41 Entrepreneurs From 14 Countries Selected at the 64th International Selection Panel in Madrid

Madrid, Spain – May 31, 2016 – Endeavor selected 41 high-impact entrepreneurs representing 25 companies and 14 countries at its 64th International Selection Panel (ISP). In total, Endeavor has now supported 1,274 entrepreneurs leading 804 companies in 25 growth markets around the world. The most recent Endeavor Entrepreneurs were chosen at a panel held from May 25-27 in Madrid, Spain. Panelists at the event included top global business leaders and investors who were drawn from Endeavor’s extensive network of mentors and supporters.

The ISP is the culmination of a rigorous and extensive multi-step selection process. At the event, top local and international business leaders interview candidates about their businesses and high-impact potential, and then vote on whether or not candidates become Endeavor Entrepreneurs. Post-selection, Endeavor provides entrepreneurs with customized services, including introductions to local and international business mentors and volunteers from Fortune 500 consulting firms. Endeavor Entrepreneurs have had a significant track record of creating hundreds of thousands of jobs, generating billions of dollars in revenues, and building sustainable growth models in their home countries.

“This ISP in Madrid represents the best of Endeavor and I would like to thank the board of Endeavor Spain for all of their support,” said Linda Rottenberg, Co-Founder and CEO of Endeavor. “We not only brought together some amazing members of the network, we selected companies that are truly transforming their industries and communities around the world.”

In 2016, Endeavor will host its remaining ISPs in Bali, Indonesia (July 27–29); Boston, MA (September 7–9); Medellin, Colombia (October 26–28) and Bay Area, CA (December 7–9).

Brief descriptions of the selected entrepreneurs and companies follow.

ARGENTINA

Entrepreneurs: Matías Recchia & Andrés Bernasconi
Company: IguanaFix
Description: IguanaFix provides businesses and individuals with on-demand home improvement service providers in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico. Through its platform, users are matched with service providers and can easily schedule visits, compare prices, and make payments. Services range from plumbing and electrical work to painting and everything in between. Currently, IguanaFix has over 14,000 service providers in its network and delivers ~4,000 services per month. With its combined B2C and B2B model, IguanaFix also targets and has established relationships with large home improvement stores and retailers including EG, Whirlpool, Liverpool, and C&C amongst several others. With various partnerships in the final stages of negotiation and a robust B2C business, IguanaFix is ready to work its way deeper into the Latin American market one deal and one home at a time.

BRAZIL

Entrepreneurs: Vitor Torres & Fabio Bacarin
Company: Contabilizei
Description: Brazilian micro and small-sized enterprises (MSEs) suffer from one of the most complex tax systems in the world, resulting in each MSE spending an average of 8% of their monthly revenue and 2,600 hours a year declaring and paying taxes. Contabilizei is a government certified, fully automated online accounting and tax reporting service for MSEs. Through its online platform and mobile app, MSEs can log in and pay government taxes and declare payroll. Contabilizei’s platform replaces traditional accountants by relieving MSEs from generating forms on third party websites, emailing them back and forth with accountants, and waiting to receive confirmation on compliance. Contabilizei provides all tax and accounting documents while giving MSEs real-time feedback on compliance standards, tax and accounting reports.

Entrepreneur: Alexandre Serodio
Company: Beleza na Web
Description: Brazil’s Beleza na Web (Beauty Web) makes beauty a breeze with thousands of products, informative reviews, and how-to tutorials created by the who’s who of beauty in Brazil. Beleza makes a wide variety of products accessible to all Brazilians by providing an online shopping experience that mirrors an in-person sale, including elements like product recommendations and make-up application tutorials. Beleza collaborates with Brazil’s top beauty professionals to create online and offline content, such as tutorials and coverage of launches and beauty trends, which inform consumers about which product is best for them. Separately, Beleza drives Brazil’s online movement by managing the backend logistics, distribution and customer service for several international cosmetics brands within the Brazilian market.

