Bogotá Startup Hometuls Wins Colombian Seedstars Competition, Will Head to Switzerland to Compete for $1 Million USD in Funding

Bogotá-based startup Hometuls won a local competition for early-stage companies and will now represent Colombia next year in a global showdown that will award some $1 million USD in funding.

By winning the Seedstars Bogotá competition, the company, which offers a digital platform that aims to connects small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with financing, will now head to Lausanne, Switzerland, where it will be matched up against the best of the best from around the world.

“The next competition for Hometuls is the Seedstars Summit in Switzerland in April, where they will compete for up to $1 million in prizes,” Ana Vasquez, a representative for Seedstars told Finance Colombia.

The winner of that competition — which will feature national winners from more than 60 countries — will get $500,000 in an equity investment and there will also be other prizes to honor excellence in typical verticals like fintech, healthtech, and innovation as well as more unique areas described as “fempreneurship” and “time savior.”

Previous winners and notable participants of the global Seedstars competition have included Agrocent from Ghana, eFishery from Indonesia, Acudeen from Philippines, and Ultracasas from Bolivia

“There have been 263 local winners, of which 90% are still alive,” said Vasquez. “There have been several acquisitions from the first years of the competition and most companies have gone on to raise funding. Previous Seedstars World alumni have raised over $120 million collectively, providing employment to more than 2.100 employees worldwide.”

The winners celebrate on stage in Bogotá. (Credit: Seedstars)

In the Colombian competition on September 19, Hometuls took home the top spot by beating out second-place finisher Wenjoy, a fintech, and third-place startup MUVO, an app to share electric bicycles in Bogotá.

Some of the other participants included liquor delivery service Chin Chin, transportation platform Dashfleet, and candidate verification app Globalwork.

The winners were decided by a panel of judges in Bogotá that included Alejandro Gomez Cano of Seedstars, Ana Mora Bowen of Angel Ventures, Sergio Zuniga of Village Capital, Edwin Casallas of Wayra Colombia, Danny Sierra of Vivelab Bogotá, and Sergio Zafra of Seedspace.

Before it heads to Switzerland in 2019, Hometuls will also gather with many of its regional peers in Lima for a Latin American summit in December.

“At the regional summit, there’s not a competitive factor,” Vasquez told Finance Colombia. “However, besides a boot camp and other activities, the finalists have the chance to pitch their products on the main stage in front of an audience of investors, incubators, government representatives, and other stakeholders from the sector.”