Since February 2019, Google announced that its program to accelerate startups would work for Latin America. More than 350 startups in the region responded to the call, and ten companies were selected to participate in this 6-month program that will begin on April 29.
These companies “represent the best talent and ability to solve local problems in our region,” as mentioned in the Google Developers LatAm blog. The selected startups come from Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, and Chile.
This program will be the first version of Google Launchpad Accelerator in Hispano America, which has already been successfully carried out in other regions of the world, such as Israel (Tel Aviv), Nigeria (Lagos), and Brazil (Sao Paulo).
Google Launchpad Accelerator will offer training, mentoring and training to selected companies to reach their full potential.
Diversity of approaches and gender
With this acceleration program, Google also bets on diversity. The selected companies show a variety of approaches and markets, from logistics to digital advertising and the fintech space. Four of them have women among their founders or in their executive team.
However, each of the startups in the program share a common point: they already have products validated by the market and offer global class solutions to specific problems of the Spanish-American and world markets. “They were selected because they have the potential to execute, grow and scale their value proposition, and to become or consolidate themselves as benchmarks for the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the region,” according to Francisco Solsona, Manager of Relations with Developers for Google Hispano-America.
“We hope to receive many of the startups that were not included in this first cohort in future Accelerator classes. We are pleasantly surprised and full of humility for the response we received from Hispanic-American entrepreneurs, “said Francisco Solsona.
LatAm Startups selected for Google Launchpad Accelerator
The selected startups are:
- Agilis: They are the first Argentine company that offers guaranteed financing in goods, such as real estate or automobiles. They have their risk measurement system, which allows them to offer very competitive rates concerning those of more traditional players in the financial market.
- Ben & Frank: This Mexican startup aims to make the experience of buying glasses online as fast and reliable as it is in a traditional store, with a combination of low prices and a broad range of services.
- EnvíoClick: It is a Colombian-Mexican logistics service that connects cargo transport providers with businesses in Latin America, and optimizes logistics processes through artificial intelligence.
- Herolens: It is an Argentine platform for administration and automation of digital advertising that allows brands to be more reactive to their environment and have better data on the performance of their parts.
- Klustera: This Mexican startup allows customers to understand the behavior of an establishment whether online or offline, with a speed and accuracy much higher than that of its competitors.
- LaHaus: This Colombian startup facilitates the process of buying real estate by accompanying sellers and customers, from the search of the property to the transactional and legal procedures before the closing of the acquisition.
- Ripio: This Mexican-Argentine company offers a catalog of financial services based on crypto actives, from the purchase of cryptocurrencies to microcredits and payment processing for businesses.
- Synapbox: They are a Mexican market research platform that offers great flexibility in capturing their data and uses artificial intelligence to create “the largest database of emotions and behaviors in Latin America.”
- Ualá: This Argentine fintech offers the first debit card utterly free in that market, and is integrated with an application that allows its users to make financial movements and manage their finances in a friendly and straightforward way.
- Wheel The World: This Chilean online marketplace that specializes in the market for people with disabilities. Its model allows him to offer a global catalog of tourist products oriented to that segment
These startups will receive, between April and June, accompaniment and mentoring by leading experts in technology, product, investment and marketing inside and outside of Google, as well as PR, UX and leadership training; as well as opportunities to contact international media. During the program, the teams of the selected startups will receive – with all expenses paid – training, workshops and mentoring in three bootcamps, each lasting one week, in the coworking space Centraal and at the Google headquarters in Mexico City.
At the end of the program, these startups will be part of the prestigious international alumni group of Google Launchpad Accelerator, where they will join other Latin American companies of global scale such as Quinto Andar, Arquivei, Creditas, Platzi, Konfio, Telemedicine Portal, Kichink, Compare Online, Tienda Nube, and Miroculus, among others.