Entrepreneur: Brian Requarth
Company: VivaReal
Description: VivaReal is the leading real estate marketplace in Brazil for connecting property searchers with brokers, agents, and developers. Through its platform users can browse over 4M active listings to search for the right home, filtering by price, location, and type of property. For brokers, agents, and developers, the platform serves as an easy marketing solution that provides them with leads for their properties at an affordable price. Developers pay per leads received with an average monthly fee of US$2,500, generating 25% of VivaReal’s revenue, while agents and brokers pay a fee of US$65 per month, which represents 75% of revenue. With over 16,000 clients and 15M monthly visitors VivaReal aims to continue its speedy growth to become the go-to real estate solution for any Brazilian looking to buy or rent a home.

CHILE

Entrepreneurs: Francisco Cáceres, Marco Esposito & Cesar Esposito
Company: Nutraline
Description: The health and wellness space in Chile is virtually non-existent, with few companies and brands producing health supplements, dietary pills, and workout enhancements. Nutraline fills this market gap by manufacturing its own line of over 140 products and representing 8 popular international brands. The company sells these products to grocery stores, pharmacies, convenience stores, and its flagship All Nutrition stores. All Nutrition sells Nutraline brands alongside other high-demand products to provide a “go-to” solution for any customers’ health and wellness need. The company has a strong retail presence with twenty-three All Nutrition stores in eleven Chilean cities and distribution contracts in Mexico and Peru.

Entrepreneurs: Alexis Arancibia, Alexis Urbina & Manuel Acuna
Company: SMG
Description: SMG, based in Antofagasta, is a mining engineering company that has invented the Conjunto Manto Irrigador, or CMI. The CMI streamlines the recuperation of copper, a process called leaching, by combining the irrigation tubing and plastic liner necessary for optimizing extraction. Minera Escondida, SMG’s flagship client and operator of the largest copper mine in the world, saved 30% in operational costs and boosted copper recovery by 12%, leading to a US$10.5 million increase in revenues. SMG hopes to sign four to long-term contracts by the beginning of next year. Going forward, the company seeks to further automate the installation of the CMI while considering expansion into different markets such as Peru and Australia.

 

 

COLOMBIA

Entrepreneurs: Freddy Vega & Christian Van Der Henst
Company: Platzi
Description: Platzi is an EdTech platform that offers online courses in design, marketing and programming taught by tech industry leaders to help Hispanics develop professional tech skills. Because Platzi focuses on developing tangible skills, students collaborate by sharing class notes and working on assigned projects to give them a portfolio of work to show future employers. Its industry leading 70% completion rate is a product of human interaction between students and teachers, which provides a collaborative environment that keeps students engaged. Platzi also applies proprietary compression technology to its courses, enabling users in remote areas to stream them with low internet connectivity.

Entrepreneurs: Sebastián Mejia & Simón Borrero
Company: Grability
Description: Grability Inc. is a mobile-commerce technology company focused on the grocery/supermarket space, with offices in the USA, Latin America, and Western Europe servicing leading retailers around the world. Grability is reinventing online grocery shopping to make the experience more user-friendly, enhance manufacturers’ marketing results, and increase overall basket size for retailers.

DETROIT

Entrepreneur: Jason Vazzano & Kurt Steckling
Company: Vectorform
Description: An interactive design and innovation company, Vectorform invents digital products and experiences across all platforms and emerging technologies, with a focus on UX, Internet of Things (IoT), Connected Devices, and Augmented Reality. Vectorform partners with the R&D departments of premier global brands including Microsoft, Disney, Coca Cola, Nike and NASA to create anything and everything from mobile applications to immersive virtual experiences to wearable technology. Headquartered in Detroit, Vectorform employs over a hundred top-tier designers, developers and entrepreneurs across five global offices, with several more working for the three spin-off ventures it has created to commercialize its technology.

