By some measures, this has been a down year for Peru startups seeking to enter acceleration programs. For example, no Peru startups were selected for the latest batches of Y Combinator or 500 Startups Latam.
However, in many ways, founders in Peru or local acceleration programs are moving forward. Only in the last month, over 20 up-and-coming Peru startups were selected to particiate in acceleration programs. Many are relative newcomers to the startup community.
The Peruvian Association of Seed and Venture Capital (PECAP) has published its first half report for 2020.
The key highlights are:
Continue reading “PECAP First Half Report”Don’t worry, Ruta Startup is not launching a podcast.
Fortunately, there is no need. A great library of podcast content already exists for the regional tech scene, and the top podcasts in Latin America are interviewing members of the Peru startup community.
Here are a few podcasts featuring startup founders and investors in Peru.
El programa de emprendimiento Swiss EP tiene abierta la posición de Program Officer, una oportunidad muy importante para interactuar con el ecosistema de startups e innovación en el Perú y a nivel internacional.
Swiss EP ha venido apoyando al ecosistema de startups e innovación en el Perú desde el 2015. Durante este tiempo hemos trabajando con mas de 19 organizaciones en el Perú a las cuales hemos apoyado a través del conocimiento y experiencia de 50 expertos internacionales quienes han colaborado en desarrollar programas y/o proyectos de estas organizaciones y sus startups.
Continue reading “¿Quieres ser parte del equipo Swiss EP?”On Wednesday August 19th, Roberte Arbe and I had the opportunity to share with startup founders during the Peru Venture Capital Series. We discussed considerations for raising funds from professional investors.
The session is in Spanish and titled: Preparando mi primera ronda de capital con inversionistas profesionales.
You can watch it on Youtube here.
There are two more days of the Peru Venture Capital Series next week, Wednesday the 26th and Thursday the 27th.
The event is free and you can register here.
Many dominant corporations in Peru are currently in the midst of digital transformation. These initiatives to incorporate new technology help companies to maintain market share and add value to society by offering digital solutions to customers.
But, haven’t corporations had enough time to figure this out? Isn’t something still missing? Isn’t time for a new status quo?
I think so.
Continue reading “Towards a digital transformation of Peru”I am a big believer in the capacity of the founders currently leading Peru’s startup community. I also am optimistic about the future due to the emergence of Peruvians who have earned leadership positions in top tech companies.
Over the past few years, Peruvians working in Silicon Valley have been a steady presence in Peru’s startup community. PeruSV is a group of Peruvians in Silicon Valley that organizes the annual Techosuyo conference. The Peru chapter of Swiss EP has done significant work to help connect Peruvians abroad with the local ecosystem.
Now, the number of tech professionals is getting larger and they are taking on leadership roles.
Daniel Barreto, may be a lesser known actor in the Lima startup community, but his impact is huge.
Daniel is CEO and co-founder of Haystack News, a U.S.-based startup that offers a better way to consume digital news content. Daniel is also a mentor at StartX, a top accelerator program in the U.S. where Haytack News is a portfolio company. Haystack is described in the App Store as “your go-to for hyper-relevant news, from local coverage to global current events. It’s the best way to watch a variety of coverage, all in one place, and absolutely free.”
This year’s Peru Venture Capital Series highlights the breadth and depth of the venture capital industry in Peru.
The most important event for venture capital in Peru has teamed up with PECAP to put on the 2020 edition. The series will occur over a five day period in August and a diverse list of speakers has already been announced.
Startup founders are always the highlight of the event and this year Diego Olcese, Gonzalo Begazo, and Tatiana Guichard are already confirmed as speakers. More great founders are sure to particpate as well.
The organizing commitee, led by Jaime Sotomayor, has done an impressive job of organizing a full agenda that includes keynotes, panels, and workshops on a wide variety of issues.
Check out the website to learn more and register!
Durante las últimas semanas, la muerte de George Floyd a manos de un policía en EE.UU ha devuelto a la actualidad el movimiento de la búsqueda por la igualdad de la población afroamericana, conocido como “Black Lives Matter” (BLM). A pesar de su origen en el activismo político, el colectivo que comenzó como un hashtag utilizado en redes sociales, hoy está consiguiendo cambios que van más allá y están permeando distintas industrias, entre ellas la de venture capital.
Fondos como SoftBank y Andreessen Horowitz han creado vehículos con la finalidad exclusiva de invertir en startups fundadas por afroamericanos y otras minorías. Hay firmas que han ido aún más lejos, publicando el make-up étnico de los founders en sus portafolios: por ejemplo, Initialized Capital reveló que el 7% de sus founders son afroamericanos, y un 9% son latinos. Sin embargo, estas minorías siguen subrepresentadas, ya que componen el 14% y el 20% de la población estadounidense, respectivamente, según la proyección al 2019 del US Census Bureau. Con el objetivo de resolver esta brecha, BLCK.VC, un grupo de inversionistas y emprendedores afroamericanos, lanzaron la campaña: “We won’t wait” .
Continue reading “6 recomendaciones para un ecosistema más diverso e inclusivo”The startup ecosystem in Peru and other smaller markets in LatAm have come a long way over the last five years. We still have a long way to go. Maintaining support of entrepreneurs in Peru and other emerging tech hubs is vital to Latin America’s future.
Here is an article I published on the topic: Why support for Latin America’s early tech hubs is vital for the region.
UTEC Ventures has set itself apart as the top startup accelerator in Peru. The program is on par with peers across Latin America and continues to attract promising startup founders from Peru and abroad. UTEC Ventures recently opened applications for its latest cohort which is aimed to support fintech and post-covid solutions.
A long, consistent, approach is paying off and the results speak for themselves.
Continue reading “Separation”In another clear example of tech entrepreneurs in Peru coming together in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, a large group of startup founders launched ASEDI, Asociación de Emprendores Digitales.
Last year, I wrote about some of the best newsletters and websites that share information on the Peru and Latin America startup communities.
This year, more people are sharing. The new content goes beyond news. Fresh voices are both providing deeper insights into how to launch startups and building broad platforms for startups founders to share their stories.
Positive actions have been taken by traditional actors to mitigate the effects of Covid-19 in Peru. The government has taken strong steps to enforce a quarantine and implement fiscal stimulus. Many corporations are working overtime provide basic needs, including food, health and financial services.
However, opening up effectively poses an entirely different set of challenges. This is where startup founders come in. Peru’s startup founders have been thought leaders in analyzing the effects of the crisis and offering solutions.
