Tag Archives: Colombia

Re-Post from NextBillion

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Hub Bogotá y Village Capital buscan empresas sociales en Colombia

por Jennifer Clessas

Bogotá, Colombia.

 

Village Capital es un fondo de impacto social de los EE.UU., que invierte en empresas durante la etapa inicial de su negocio. Village  utiliza el poder de grupos para desarrollar negocios con el potencial de cambiar el mundo y transformar la manera en que realiza sus inversiones. Los fondos se distribuyen a través de un programa de aceleración que dura 4 meses, con el objetivo de formar y seleccionar empresas para la inversión. El programa combina sesiones de evaluación por pares y entrenamiento con expertos, permitiendo oportunidades para establecer contactos y llevar un valor único a los emprendedores. Al final de cada programa, a partir de la selección de los expertos, dos emprendedores son elegidos para recibir una inversión de USD$50.000. La mitad de la inversión proviene de Village Capital, mientras que la otra mitad viene de un socio local.

En los últimos dos años, Village Capital puso en marcha 13 programas en todo el mundo (India, Kenia, EE.UU., Sudáfrica, Brasil), apoyando a más de 250 emprendedores. Los participantes han recaudado $ 12 millones, crearon más de 500 puestos de trabajo, y sirvieron a 7.500 clientes. Nos estamos ampliando activamente en todo el mundo, buscando nuevas ciudades, y nuevos sectores en los cuales enfocar nuestros programas (por ejemplo:  energía, tecnología móvil,  y un programa centrado en mujeres emprendedoras).

Llegando a Colombia

Village Capital está interesado en trabajar en conjunto con el Hub Bogotá, para llevar su programa de aceleración a Colombia. Actualmente estamos investigando el clima de las empresas sociales y la financiación disponible a juego en Colombia. Además, estamos tratando de determinar la mejor manera de ejecutar un programa en Colombia.

 

Invitación: 

Estamos buscando todos los negocios sociales que estén interesados con el fin de recopilar información que nos ayude a implementar este programa. Las empresas que buscamos tienenlas siguientes características:

  • Tienen al menos un empleado de tiempo completo,
  • Tienen clientes (venden sus productos y servicios),
  • No han recibido financiamiento externo sustancial,
  • su modelo de impacto y de negocios están alineados (Nos dirigimos a empresas que generan impacto a través de la producción de su  producto o servicio, y cuya operación e indicadores de impacto son inseparables
  • Están interesadas en un programa de aceleración (Entrenamiento de12 semanas por un costo mínimo)

Las empresas interesadas pueden descargar este formulario y  enviarlo por correo electrónico a  Lisa Ravenel lisa.ravenel@vilcap.com para más información.

Conoce más de Village Capital en esta presentación.

Social Entrepreneurs on the Rise in Colombia

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As part of my internship assignment here in Bogota, my colleague and I have been asked to seek out social entrepreneurs that fit a specific set of criteria.  Our research has discovered that there is an ample amount of social businesses in Colombia, but many do not consider themselves to have a social purpose, and further, have no idea how to effectively measure their impact.  Being a part of the Hub here has allowed us to make some unique connections and meet some of these social entrepreneurs.

One of these businesses is called Tech4Riders, which produces airbag jackets for motorcycle riders.  The founder and director, German Acevedo Ordña, had been working for the Colombian Navy, as an engineer hoping to minimize wartime deaths.  What he discovered, was that more military personnel were dying from motorcycle crashes than from war-related incidences.  In fact, the highest cause of death in Colombia for those aged 15 – 30 is motorcycle accidents.   With this information, Mr. Ordña decided that he needed to do something to start saving lives.  Although Tech4Riders is not the only company in the world that is producing motorcycle airbags, it is the only company in the Americas, and he is trying to develop the technology at a low enough price, that Colombians will actually buy the vital piece of equipment.  Currently, there are jackets on the market in Japan and Europe that cost around US$800, or about 1/3 of the average yearly salary for a Colombian household.

So how does this technology work?  The airbag is fitted into a normal looking motorcycle jacket.  There is a cord that you can use to connect the jacket to the ignition of the motorcycle (imagine the same device used on a jet ski, if you get thrown off, the jet ski automatically powers down).  If a motorcyclist gets thrown from his motorcycle at enough velocity, the jacket will unlock and inflate in .3 seconds.

