Colombia will be the epicenter of one of the most important meetings where entrepreneurs, investors and business captains from the region, along with more than 16,000 attendees, will gather at StartCo 2025 to promote the future of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Latin America.
The sixth edition of StartCo 2025, to be held on April 3 and 4 in Medellin, Colombia, seeks to consolidate this space as a pillar of global innovation and a launching pad for Latin American startups with a more inclusive approach and the participation of more than 20 countries.
This year, the event aims to drastically increase the international presence of startups. The goal is that of the 300 startups chosen to participate each year, at least 50% of them will be international, coming from key markets such as Chile, Argentina, Mexico, the United States, Peru and Costa Rica.
More than 150 investment funds from all over Latin America, such as 500 Startups, Kamay Ventures, EWA Capital, Bios Ventures and Kaszek, among others, will arrive at StartCo 2025, seeking to generate strategic alliances with startups that stand out in sectors such as EnergyTech, FinTech and HealthTech.
The integration of these key players aims to be fundamental in terms of investments for the region and growth of these ventures.
“StartCo continues to consolidate itself as the most important massive Startup event in Latin America, not only evidenced by the more than 16,000 people waiting for the event but also by the active participation of more than 150 investment funds,” Juan Gabriel Arboleda, co-founder of StartCo, told Contxto.
Uri Levine, founder of Waze, the world’s leading mobility app serving nearly 1.6 billion users per year around the world has confirmed his participation. Waze was acquired by Google in 2013 for approximately $1.1 billion.
Levine was instrumental in the creation of the current unicorn Moovit, an urban mobility app that provides real-time information on public transportation and shared mobility options in cities around the world, which was acquired by Intel in 2020.
Entrepreneurs Macarena Riva and Rosa Laura López, founders of the podcast Chisme Corporativo — which has recently become a big hit with over 2.2 million plays and more than 7.4 million impressions — will also be at the event. In September 2024, the podcast hit #1 in the business catalog by Spotify.
In its 2024 version, StartCo had around 14,000 attendees from 22 countries with an expected investment of US $14.8 million in 650 scheduled meetings, according to a statement shared with Contxto.
This year, “300 of the best Startups in Latin America will be selected where there will be an investment and business expectation of more than US $30MM. For this, StartCo has joined the best players in the Startup ecosystem such as Rockstart and Endeavor”, added Arboleda.
Different leading companies from Colombia and the region will attend the sixth edition of StartCo, many looking for new opportunities for collaboration, networking, business and investment in the ecosystem. This edition is supported by giants such as Bancolombia, Ruta N, the Mayor’s Office of Medellin, Compensar and AWS, among others.
The meeting will have key participation from VC Week Colombia by Rockstart and Expert Meetings from Endeavor that will focus on building the venture and entrepreneurship ecosystem in Latin America.
Different founders of startups in Latin America are in constant search of partners and investors to scale their businesses. In this sense, these types of spaces are crucial to contribute to the growth and evolution of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Latin America.
StartCo opens the door to countless entrepreneurs looking to raise capital, investors looking for disruptive projects to invest in, and ecosystem enthusiasts looking to learn and network, making a positive impact on the economies of the different countries and participating entities.