Top 10 Unicorns In Venezuela
Unicorns: I will not go into depth by analyzing the Venezuelan crisis. Still, it seems clear that business operations are at risk in Venezuela: laws, regulations, and decrees make it risky to open a new business. With such an unfavorable country environment, it’s hard to imagine what startup would have the nerve to establish itself there. Yet, despite these ominous elements, Venezuela’s startup ecosystem is thriving. Despite focusing on social matters only three years ago, the national enterprise segment has adapted to the digital trend and extended its reach internationally, generating employment and accelerating market changes with valuable ideas.
The emergence of other incubators, such as HubCaracas, and the reactivation of science parks all contributed to the diversification of the sector, which also facilitated the organization of events like Caracas Startup Weekend, Caracas Game Jam, and Hackathons of smart cities, which have boosted entrepreneurship.
Moreover, Wayra accelerator has successfully incubated 29 projects since 2012, receiving over 1,900 business ideas. According to its director Gustavo Reyes, more than half of these startups operate in the real world, and four are international startups, credence to the thesis that crisis can facilitate innovation and creativity.
Unsolved problems present many opportunities for entrepreneurship. For example, in the digital transformation, industries, lifestyles, and communication patterns are impacted, and new ideas arise as a result. In addition to the markets and the needs, there is also a country with a great deal of talent geared toward entrepreneurship,” Reyes explained.
Initially, he recalled, Wayra boosted teams pursuing e-commerce. However, due to the digitalization process, they can now create applications, which indicates a maturity process conducive to creating successful disruptive ideas.
- SocialGest
José Enrique Martorano is a systems engineer. During his journey in the labor market, he was presented with a challenge: managing the social media accounts of the company with which he worked. Instead of searching for the right app to help him fulfill his community manager duties, he created his own. Thus, two years ago, he started his venture: SocialGest, a company dedicated to developing software solutions for the professional management of social networks.
León Lacourt, Marketing and Sales Manager, explained that a beta version of the service was launched in January 2015, “and six months later, we became a commercial application.” Currently, the consortium belongs to the seventh cohort of ventures accelerated by Wayra.
According to Lacourt, the main differentiating element of SocialGest is its ability to schedule posts on Instagram. “That is one of the characteristics that communities need the most .”
Currently, the client portfolio is made up of about 250 users. Several of them manage important accounts, such as Cinex, ARS DDB, Leones del Caracas, Analítica, Charvenca and El Universal. There are also international accounts, such as the Located United States and Evolution Energy.
Lacourt reported that the SocialGest subscription system is quite simple: “We are one of the few applications that offer a free plan for life. Many others give you a trial period of up to 60 days.
Once the client needs to manage more accounts, they can opt for the paid plans, which increase the price based on the capacity of benefits.
Currently, in addition to working based on the support provided by Wayra, the company’s members have a plan in mind: to make an effort to enter directly into the international market. Although there are already some subscribers in countries such as Spain, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Colombia, they want to expand the number of clients in those nations.
When advising a future entrepreneur, Lacourt says the following: “They can achieve everything. You have to have a differentiating idea and pursue it. Also, surround yourself with people who believe in your project. That is what we have done in SocialGest, which has worked for us”.
- Tikket
Tikket is a comprehensive solution for online customer service. This is your complimentary app to provide the best customer service from your mobile.
You must first register on www.tikket.net to be able to use this app.
Improve your conversation on social networks and get to know your community better and what they say.
Tikket helps you listen and go further. All your communication channels are centralized for control, measurement, and analysis.
Tikket serves as a customer service platform in social networks and digital channels. An inbox is a central place where you see notifications and messages from Twitter, Facebook, Email, Instagram, and Live Chat. A great way to stay connected with your community.
- Tumotorizado.com
Retailers can use Tumotorizado to connect with merchants who can deliver things quickly. MotoEntrepreneurs receive offers from retailers via the PC, APP, or API. Once the offer is accepted, the messenger will deliver the product. The client is sent a photo of the chosen messenger. If the delivery mission is successful, Tumotorizado will charge a fee.
Marcel Imery shows us why falling in love with a problem and honoring honest people were crucial points for his company’s success: Tumotorized.