EGYPT

Entrepreneur: Aly Mazhar
Company: BeFit
Description: BeFit is the leading health and fitness entity in Egypt, offering premium health and fitness services to the general public. From its five arenas in East and West Cairo, BeFit offers more than 21 programs and over 110 sessions per month. BeFit classes incorporate functional training (motions used in daily activity as opposed to traditional weight training) that aim to maximize strength, endurance, power, speed, and agility. BeFit also offers customized nutrition plans, online health and fitness advice, co-branded meals, and co-branded physiotherapy in order to truly embody the holistic brand of wellness at the core of Aly’s fitness ideology.

Entrepreneur: Jalal Abu-Gazaleh & Amgad Sultan
Company: Gourmet Investment Group
Description: Going beyond pantry-staples, Gourmet Investment Group (GIG) helps food lovers rediscover their gastronomic pleasures by manufacturing, trading and retailing premium quality food and ingredients. From cheese, meat, to fresh fruits and vegetables, all of GIG’s foods are sourced from 40+ suppliers and produced in a supply chain that is environmentally responsible, and in accordance with the world’s highest safety standards. The company places strong emphasis on sustainable and ethical processes at all stages of the supply chain, from worker conditions to recyclable packaging. Today GIG retails through its seven stores, backed by e-commerce, and home-delivery and to 200+ food outlets, including Starbucks, TGI Fridays and The Four Seasons Hotel. GIG hopes to grab a significant slice of the US$13 billion Egyptian F&B sector to become the region’s leading exporter of premium foods and ingredients designed, developed and manufactured in Egypt.

GREECE

Entrepreneur: Alexandros Yfantis
Company: Sychem
Description: Sychem, a fast growing engineering company, designs, manufactures and operates water treatment and geothermal energy systems. Its systems eliminate unnecessary costs and streamline system-wide efficiency for clients that include oil refineries and power plants. Sychem manufactures modular systems that are reliable, energy efficient (reducing energy on average 10% – 25%), easy to install and two-thirds the cost. Harnessing the power of water, Sychem diversified into renewable energy by building geoexchange systems that use sea and ground water to provide cooling and heating. These solutions save clients 40%-80% on energy costs as compared to conventional air-cooling systems and oil/gas burners. Sychem offers end-to-end service, from design to post-sale operations, in addition to quality assurances and guaranteed savings.

Entrepreneur: Nikos Moraitakis
Company: Workable
Description: The right people are any company’s greatest asset. Unfortunately, many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) cannot afford traditional Human Resource departments and end up struggling through an inefficient and expensive hiring process, spending more than they can afford. The Athens-based startup Workable, aims to disrupt and improve the hiring process for SMEs worldwide. Workable’s software facilitates the hiring process from start to finish, saving SMEs time and money so they can compete for top tier talent. It automates job posting, tracks applicants, coordinates interview scheduling, and provides an analysis of the process once completed.

INDONESIA

Entrepreneur: Regi Wahyu
Company: Mediatrac
Description: Mediatrac is Indonesia’s first big data analysis company. As Southeast Asia’s largest economy continues to grow, its companies face increasingly bulky piles of records and statistics with no means of using the information to their advantage.Through Auxilium, Mediatrac’s proprietary platform, the company offers solutions that allow companies to organize, evaluate and make informed decisions by integrating decades of public records with clients’ internal data.   It also comes with visualization options such as graphs and mapping tools that allow for easier data interpretation. Currently making up only 7.5% of the global big data indsutry, the Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow at 32% annually and reach US$3.5 billion in 2018, giving Mediatrac a huge opportunity to seize the relatively nascent market.