It is wonderful to see the rise of social businesses in Colombia, but what is still missing is availability to financing, especially local financing.  Banks in Latin America tend to loan at very high interest rates.  There are investment funds here in Colombia, but many are looking to make multimillion dollar investments in areas such as oil and coal, or mining.  The organization that I am working for, Village Capital, is investigating whether Colombia would be a good environment to invest in start-up social businesses.  In my opinion, there is sufficient evidence that the innovative social entrepreneurs exist here, I think the only remaining question is whether the financial climate is open to investments from abroad.  I believe it is, and I believe that social entrepreneurs such as Mr. Ordña will get his opportunity to save lives in Colombia and the Americas.

Preserving the past, investing in the future

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Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a patriot.  I love America.  Don’t get me wrong, I love traveling the world, being introduced to new cultures and food, but I always love coming home.  Obviously, I know that my country has it’s many, many problems, but I still love it.  Well, one thing I LOVE about Colombia, is most everyone I’ve met here is a Colombian patriot.  They love their country, the way that I love mine.  And there is such a rich, indigenous history, of which there are still many artifacts.

These pictures are of artifacts taken at the Museo del Oro (Museum of Gold) in Bogota.  Colombia has taken good care of the artifacts, and the museum is curated very well, and is quite beautiful.  The best part is that it is free on Sundays, which is great for both tourists and locals.  In fact, the great majority of visitors to the museum are Colombians, curious to learn more about their historic past.  It’s beautiful to see both small children and adults excited to learn about their history and I wish I saw that same excitement in my countrymen.

Not only do Colombians seem to relish learning about their history, but as well, are emotional when speaking about the future of the country.  A common sentiment here is, “The war is now over, but we still have not won our independence.”  Those of you that know your Colombian history may be confused by this statement, since Colombian won it’s official independence in 1824, and the world has yet to acknowledge that Colombian has been in a civil war for the last 50 years, calling it rather an “armed conflict.”  In Colombian reality, the country was in a war, and the country has now experienced a period of peace they haven’t seen for 30 years.

With this new found liberty and freedom, there is also a movement (especially among the youth) that Colombians are ready to begin investing again in their country.  The daily threats of robbery, kidnapping, and violence is all but gone, and so the people of Colombia are ready and excited to rebuild.  You can clearly see the entrepreneurial spirit alive in the country and this, I believe, is going to lead Colombia into a new “golden age.”

Catalizadores del cambio

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Working at the Hub has been great.  I have been working with a Colombian and another American colleague in strengthening the support services that the Hub offers to its entrepreneurs; we have called these groups “catalizadores del cambio” (or catalysts of change).  In the last 2 weeks we have set up meetings with Graphic Designers and publicists, lawyers and accountants to put together a brochure of services that can be offered for those working in the Hub.

The meetings were a great way to showcase not just the Hub itself to a greater audience, but also how programs are developed.  In the meetings, we asked the professionals of individual fields in attendance to co-work to create the program with us.  It has been really great to see people who had not met previously to come out of their shell and work together to create a project. These meetings are co-run with a Hub host.

The Art of Hosting is a central concept to making the Hub network work.  The host of the house not only welcomes entrepreneurs to the working space, but also creates opportunities for networking and brings innovators together to work on similar projects.  We will also rely on the hosts to assist in selling the services that we are currently developing with the designers, lawyers and accountants.

Working at the Hub has definitely given me a new view on co-working and co-creation.  It can be a slow process and sometimes painful, but the product that is birthed from the co-creation is generally one that pleases everyone in the organization and one that is fully developed.  I plan on bringing these lessons back to my group projects at MIIS for sure!  Look out future classmates…

Street art in Bogota: Graffiti or Artists without an Outlet?

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So, like most big cities, there is quite a bit of graffiti in Bogota.  In fact, pretty much every building is covered in it.  What surprises me about the graffiti in Bogota is that much of it is artwork.  Some of the street artists are commissioned by the building’s owner to spray paint images on the store fronts, and some is simply beautiful vandalism.  But when I see vandals spray painting beautiful murals, my reaction is not anger.

 

 

What I see is a budding artist community that is just pining for opportunities to show off their work.

 

Indeed, much of the work is beautiful, but there are also many political messages as well.