“An entrepreneur must fall in love with a problem, be curious to understand the problem better than anyone else, be creative to find a solution, and be passionate to implement the solution with persistence.” And likewise, in his own words, it is how Marcel Imery, CEO of tumotorizado.com, has lived this experience that has made him a fanatic and promoter of a very particular lifestyle: that of motorcycle taxis.
Marcel tells us that as a moto-taxi passenger, he discovered that among the thousands of motorized couriers in Caracas, there were many with an entrepreneurial profile; and he also observed that many of them spent a significant part of the day doing nothing since they were only busy in the morning and the afternoon.
As an online shopper, he also found receiving the products he purchased quickly and securely difficult. “Thinking creatively, I took on the challenge of solving this problem by developing a technological platform that would allow motorists to get productive with their motorcycle and enable merchants to hire a courier to deliver their products easily,” he commented.
Tumotorizado.com is a technological platform innovating and supporting the growth of this online market. And if it is to expose in just one sentence how to describe the company, Marcel very proudly adds, “From your store to the hands of your client in 90 minutes or less”.
A web application for IOS and Android with an easy-to-use interface that simplifies business logistics, connecting them with motorized couriers as quickly as possible. Born as the solution to the Achilles’ heel of merchants, online stores, and home businesses, tumotorizado takes care of product delivery logistics quickly and safely while offering these motorized couriers the opportunity to become MotoEmprendedores when joining the company.
This has been an exciting, promising project with a high social impact that is bringing smiles to the eCommerce ecosystem and improving the quality of life of thousands of MotoEmprendedores. After launching in the Venezuelan market in May 2013 with the support of Wayra Venezuela, tumotorizado is now expanding markets by starting in Chile in June 2015, with the help of Startup Chile. The company comprises Marcel Imery, Pedro Piñango, Annabella Muller, and Alejandro Rojas, who lead the company on the right track with their experiences, skills, and personalities.
At EM, we decided to ask Marcel a series of critical and other interesting questions for you. We are sure you will enjoy reading readers, entrepreneurs, and future business partners.
Referring to each partner’s experience, personality, and skills, how do you manage these characteristics when projecting the company’s growth?
“It was necessary to put together an experienced multidisciplinary team whose members would complement each other. As CEO, I am a lawyer with extensive experience in the legal field and a great communicator. It was clear that I couldn’t implement my idea. It was necessary to incorporate a partner into the team who would take on the challenge of developing the technology.
Another that would take on the challenge of designing strategic financial planning and analyzing business metrics, and another that would deal with social networks and develop CSR plans for the benefit of affiliated MotoEmprendedores and members of their families. This is how they assembled the team of founding partners of Tumotorizado. The team has grown over time and today has the drive of its 4 founding partners and 6 full-time employees in charge of day-to-day business management, operations, service quality control, human resources, graphic design, and technology development”.
“Strategic alliances are key to success. To have media exposure and quickly acquire a reputation at Tumotorizado, we decided to apply to receive the support of Wayra and Startup Chile. In both cases, we were lucky to be selected and to have the support provided by their respective acceleration programs.
To democratize access to our platform for unbanked motorized couriers at Tumotorizado, we forged an alliance with Servitebca to give our MotoEmprendedores a Silver debit card, which is the tool we have selected to pay our MotoEmprendedores every week. Then, to give access to delivery to restaurants that do not offer home deliveries to their customers, we entered into a strategic alliance with Ordenstogo.com, for which we developed an API that links the two Internet pages.
This alliance made the delivery of dishes from brands such as PizzaHut and Tony Romas, among others. To increase the effectiveness levels of our service with quality motorcycles, we entered into an alliance with Yamaha de Venezuela that allows us to sell high-quality motorcycles at a list price and on credit to our VIP Motorcycle Entrepreneurs every month. Finally, to professionalize our MotoEmprendedores, we strategically alliance with Carlos Rosales from Neurosales, who gives quality and sales courses to our couriers quarterly.”
“At Tumotorizado, we take on the challenge of dignifying the fair motorized, uncovering opportunities for him to progress, become professional, and feel useful in his environment. We give them access to work, quality work tools such as Yamaha motorcycles, training courses in partnership with Carlos Rosales of Neurosales, and insurance products that are difficult for them to access without corporate support. Finally, financing of the products indicated above. The experience has been wonderful”. Many motorized have even expressed that “belonging to Tumotorized is to be at another level.”