MALAYSIA

Entrepreneur: Sunderaj Nagalingam & Christian Hillier
Company: Dscaff
Description: The Malaysian construction sector reports over 4000 accidents each year due to falls, technical error, and equipment collapse; unstable scaffolding causes more than 60% of these accidents. To help the industrial services and construction industries regain their footing, Dscaff designs and manufactures high-quality scaffolding equipment that is 15% lighter and 20% stronger than the nearest competitor’s. The company’s easy to assemble and durable products have been recognised as the world’s strongest scaffolding system by Construc Pty Ltd, an engineering consulting firm accredited by the Australian National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA). In less than three years of operation, Dscaff has supplied 35,000 metric tons of scaffolding equipment to 140+ clients across 12 markets. Determined to redefine safety and quality standards in the US$54 billion scaffolding industry, Dscaff hopes to cement its reputation as the leading scaffolding company in the Asia-Pacific construction market.

MEXICO

Entrepreneur: Allan Cherem Mizrahi
Company: Contigo
Description: Contigo (“with you” in Spanish) seeks to change the lives of financially underserved women by providing group-based micro-loans and unique personal support systems to help them grow a business venture. Contigo’s communal loans are issued to groups of eight to twenty-five women at competitive interest rates to fund businesses such as local handmade fashion products, food stands, and pharmaceutical delivery services. Contigo employs loan advisors that meet with their groups weekly, which elevates group self-esteem, heightens team accountability, and cultivates a lasting sense of community around a centralized endeavor. The company also offers an affordable life and health insurance package to accentuate its core message of “people before profits”.

Entrepreneurs: Philippe Cahuzac, Raffaello Starace & Hassan Yassine
Company: Gaia
Description: Catering to Mexico’s rising middle and upper-middle classes, GAIA delivers contemporary interior designs to homes across the country at the click of a button. With ecommerce representing just 1% of Mexico’s US$77 billion furniture retail industry (compared to 15% in US), the company was awarded “Most Innovative Ecommerce 2015” and “Best UX 2016” by Eshow, finding instant traction among 7,000 Mexican consumers in its first year alone. Following investments from Endeavor Investor Network members Nazar Yasin and Heberto Taracena, GAIA recently supplemented its online platform with a physical storefront, bringing the company within two years of its vision for full vertical integration and brand recognition throughout Mexico.

MIAMI

Entrepreneur: Guillaume Lellouche & Katie D’Amore
Company: Citizen
Description: That dealing with the government is often a confusing, protracted process comes as no surprise to anyone. Citizen allows Americans to fill and submit government forms with the goal of making this process simpler and faster. With two products thus far, Employee Identification Number (EIN) forms and Social Security Number (SSN) forms, Citizen is launching its third product, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form in the next few weeks. Along the FAFSA launch, Citizen is unveiling its new platform, which recycles customer data and fills subsequent forms automatically, encouraging clients to use Citizen on multiple occasions. With 37 million FAFSA applicants every year (EIN and SSN have 15.5 million applicants combined), Citizen expects to double its revenue this year.

PHILIPPINES

Entrepreneur: Steve Benitez
Company: Bo’s Coffee
Description:  Bo’s Coffee is taking on Starbucks for the coffee crown of the Philippines. Selling a homegrown experience, Bo’s uses only coffee beans from the Philippines and sells other locally-made products in its stores. The company currently has nearly 80 stores, and with a Filipino population over 100 million and a rapidly growing middle class, it hopes to have 200 stores by 2020. Endeavor can be key in helping Steve make the best decisions to implement this aggressive expansion strategy.

SPAIN

Entrepreneur: Alejandro (“Alex”) Romero
Company: Alto Data Analytics
Description: Ninety percent of all the data that exists on the internet has been created in the past two years. Large organizations want to utilize this growing pool of information to advance their company’s’ missions, but collecting and analyzing comprehensive and complex data sets is challenging, even for highly sophisticated companies. Alto Data Analytics pairs proprietary data analytic and visualization technology with in-house experts to help large businesses identify pressing issues and make better-informed, data-driven executive decisions. The company offers two products/services: Alto Analyzer, a cloud-based data analytics software, and Alto Insights, the company’s in-house consulting branch. Alto Data Analytics works with renowned public, private and non-profit organizations from around the world to extract actionable, real-time insights from the chaos of datasets that live on social media, emails threads, the dark web, etc.