 

And, some of it is just plain funny.

So Jen… what the heck are you doing in Bogota?

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That’s a great question… what exactly am I doing in Bogota?  Well, I’m working at an organization call Hub, which is part of a global Hub Network.  This week, I am helping Hub and Hub partners with their Social Innovation Week.  I wrote a description about the events happening this week in English to provide to partners around the world:

Meeting at the Hub, going over the schedule for Social Innovation Week

Social Innovation week is a connection of events across Colombia, creating spaces for social innovators and social entrepreneurs to meet, learn, network and collaborate.

Beginning with an early morning hike, and concluding with “La Cosecha” or the Harvest, the week will combine social events, networking opportunities and educational activities to allow social innovators and organizations to explore and expand their concepts within a community of like-minded individuals from Colombia and abroad.  Events throughout the week include social hours, networking nights, TEDx Makers Talk broadcasts and group bicycling throughout the city, an already popular activity with the trendy, young population of Bogotá.

ProAcción Café, a launching event for Hub Bogota, will feature entrepreneurs co-creating projects and will include participants from the public and private sector and from international and governmental agencies.  The final gala of the week will be the Harvest; an event with more than 100 members will be an opportunity for participants from the week to share collective knowledge gained throughout the activities and make partnerships to bring their ideas to fruition.  In addition to the events planned by the partnering organizations, there are self-generated events occurring across the country, as individuals and organizations are encouraged to create and promote their projects through an Internet platform.

Social entrepreneurship is a growing movement in Colombia and Bogotá is becoming an epicenter of development and sustainability in Latin America.  Stay updated on this week’s events online

http://semanadelainnovacionsocial.org/

http://www.nextbillion.net/

First impressions and lessons in Bogota

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Here are some first impressions of Colombia:

– You hail a bus, but not a taxi. Most of the bus system in Bogota does not have a schedule or stops. You just go down to the major calle or carretera and hail a bus as it is going by. To get off, you just pull the chain to signal you want to stop. I’ve been told, this is why you hold on tight when you’re on the bus, and you never know when the bus will be stopping. You don’t hail taxis because many are fake and will rob you or worse. Instead, you call for a taxi and they text you a secret code number which you you’re your driver when you get inside. For this reason, I purchased a phone for the short time I’m here, feels pretty necessary. And it was only $49,444 COPA ($28)

– Coffee is beyond a pastime, it is a necessity and generally enjoyed at multiple points throughout the day. Traditionally, there used to be men that carried canisters full of coffee through the streets, on their backs like a backpack, and selling coffee this way, but it is far less common than it used to be.

– Bogotá tiene todas las estaciones en un día. Bogota has all four seasons in throughout a single day. It’s always warm and sunny at noon – that’s my favorite.

– I learned a new expression that I love: “Esa situacion es un chicharon.” – This situation is a mess! Chicharon is actually a piece of pork meat, which is often sold by street vendors. It is fried and very greasy, so after eating it, you’re a mess from the juices. For this reason, Colombians use the term to describe situations that are messy.

– The safest place to get money out of an ATM is inside a shopping mall, which have plenty of ATMs all over and many security guards. Most shops have a security guard out front as well, but I have been surprised that none of them seem to have weapons of any kind. Not sure exactly who they are trying to keep out.

– General custom when you meet someone is to hug them and put your cheeks together with a whiling kissing the air. Like air guitar, it’s an air cheek kiss. And even when you meet for the first time, people don’t say “hello” but rather “Que tal, como estas?” Tu (the informal you) is very common when you first meet people, which threw me off a little, I’m used to using the formal version until invited to use the informal.

– I have never been to a friendlier place, especially when the locals are dealing with a bumbling American foreigner like myself. I’m constantly amazed at how nice and patient people are with me… of course, a smile goes a long way!

Happily Hubbed

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I am hoping to surround myself with inspiration and innovation this summer by working with the HUB in Bogota, Colombia.  HUB is a co-working environment that allows entrepreneurs to come together and collaborate. It’s a global network and there are HUBs all over the world – you can check out their website here: http://www.the-hub.net/

I am setting out some goals for myself this summer, the primary one being that I hope to improve my Spanish and especially my comfortably in speaking to native Spanish speakers without hesitation or turning completely red.