Uncategorized – Ruta Startup

Visit to FORESLAB

Yesterday, I visited Bianca Vigil of FORESLAB in Cusco, Peru. 🇵🇪

Bianca and her co-founder Katya Silva use biotechnology to produce native tree species, including Quina (also called Chichona), Peru’s national tree. 🌳

Along with Quina, FORESLAB works with the Shihuahuaco and Chachacomo species, all critical to the Peruvian Amazon’s biodiversity.

FORESLAB uses vitro technology to accelerate plant propagation and preserves genetic material in a germplasm bank. The Company aims to achieve this process at scale using bioreactors, to adequately meet the urgent need for these trees and other native plants in Peru.

I enjoyed learning from Bianca and seeing her laboratory. Certainly, our world’s future is in the hands of entrepreneurs like her. 🌱 🌎

Respaldemos mujeres emprendedoras en Perú

¿Has sentido inspiración 💡 este mes al escuchar las historias de mujeres emprendedoras 🦸🏻‍♀️ 👩🏻‍💻 en Perú 🇵🇪 ?

¿Te estás preguntando cómo puedes hacer más para respaldarlas en su camino emprendedor?

¡Conviértete en un 🌟 cliente 🌟 de sus empresas!

Esto creará un impacto positivo, real e inmediato 🎯 en sus empresas y te permitirá ver de primera mano las soluciones que estas increíbles founders están desarrollando 🚀.

Abajo les comparto algunas para empezar :

Cuentología (plan mensual desde $3.99)
LIMALINEN (productos desde S/ 29.00)
Sin Envolturas (crea tu lista de regalos)
Manzana verde (desde S/ 15.50)
Rextie (tasas competitivas de tipo de cambio)
Cirkula (productos desde S/ 9.00)

Puedes ser parte de las historias de Fiorella De La Sotta Rubio, Ursula De la Sotta, Lucia Farfan, Claudia Dawson, Larissa Arias, Claudia Quintanilla, Michelle Gomberoff, y muchas otras emprendedoras que te inspiran.

Peru is the epicenter of EdTech in Latin America

Peru has a history of innovation in education led by change-makers who have taken concrete steps to improve students’ learning experience. These initiatives include: Laboratoria, founded by Mariana Costa, Enseña Perú, part of Teach of All, Innova Schools, a chain of private K-12 schools, and UTEC, a private engineering university in Lima.

With these positive private sector and not-for-profit initiatives, it is only natural that Peru’s startups are following the same path and delivering technological solutions to further address the need for better education in the country. And it’s no wonder Peru stands out as a leader in Latin America for innovation in education.

When Crehana, Peru’s preeminent startup, came onto the scene in 2014, it validated Peruvians’ thirst for learning and willingness to pay for quality education. ALIVE Ventures, one of Crehana’s investors, published an impact report showing that 77% of Crehana’s users improved the quality of their life and 73% used the skills they learned in their jobs. Creahana raised the first Series A of a Peru startup in 219 and then added a key family office as an investor.

Motivated by the success of Crehana, startup EdTech founders and investors in Peru launched an array of solutions and the results are showing, not only in startup success but also in fund formation. By 2019, the country was poised to become an Edtech hub in the region.

UTEC’s new acceleration program raises the bar

It’s very exciting that UTEC Ventures is launching another acceleration program in Peru! 🇵🇪

This one is new and improved:

For 👀”(very) early stage” 👀 startups in Peru and Latin America

25 startups will be selected for a 4-week program and $5,000 equity free

10 will go on to the intensive 3-month acceleration program and $55,000

5 will receive an additional $15,000 equity free.

UTEC Ventures, led by Jose Deustua, Evelyn Gomez, and Kevin Granda, has made more investments than anyone else in Peru. It has consistently been the epicenter of the startup world in Peru.

UTEC has again raised the bar with an excellent founders-first initiative. See below for more details.

Program Description: https://lnkd.in/esTC8jj6

Terms: https://lnkd.in/eRQd9cVU

Application : https://lnkd.in/e-77NsWR

Apply by February 26th 🚀

uDocz’s investment round shows Peru is an Edtech hub

Peruvian start up uDocz recently announced an investment round led by GSV Ventures, one of the most prominent Edtech venture capital firms in the world. This is GSV Ventures’s first investment in a Latin American startup. GSV has previously invested in well known EdTech startups including Coursera, Degreed, and Guild Education.

uDocz Founder Carlos Effio and his team of 20 employees have been hard at work over the past four years quietly building one of the largest libraries of Spanish language content for college students. uDocz’s customers are primarily university students and students studying to apply to university. uDocz’s active user base has achieved significant growth since the outbreak of the pandemic enabling university students to study remotely and continue learning. uDocz is an example of how disruptive edtech startups are transforming and improving the quality of education in Latin America.

Market makers

All financial markets need market makers in order to remove frictions and facilitate transactions. While in the public markets, market makers buy and sell securities, in longer-term private markets, they can help set prices and build co-investment syndicates. This function allow capital that is sitting on the side lines to jump in. Nowhere is this more true than in nascent, immature markets.

In Peru, we are witnessing the positive evolution of the local venture capital industry. What was once a few one-off angel or family office investments in startups has turned into a vibrant, fully functioning startup ecosystem with multiple local funds investing actively.

A key market-making role has been played by three funds in particular: Winnipeg Startup Fund, Inca Ventures, and AVP Seed Fund I, where I work. Here are some of the things that we have done:

Entrevista Oscar Galovich

Oscar Galovich Hopkins es un inversionista ángel en Perú. Ha invertido en Culqi, Fitco, Rebus y Equip Industry. Ha trabajado en el área comercial de Repsol y como coordinador logístico en Techo. Oscar se graduó de la Universidad de Lima donde estudió Ingeniería Industrial.

LinkedIn: Oscar Galovich

Entrevista Jose Deustua

Jose Deustua es Managing Director UTEC Ventures y miembro del Directorio del PECAP. Ha invertido en más de 30 startups en Perú y Latinoamérica.

Linkedin: Jose Deustua

Carta de Bienvenida- Innovación en el Estado

Después de un año y medio, hoy me despido de Innóvate Perú, programa que no solamente viene impulsando la generación de proyectos innovadores a nivel nacional, sino que una de sus mayores riquezas consiste en fortalecer, tejer e impulsar a los diferentes actores del sistema nacional de innovación en el país.

Me tocó la suerte de acompañar y dar soporte a la muy buena gestión de Rosmary Cornejo, quién acompañada de un gran equipo técnico y administrativo, cierra la exitosa etapa del programa Innóvate Perú antes de convertirse en ProInnóvate^[1]. Toda esta gestión siempre acompañada desde el 2006 de un gran socio como es el BID, el cuál desde la creación de Innóvate, crean el primer mecanismo en el Perú de asignación competitiva de recursos públicos para investigación e innovación.