LicitaLab, a Chilean startup that has designed specialized software for public procurement process management, is about to embark on its expansion into Colombia.
This comes after being one of the selected startups in the GoGlobal program, supported by Corfo and ProChile. Additionally, they have launched a new product targeting local businesses.
This young company, founded in 2019 by Javier Marín and Ramiro Hevia, was born to modernize government acquisitions and simplify suppliers’ participation in tenders or government purchases.
Javier Marín explained that the idea arose when Ramiro Hevia, in his previous job, investigated the operation of the Public Market platform.
Observing the possibility of improving management by incorporating technology and business intelligence, they realized that selecting where to participate could be optimized, increasing the success rate in tenders.
In this regard, Marín emphasized that the government procurement market in Chile is of great importance, moving around USD$10 billion annually.
However, participation is limited, as only 4% of companies are awarded over 80% of the amounts transacted.
“We aim to enhance the experience by providing better technology, more innovation, and accessibility for all providers to see good opportunities,” explained Marín.
According to Marín, this situation is linked to the “complexity” of government portals, where their solution offers an adequate response.
LicitaLab operates on a Software as a Service (SaaS) model, offering various subscription plans that provide access to automated tools for searching tenders or streamlining purchasing processes through artificial intelligence, calendars, application reports, and competitor information, among other functionalities.
“Due to the transparency law, a lot of data is available, which is a great advantage of public markets. We monitor the entire behavior of the State and provide reports and statistics based on that,” highlighted the LicitaLab co-founder.
The company gained its first users during the COVID-19 pandemic and currently has 500 active clients on its platform, primarily located in Chile and approximately 100 in Peru, a country they entered in 2022.
Although Chile is one of the Latin American countries with a strong presence in the entrepreneurship and startup ecosystem, it has yet to make it to the Top 10 unicorn companies in the region, currently dominated by the Mexican Kavak and in volume by Brazil.