- Dawere International, Inc.
The secondary education we provide to Latin Americans over 13 is accredited, affordable, quality, and convenient. You can pick up where you left off and continue your secondary education online without ever having to go to a physical school with the help of our online platform.
Since we partnered with the region’s most prestigious private schools to virtualize the entire high school curriculum, our platform’s educational content stands out from others in the market. In addition to +1200 videos, +800 study guides, and +500 practice tests, we developed. Furthermore, we have developed and evolved our proprietary platform to automate the processes involved in grading students and graduating from high school over the years.
When we expanded into new countries, we partnered with local adult education institutions in those countries that were registered with the Ministry of Education. To qualify for a high school diploma, students had to be recorded in the Ministry of Education and pass the required subjects. Having registered with the Florida Department of Education as a private online school, we can now offer students, regardless of their nationality, a US high school diploma and send the high school diploma to wherever the student may be. Our online high school is the first available to Spanish-speaking students worldwide.
There is no longer a major obstacle to returning to high school. You can pay on our website, get immediate assistance through different channels, send the paperwork to our office, study on your schedule from wherever you have access to an internet connection, and receive your high school diploma over the mail.
We are currently working on informing people about Dawere, creating trust, becoming an early adoption majority, and opening new markets in Iberoamerica.
- SinCola
Customers can request tickets from their mobile devices using SinCola, a solution for queue management in customer service offices. In addition, you can learn more about SinCola on our website if you are interested in offering VIP experiences.
Since 2001, Zhengzhou Sinsola Machinery Co., Ltd. has been the professional manufacturer and model company for advanced and highly efficient construction machinery in this field. SINCOLA COMPANY assembles an expert team with over ten years of experience, not only continue working hard for R&D but also exploring processes to benefit our customers.
After years of exploration and research, our technology has been widely applied to produce the following products:
- Concrete Mixing Plant, Concrete Mixer,
- Mortar Mixing Plant, Dry Mortar Mixer
- shotcrete machine, plaster machine, mortar pump, wall rendering machine, concrete pump, hose pump, etc.
» 2001, SINCOLA was established, started as Concrete Mixing Plant, Concrete Mixer, Concrete Batching Plant
» 2001-2006, as a state-owned enterprise committed to developing and producing HZS series concrete batching plant, cement silo, etc. The company occupies a certain market share in the south and east of China.
» 2006, Our 8 senior engineers have cooperated with a very famous college in China, starting to plan to produce the latest kinds of equipment for powder and mortar production line;
» 2008, enter the Chinese Pre-mixing Mortar Association and become one of the important members
» 2009, cooperating with Chinese Scientific Research Institute Co., Ltd (established in March 1979), began to manufacture shotcrete equipment, grouting equipment, mixing equipment, plastering equipment, hose pump, etc.
» 2010, comprehensively reformed and restructured, broke through the chain of upstream and downstream industries, at the same time, Cinkola International Marketing Office is established;
» 2011, the annual certificate for AAA level of corporate credit, awarded as the most professional supplier for concrete and mortar equipment
» In 2012, we attended the Chinese Incorporated Fair in Guangzhou. The same year, we attended the Concrete Show in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
» 2013, We attended the Ninth China Product Fair in Jordan. This year we are also securing the title of high-tech enterprise.
» In 2014, we joined CTT 2014 in Russia.
» 2015, large-scale upgrade in Internet + technology change, successfully upgraded from “Made in China” to “Wisdom in China.”
» 2016, our annual sales broke into 100,000,000RMB (15,380,000USD)
» 2017, we have sales and service offices and distributors in more than 20 countries, products range from Concrete Batching Plant, Dry Cement Mortar Plant, Concrete Pump, Concrete Mixing Pump, Shotcrete Machine, Mortar Pump, Grouting Pump, Plastering Machine etc.
- Apetoi
After conducting an in-depth analysis of the last few months of the Venezuelan economy, Apetoi representatives have decided to make changes to the franchise.
A little over a month ago, we spoke with the founders of Apetoi, a Venezuelan venture created to digitize professional home services in our country. For this, they created a platform with which they seek to streamline the supply and demand of services such as plumbing, cleaning, and fumigation, among others, through the ” on demand ” model or request.
