Palo Alto, California – December 12, 2016 – Endeavor selected 37 high-impact entrepreneurs representing 20 companies and 13 countries at its 68th International Selection Panel (ISP) held December 7-9 in Palo Alto, California. In total, Endeavor now supports 1,403 entrepreneurs leading 875 companies in 25 growth markets around the world. The event was Endeavor’s final ISP of 2016.
The ISP is the culmination of a rigorous multi-step selection process to identify innovative and driven entrepreneurs who are committed to advancing an ecosystem of entrepreneurship.
Endeavor Co-Founder and CEO Linda Rottenberg moderates a panel to select new Endeavor Entrepreneurs in Palo Alto.
At the event, panelists from around the world interviewed entrepreneur candidates about their businesses, evaluating them on their potential for high-impact growth, and then deliberated on which candidates should be selected to become Endeavor Entrepreneurs. Once selected, Endeavor Entrepreneurs gain access to comprehensive customized services, including introductions to local and international business mentors and volunteers from Fortune 500 consulting firms who will help them address key needs.
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.
“It was great to bring the network and entrepreneurs together in one of the country’s great innovation centers for the last International Selection Panel of 2016,” said Endeavor co-founder and CEO Linda Rottenberg. “It’s especially exciting to see our newest offices in the U.S., Italy, and Japan, continue to grow as we prepare to expand further in 2017.”
During the ISP, Endeavor also awarded Endeavor Brazil board member, founder of shopping comparison service Buscape, and CEO and Co-Founder of Redpoint eVentures Romero Rodrigues with the designation of Honorary Endeavor Entrepreneur, celebrating his contribution to the local ecosystem and the Endeavor Network.
Endeavor Brazil Board Member Romero Rodrigues was recognized as an “Honorary Endeavor Entrepreneur.”
Thank you to our partners EY and SAP for generously sponsoring the event.
Endeavor has announced 2017 ISPs in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (February 20-22), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (March 15-17), London, United Kingdom (May 15-17), Lima, Peru (June 28-30), Beirut, Lebanon (24-26), New York City, United States (September 13-15), Istanbul, Turkey (October 23-25) and Miami, United States (December 11-13).
Brief descriptions of the selected entrepreneurs and companies follow.
BRAZIL
Entrepreneurs: Benjamin Gleason and Thiago Alvarez
Company: GuiaBolso
Description: A technology company is rewriting the rules in Brazil’s consumer credit market. GuiaBolso is a FinTech company that helps Brazilian consumers better manage their money by automatically aggregating all their financial information in a single location. Consistently ranked as Brazil’s #1 Finance app, GuiaBolso helps users understand their financial position, track their spending, and discover credit products with the best available terms.
Entrepreneurs: Juliana Freitas, José Neto & Marcelo Filho
Company: FortBrasil
Description: FortBrasil meets the needs of low-income consumers by offering them credit through its open private label credit card. FortBrasil increases the consumption power of these unbanked consumers and provides them with credit reward opportunities at retail stores. This creates an opportunity for its partnering retail stores to boost customer loyalty and increase sales to customers at the base of the pyramid. Targeting a US$1.2B Brazilian payments market, FortBrasil works with an impressive list of private label partners. With presence in four Brazilian states, FortBrasil aims to expand to all of Brazil’s nine states in the northeast by 2019.
CHILE
Entrepreneurs: Manuel Rozas
Company: Kura Biotec
Description: Kura Biotec manufacturers sustainably-sourced enzymes found in mollusk entrails that enable a faster, cleaner and more-precise way to conduct molecular diagnostics. The company uses cutting edge research techniques to equip diagnostic laboratories with abalone enzymes. These enzymes quickly and accurately quantify substances present in urine and blood, in both animals and humans, to perform drug screens and anti-doping controls. In addition to being an ‘all in one’ solution that can screen 33 compounds with one test, Kura enzymes operate in less than half the time of existing solutions in the market, and due to their high level of purity, allowing clients to gain up to 400% more time for diagnostics. In less than three years, Kura Biotec has achieved rapid international growth in 14 countries across four continents, which includes three of the top five diagnostic laboratories in the US that cater to the FBI and NIDA. But Founder, Manuel Rozas’ vision is set larger than drug testing: growing at the rate of 75% yearly, Kura Biotec hopes to optimize the entire US$8 billion molecular diagnostic industry including genetic testing for diseases and forensic science.
