After Platanus Ventures announced last October that it would raise its investment ticket in startups to US$100 thousand, the Chilean accelerator unveiled its first batch of companies in which it will invest this 2022, an amount multiplied by three.
Platanus Ventures used to invest in five companies per generation. However, after receiving three times as many proposals, according to a statement, they decided to increase to 15 the number of startups in which they will invest for the first generation of 2022 and the fourth since it began operating, “maintaining the selection rate and quality of previous generations,” they argued.
The companies on which they will focus their first investment of the year belong to different industries such as Fintech, Proptech, Crypto, E-commerce, and Edtech, to name a few, from Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Argentina, and Chile.
The first generation of 2022 of Platanus Ventures.
Bemmbo: is a Chilean SaaS that seeks to reduce by 70% the time companies spend paying their bills (invoices, fee slips, reimbursements, petty cash, etc.). It was founded by Rodrigo Oyarzún and Cristóbal Dotte.
Brolly: is an app from Chile that allows employees to access financial education and easy consumer credit at a low cost. The fintech was founded by Diego Laso, Nicolás Lorenzini and David Díaz.
Fiscoclic: born in Mexico, they call themselves a Human Resources “super-platform” focused on talent retention. They seek to improve the employee experience in small and medium-sized companies. It was created by Raúl Santillán and Carlos Santillán.
Carvuk: is a Chilean platform that seeks to facilitate and improve the experience of buying a car. In a single place, they offer different services: insurance, vehicle registration, technical inspection, car wash, preventive maintenance, and repairs. The startup was created by Diego Noriega, José Alcalde and Nicolás Vega.
LarnU: the Chilean startup takes up the Duolingo model but to improve the programmers’ careers. It is a mobile and web app where people can start and enhance their careers as developers entertainingly and effectively and have a job opportunities section. The edtech was created by Jorge Alonso and José Zúñiga.
Mercately: based in Ecuador, this is a conversational commerce ecosystem that makes it easier for small and medium-sized companies to manage their e-commerce while selling through messaging applications such as WhatsApp, Facebook, or Instagram. Its founders are Henry Remache, Pau Velasquez and Johnmer Bencomo.
Pipoll: also from Chile, is a platform for managing the culture in companies and the experience of the people who work in them, using continuous feedback from the teams, external benchmarks, and analytics. It was founded by Diego Vallejos, Alberto Garrido, Sebastián Jarufe and Ignacio Acevedo.
TiendaDa: It was born in Peru to encourage businesses to open their online store in an easy, fast, and inclusive way. Its founders are Andrea Li, Giwah Dávalos and Natalie Luy.
Tiki: founded by Vicente Pirozzi and Andres Hinrichsen in Chile, this is a platform for investing in diversified cryptocurrency portfolios. It was created for those who do not have time to research where, how and what cryptocurrencies to buy.
Trendi: based in Mexico, is a platform that offers monetization, management, and automation tools for communities and messaging applications. Its founders are Alan Arguello and Massimo Di Berardino.
Urvana: seeks to make the land market for real estate development in Chile more transparent. It offers to identify the best buyers for each piece of land, increasing the offer for real estate agencies, accelerating the sale for real estate brokers, and thus wants to ensure a fair price for the owners. Tomás Charles and Patricio Lopez Juri created it.
Verso: is a Mexican marketplace that seeks to connect B2B brands with B2B or niche content creators. Its creator is Víctor Cortés.
Wallstate: was born in Chile. It is a platform that offers to invest in a diverse portfolio of properties worldwide easily. There are no investment minimums, and users can withdraw at any time. Its founders are Clemente Ortúzar, Mauricio Valdivia and José Miguel Irarrázaval.
Watermelon Tools: was founded by Esteban Dalel and Esteban Vargas in Colombia. It is an open-source tool that allows developers to understand why one of their colleagues wrote code in a certain way in the past, making work more efficient and organized.
Wonder XR Studios: of Mexican origin, this startup allows you to build your own metaverse. The startup was created by Gabriela Morales, Sebastián Correa and Nicolás Abondano.
