully team up to balance the day-to-day demands of production, marketing, and capital raising. They combine relevant know-how, persistence, and global thinking. Karina is a stand-out graduate of Universidad Tecnológica del Perú and surely a role model for its current students.
Bootstrap to product-market-fit. Peruvian Veef developed a product, achieved initial sales and is now on the shelves at modern retail chains in Peru. This demonstrated execution ability and low-cost mindset, gave confidence to the investors that have decided to back them.
Leverage government funds. ProInnóvate is a great source of grant money for startups to get operating and marketing costs. These funds can help startups get on the radar of accelerator programs, angel investors, and venture capital funds.
Find sector-specific global investors. While capital may be scarce from industry-agnostic investors in Latin America, many global investors have very specific theses that may apply to your startup. In the case of Peruvian Veef, the team did a fantastic job of finding and securing capital from, Ahimsa Foundation and Sustainable Food Ventures – two investors that will certainly add value to the startup.
With the lack of available capital in Peru, Karina and Linda have given a viable fundraising path that other founders can follow .
Ruta Startup 