DETROIT
Entrepreneurs: Jason Raznick
Company: Benzinga
Description: Michigan-based financial news site, Benzinga, provides actionable financial news and insights to give investors an edge that was once only available to the Wall Street elite. Through its highly-trafficked media site and subscription-based terminal products, Benzinga offers real-time news breaks, analyst ratings, earning reports, and exclusive insights from industry experts that are read by three million people in 125 countries each month. Benzinga’s content is distributed by major financial portals including Yahoo Finance, MSN Money, and MarketWatch, and licensed by industry giantssuch as Bloomberg and Dow Jones, positioning the company to become the go-to source for affordable and accessible financial news in the US$26 billion global financial data market.
Entrepreneurs: Caitlin, Julie, Jesse and Jenny James
Company: DROUGHT
Description: As Michigan’s first and leading cold-press juicery, DROUGHT satisfies consumers’ thirst for healthy, convenient and organic nutrition. DROUGHT packs 3-5 pounds of raw produce in every one of its juices, providing consumers with a readily available nutraceutical beverage without the hassle of juicing at home. DROUGHT differentiates itself from competitors by appealing to a wider customer base through strategic branding efforts and a wide range of product flavors. It is one of only a handful of companies to have successfully navigated the wholesale regulations of raw juice and therefore is in an excellent position to grow at a rapid rate.
EGYPT
Entrepreneur: Yaseen Abdel-Ghaffar
Company: SolarizEgypt
Description: SolarizEgypt designs, installs, and commissions grid-connected PV solar power plants to supplement power supply to residential and mid-sized commercial entities in Egypt. SolarizEgypt also offers financing solutions (working with Barclays and a local PE firm), helping clients cover upfront costs, and over time offers significant savings to clients when compared to the cost of electricity from the national grid.
Entrepreneurs: Waguih Iskander & Emad Iskander
Company: Family Corporation
Description: Family Corporation is a leading transport company, offering complete human and goods transportation solutions to its corporate clients, including large local companies and multinationals, such as Shell, Chevron, Oracle, Pfizer, PepsiCo, & Heineken. Family Corporation has developed in-house service centers and body shops to service their fleet.
INDONESIA
Entrepreneurs: Krishnan Menon & Christian Sutardi
Company: Fabelio
Description: Online purchases in Indonesia currently represent less than 1% of total furniture sales, compared to 10% in developed countries. Existing offline retailers either provide overly expensive options that are prohibitive to the majority of the population, or cheaper pieces of questionable quality. Fabelio offers authentic Indonesian furniture and stylish home decor at affordable prices through its user-friendly ecommerce platform. Believing that beautiful furniture should be accessible to middle class families, Fabelio offers its products at prices up to 30-40% less than similar quality goods. Fabelio’s team collaborates with local artisans to infuse each piece with minimalistic elements from Indonesian culture and innovative trends.
Entrepreneurs: Reynazran Royono
Company: Snapcart
Description: Gaining access to consumer’s offline purchasing data is like finding a needle in a haystack. In Asia, where 95% of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) products are sold offline that needle can mean the difference between a successful marketing strategy and a wasted investment. Snapcart makes the search easier by incentivizing consumers with cash back and rewards to upload their receipt data on its analytics platform. This data arms brands and retailers with reports and information about consumer spending and shopping habits. Also through its app, Snapcart engages its user base to gather consumer insights through crowd sourcing activities such as surveys and image captures. Operating in the US$7B Asia Pacific market research space, Snapcart has generated over half a million downloads, on-boarded 80 brands, and won global awards from Accenture and Disrupt 100. Currently present in Indonesia and the Philippines, Snapcart aims to expand throughout Asia and beyond.