Entrepreneur: Veronica Pascual Boe
Company: ASTI
Description: ASTI is a provider of intra-logistics solutions, helping manufacturing companies streamline production in their factories.  By offering automatic guided vehicles with customized software that meet clients’ specific requirements, ASTI cuts operational costs for its customers, allowing them to remain competitive. The company focuses heavily on R&D by allocating 20% of annual revenue toward product development.  Already serving big clients such as Volvo, Puegeot, and Airbus, ASTI’s potential client base reaches over US$30 billion in value. Currently present mostly in Europe, ASTI is looking to expand its commercial efforts in Latin America and the United States.

Entrepreneur: Pablo Rabanal
Company: Reclamador
Description: On average, every year, 1.5 million travelers in Spain are victims of delayed or cancelled flights, 3.5 million suffer from illegal bank fees and thousands of individuals from wrongful charges by their phone companies. Due to the lack of knowledge of consumer protection laws, heavy paperwork and expenses involved, only a small percentage file for claims against the corporates. Determined  to see the victory of David over Goliath, Reclamador operates an online platform that effectively manages the end-to-end process of filing claims against large corporates on behalf of customers, on a ‘no-win, no-fees’ basis.  The company’s user-friendly platform allows customers to file a claim in less than five minutes, after which Reclamador handles the entire process. With a success rate of over 90%, Reclamador is a pioneer and leader in the US$10 billion Spanish claims market. Today, the company operates in all the provinces in Spain, and has helped 75,000 individuals (over 12% of the total mercantile court proceedings in the country).

SOUTH AFRICA

Entrepreneur: Trevor Wolfe
Company: Delvv.IO
Description: delvv.io is a digital qualitative feedback platform that allows South African brands to get feedback on their creative ideas and ad campaigns from an online community of international marketing professionals in one week. Unlike traditional ad agencies that take 60 days to test ads and provide market research, delvv.io cuts project management hours by 40%, helping businesses from startups to multinationals crowdsource feedback to inform the creative process rather than delay it. The two-sided platform connects South African companies to advertising, creative and marketing professionals around the globe who provide quick and affordable feedback on creative ideas and ad campaigns.

TURKEY

Entrepreneur: Mehmet Ecevit  &  Kaan Karamancı
Company: Gram Games
Description: Gram Games produces original, free-to-play, mobile games that are deceptively simple and immediately engaging. Its three active titles—1010!, Merged!, and 1010! World)—are available for free download on the Apple, Google Play, Windows Phone, and Amazon stores. 1010! has attracted over 60 million downloads and 4 million daily active users (DAUs), reaching the App Store’s “Top Free Downloads” in over 55 countries and the #1 download in the US. Perfect for puzzleophiles and casual gamers of all types, Gram Games’ titles are intuitive and simple to learn while incorporating deeper strategic elements that keep players engaged. The games are distinguished by their appealing graphics, intuitive flow, and original and challenging plots.

Entrepreneurs: Can Alhas & Doruk Mutlu
Company: Evam
Description: Despite the hype and significant resources spent on collecting and understanding big data, due to its short-lived operational value, organizations typically capture less than 20% of the value of the collected data. EVAM, a real-time analytics platform, makes big data faster and smarter by allowing businesses across industries to utilize it for ‘in-the-moment’ decisions. EVAM’s visual and user-friendly platform allows any business user, even those without technical knowledge, to build scenarios around their customers and assets, and react quickly to business opportunities and threats. The global real-time event processing market is ~US$15B and the fastest growing segment of the data analytics, which is expected to exceed US$110B by 2019. Operating in this growing market; EVAM is making strides in the ‘fast data’ revolution at a lightening pace. With 36 corporate clients across seven countries collectively representing 250 million individuals, EVAM aims to make data accessible and actionable globally