The company would not only be becoming a pioneer in applying this model to such popular jobs. Still, it would also be creating the first digital franchise in Venezuela, with which the franchisees would become ” Heroes Apetoi, “who function as intermediaries for the growth of providers of professional services called “allies.”
According to Alejandro Acosta, in charge of the company’s franchises, the evolution of the economic situation in Venezuela has led to the franchise entry system continuing to adapt to the needs of local entrepreneurs and investors.
He assures that after thoroughly analyzing the country’s current context, they saw that the initial fee was not easy to save for many investors since, in many cases, it was complex to ensure that a franchisee achieved a total return in an attractive period. That is why they developed a new strategy.
That is why the ” Apetoi Heroes ” concept is changing to focus on the quest for a single hero. What does it mean? According to Acosta, it will be a unique representative of the brand that they hope to turn into a success story to inspire entrepreneurs in the country to invest in the company.
“We are currently looking for our star franchisee or ‘Hero Apetoi,’ a person with whom we will test the model and who will be in charge, together with the other heroes (and the entire organization), of starting to market our service packages. This is what the franchise did in the initial version. Still, this time we are only looking for a person to assume the hero role of using it as a success story,” Acosta explained in an interview with El Emprendedor.
This hero will be an ally of the brand more than a traditional franchise since, in this first stage, he will be provided with advice and different tools for development, in addition to being provided with a fixed salary together with the commissions generated for each sale (according to what is established in the company’s traditional franchise model).
“She has to be an entrepreneur and a lover of Startups with a work-for-goals mentality with sales experience, very interested in providing services over the internet. In addition, she is an entrepreneur who will develop and establish a network of contacts with service providers,” he stated in the interview.
Unlike the traditional franchisee, this one does not have to make an initial payment but will benefit from the company. There is no entry, but the person will obtain the right to the brand and be in charge of carrying out all the necessary tests to perfect the model, experiment, and collect data to ensure the correct operation of the franchise.
Despite this exciting change in how it offers access to the brand, that does not mean that those who previously acquired the franchise will lose any benefit since they will continue to operate under the model they originally had. Little by little, it can evolve to favor the investor even more, but for now, I only change the method of entry.
- MediConecta
“It’s true: an angel is needed.” This is how the CEO of Mediconecta, Daniel Silberman, refers to the issue of financing technological ventures.
And it is not that Mediconecta has (or is) doing badly: it has a presence in five Latin American countries (Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, and Venezuela) and in the state of Florida; more than 60 health professionals providing services to dozens of insurers and thousands of patients, in addition to having won two important regional awards such as Start-Up Chile as the best initial project and the most recent edition of eMerge as the best Mature Entrepreneurship.
In addition, the pilot in Central America (Costa Rica) had enough good news to make his family, friends, and relatives know that they were not supporting a lost cause.
Despite everything, Silberman recognizes that funding and dealing with investors is one of the challenges any entrepreneur in America must face. Latin.
“It has been a whole process and journey. We have been on this topic for almost five years now; as you can imagine, a lot has happened in this period. But having what they call “an angel” who supports the idea… a group of people and, from there, demonstrating with results that the idea is worthy of additional funding is essential,” highlighted the co-founder of Mediconecta.
Mediconecta is one of the types of projects that manage to be leveraged not only to start but to support its growth in the region, not only in many countries but also in specialties, incorporating – soon – a range of pediatric, nutritional, psychological, and treatment of chronic patients to general medicine. / familiar with what defines the basis of the service.
“We have a vision of being a transformational agent in the area of health, with a regional focus in Latin America, and we do it using technology as a catalyst. We intervene so that they can greatly facilitate the interaction between doctors and patients through technological tools, which allow interaction in real-time, practically face-to-face (even if it is not face-to-face) and that everything happens in a clinical environment facilitated by the technology,” Silberman explained.
And it is that a priori, the concept of Mediconecta is to offer the possibility of having a prior medical consultation, without appointments, without waiting.
“Essentially, we realized that this trend that we saw developing with great force in the United States had valid and genuine reasons to apply in Latin America, such as the difficulty of access to quality health. So many people either do not have access to fitness or have problems accessing it, such as traffic, insecurity, etc.
