600+ Entrepreneurs, Venture Capitalists, Investors Gather In Medellín This Week For “Smart Capital” Event

Year over year, entrepreneurship in Colombia is become a major driver for economic growth and job creation, establishing the country as a leader in entrepreneurial development in the region. This has led to the creation of platforms and enterprises that boost growth initiatives, such as Smart Capital, a platform that was created by Ruta-N and Capitalia with the aim of connecting major players in investment and entrepreneurship.

On October 22 and 23, Smart Capital will welcome more than 600 entrepreneurs, partners, investors and other attendees in the Plaza Mayor convention center in downtown Medellin. The event is the result of collaboration between Innpulsa Colombia, Fundación Fondo de Garantías de Antioquia, Fluzcoin, and the Medellin Chamber of Commerce. Notable participants expected to attend include US Deputy Chief of Mission Philip Laidlaw and Medellín Mayor Federico “Fico” Gutierrez Zuluaga.

Representatives from several major firms will be present, including Kaszek Ventures, Mercado Libre, TMC Venture Fund, Bancolombia, Fluzcoin Global, SURA, EPM, Kingo, as well as other successful Latin American investors and entrepreneurs. It will be an opportunity to discuss funding startups and small businesses, as well as accelerated growth and success cases worldwide.

The Smart Capital Event takes place Monday & Tuesday, October 22 & 23 in Plaza Mayor, and  expects 600 attendees, including at leat 100 investors.

“Smart Capital is the perfect opportunity to chat about the accelerated growth of new companies, dive deep into client acquisition, innovation, high value networking, among other things,” said Alejandro Franco, Executive Director at startup incubator Ruta N. “It is also the ideal stage to consolidate and boost ideas that entrepreneurs want to present to their target market.

Entrepreneurship is a fundamental part of the culture In Colombia, and especially in Antioquia. Innpulsa, the government organization responsible for boosting extraordinary entrepreneurial growth, conducted a study in 2017 on entrepreneurship in Colombia. It found there are 2,696 startups in Colombia in the first stages of development with a high chance of success, and that they’ve already generated 7,933 jobs.

Financial aid is paramount to the evolution of a business, and Smart Capital looks to boost local entrepreneurial projects through capital and financial resources with specialized help and connections that allow for extraordinary growth.

“Smart Capital is the opportunity to strengthen the financing process of up and coming companies and entrepreneurial projects,” said David Osorio of Capitalia, “It’s an opportunity to identify the most relevant challenges while looking together for alternatives and solutions that allow an increase over the current offers of financing and investment.”

Added Franco: “This space is appropriate to gather business innovation with the necessary capital to make it happen. It’s an open invitation for entrepreneurs to look for business opportunities where they are allowed to grow while strengthening our local economy.”