TodosComemos is building a business and making a difference, joins YC’s S2020 batch

Contxto – It’s sickeningly unfair. 78 million tons of food in Latin America and the Caribbean are wasted per year, yet there are 42.5 million people going hungry in the region. If that doesn’t twist your bowels into a knot, I don’t know what will.

But Latam also has entrepreneurs that take into account these vulnerable populations and are building solid businesses in the process. Case and point is Colombian TodosComemos, which was recently accepted into Y Combinator’s Summer 2020 Batch.

As its name subtly suggests, this enterprise wants to ensure that everyone gets to eat, regardless of whether you’re the startup’s customer or a hungry family.

And there’s a lot going on at this young company that was launched little over four months ago. It’s gaining traction within its native Bogotá and surrounding areas. The startup also kicked-off operations in Mexico City.

Coming up with TodosComemos

Jaw-dropping. 

It’s the only way to describe my reaction when I talked to Mateo Cárdenas and Andrés Méndez, two of TodosComemos’s co-Founders.

There are entrepreneurs that take months, (sometimes even years depending on the industry) to develop a product prototype worth validating. 

But the four-man team of co-Founders at TodosComemos managed to build their prototype in five days. Less than a month later they launched their frozen food delivery platform into Colombia just as the pandemic was entering the Latam country.

Despite how Covid-induced circumstances might influence a business, the startup told Contxto it’s been growing 200 percent month over month—though we don’t exactly know how many users that represent.

TodosComemos wants everyone to eat

Through Todos Comemos, a user can request pre-made food like pizza, lasagna, arepas, sauces, even baked goods like croissants that can be frozen away for up to 45 days. The startup then delivers the edibles to your door.

For the startup, this is also a way of encouraging people to cook at home.

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And when you order through TodosComemos, seven percent of the sale goes to feeding a hungry family. Users are also offered the option to donate an amount for themselves.

It’s a guilt-free way of enjoying your meal and helping others. This “feel good” experience of giving consumers the chance to cook from home and help others are the extra perks of using its service.

 It’s an approach that’s been tried in the United States but it’s a novelty in Latin America.

“We’re a business whose DNA has a tech base and a social base. We believe that for every bite you eat, you’re going to help someone else,” says Mateo Cárdenas CEO at TodosComemos.

TodosComemos at Y Combinator

The entrepreneurs said that through the accelerator they’ll be focusing on attracting and retaining users. The experience has inspired them to think at a more global scale and build valuable connections with other founders. 

And since it’s all been done remotely, they’ve also been able to keep overseeing operations.

But in the medium to long term, TodosComemos wants to expand into more markets within Latin America. Its website suggests that its next destination is Medellín in Colombia. But beyond that, the entrepreneurs didn’t dish out more details. 

The only thing they assured me is “it’s going to be really cool.”

It’s a meager morsel that didn’t satisfy my curiosity, so I’ll just have to keep an eye out for TodosComemos because they left me hungry for more.

Related articles: Tech and startups from Colombia!

-ML