Things that make getting to the doctor difficult. Technology allows us to break down these obstacles,” affirmed the CEO of Mediconecta.
- Cuantix
Cuantix’s founding in Venezuela responded to the 21st-century requirements for organizations to provide hard data on their impact. Cuantix is a cloud-based platform that makes measuring and quantifying impact easy, accessible, and convenient. For initiatives to be funded in the social ecosystem, it is imperative to have hard data about the results achieved. Giving them better information also facilitates the improvement of social programs.
The people who lead social projects are usually deeply rooted in the program and are strongly committed to ensuring its success. To communicate the impact of their work and organization, they only require anecdotes and tales from their beneficiaries, crystal clear that their project solves a problem. As feedback for the program, these life-changing stories are valuable, but when the objective is to seek funding, these stories do not suffice.
The internationally recognized technology startup, Cuantix, opened a call in all Latin American countries to award 15 scholarships aimed at organizations with a social purpose (NGOs, Foundations, Civil Associations, impact investors, and companies with a social focus) that wish to evaluate and/or monitor an initiative using impact indicators with the support of information and communication technologies.
The scholarship called “Quantix Fellowship” is part of the Social Responsibility actions of this undertaking that has the valuable support of various allies such as the Impact Hub Caracas, VenAmCham Social Alliance in Venezuela, and the Mexican support networks Social Venture Exchange Mexico and in Chile with GIA Consultores SPA.
Adriana Mata, CEO, and co-founder of Cuantix, reported that this scholarship is a contribution to the strengthening that outstanding organizations require to move to the next level of influence in society, demonstrating the positive impact they generate.
Investing is about numbers, and organizations without metrics leave themselves disadvantaged to investors with a diverse range of options. In these circumstances, having impact data becomes a competitive advantage, allowing an organization to raise funds more effectively, but to obtain impact data, first we need to clearly define which data to collect and how to analyze it.
Unfortunately, around 75% of Latin American startups and non-profits lack the tools to achieve these measurements, thereby slowing their growth, regardless of their sincere intentions to solve important societal problems. In the end, this has a detrimental impact on the ecosystem for organizations and society itself. After all, organizations are the most influential members of society. Our role is to give leaders a space to innovate based on their creativity. We provide leaders with the tools and knowledge to launch new ideas and grow existing ones. A better version of a leader is expected of us.
Companies and leaders are transformed when we work together. However, without data to prove their impact, www.socialinnovationsjournal.org cannot acquire the funding necessary to reach more people or improve their success through better data-driven decision-making. Taking on this challenge is something we strive to do at Cuantix, so we are innovating and finding solutions.
- CityWallet
Thanks to an agreement between the Andrés Bello Foundation and the company CityWallet, on July 17, 2017, UCAB became the first university in the country to implement an innovative parking payment system with which there is no longer a queue at the ticket office. Or have cash.
The CityWallet service works with a high-tech sticker that it must present in front of the system’s reader machines, available at the entrance and exit of the parking lot.
The decal is associated with the user’s account, who will be able to top up the balance with a credit card or bank transfer, all through a simple application for mobile phones, available for Android or iPhone.
Citywallet members will have up to 20% discounts on the parking rate, which will cost Bs. 15 per hour. In addition, they will be able to use the decal in the shopping centers affiliated with the system.
Interested students can register by going to the General Secretariat’s customer service offices on the ground floor of Module 4 of the classroom building.
To do this, they must submit on a single sheet a copy of the identity card and the circulation card of all the vehicles with which they regularly enter the campus. With this, the operator will give them the sticker and the precise instructions for activation and payment.
- Yolopido.com
More than 90 affiliated restaurants and nearly 60,000 registered users nationwide believe in the effectiveness of Yolopido.com, an enterprise founded in Maracaibo to create a portal dedicated to pleasing the most demanding palates at home. Users can place their orders wherever they are and pay remotely with credit cards, Todo Tickets, cash, and bank transfers.
Already in the city of Maracaibo, it has turned out to be a success above all because the portal also offers the possibility of placing orders in several restaurants simultaneously, in addition to its friendly proposal and simplicity, which make the purchase process even more effective.
Enter the web portal; select the trade-in preference; place and pay for the order through the available payment methods.
Those interested in joining should only contact Yolopido.com.