ITALY
Entrepreneur: Luca Rossettini
Company: D-ORBIT
Description: It’s time to make space for space travel. By the end of 2016, satellite operators and space agencies will have launched more than 6,000 satellites into space. With 11,000 new satellites expected to be launched in the next ten years, mounting orbital debris increases the risk of collision, which can be expensive for space business and detrimental to the success of future launches. Left to each operator and agency, removing and disposing of satellites results in an overall success rate of ~50%. D-Orbit is a satellite technology company that produces launching, decommissioning, and life extension devices to help satellite operators and agencies manage their satellite end of life. It’s first group of products focus on satellite removal, cutting decommissioning times from weeks or months to a matter of hours. Patent protected in 11 countries, D-Orbit is the only global provider of decommissioning solutions that fully meets international space debris regulations.
Entrepreneurs: Simone Maggi & Riccardo Schiavotto
Company: Lanieri
Description: Lanieri is an e-commerce-driven brand offering made-to-measure formal apparel and is the first of its kind to do so with 100% “made-in-Italy” garments. By cutting out heavy offline retail expenditures and having direct relationships with fabric manufacturers, Lanieri can offer luxury garments for 1/3 the price of the traditional made-in-Italy competition. Lanieri is underpinned by a powerful statistical measurement algorithm that double checks measurements to population averages and yields a 90% perfect fit rate.
JAPAN
Entrepreneurs: Ryosuke Niino and Yusuke Umeda
Company: Uzabase
Description: Tokyo-based Uzabase enables businesses to easily obtain company and industry information by providing online integrated database services to the global financial community through its B2B information platform and its B2B and B2C curated news app. Operating in a US$1.5B Asian market, Uzabase has a long list of companies using its database, gaining one-click access to corporate information including financials, shareholders, key executives and historical or rumored M&A deals. Through its news app, NewsPicks, users can read articles selected by media influencers from various economic sources. This media company, which boosted its growth through an IPO, is already in 10 Asian countries where it aims to deepen its presence, and has plans to expand to the US next year.
LEBANON
Entrepreneurs: Donald Batal
Company: Ministry of Food
Description: Ministry of Food is a Lebanon-based restaurant management company offering fast-casual experiences with gourmet tastes from locally sourced foods. Classic Burger Joint (CBJ) operates in the better burger category, offering a variety of burgers to satisfy customers. Whether it’s the Kuwaiti burger served with Lamb, the Halloumi burger in Cyprus or its selection of burgers with multi-cereal buns for health-conscious consumers, CBJ specializes in creating localized and diversified menus. Tomatomatic offers Lebanese consumers a take-out and delivery concept, specializing in American pizza made from locally-sourced ingredients
MALAYSIA
Entrepreneur: Alexander Fernandez
Company: Streamline Studios
Description: Streamline is a global games development studio with offices in Japan, Germany, North America and Malaysia. Utilizing high-end production expertise, proprietary technology, and forward-thinking corporate culture, the company is focused on delivering unforgettable experiences in the gaming industry. A full end to end production house, Streamline handles projects from idea and art conceptualization to production, software engineering and game design. Working closely in integrated partnerships with companies from all over the world, Streamline has been accredited to the production of some of the most iconic IPs in gaming history. BioShock® Infinite, James Cameron’s AVATAR, Killer Instinct, Street Fighter® V, Gears of War®, Final Fantasy® XV and more.
MEXICO
Entrepreneurs: Daniel Vogel, Pablo Gonzalez, Ben Peters
Company: Bitso
Description: Launching Mexico’s first digital currency exchange via an online platform, Bitso’s cofounders have developed a system based on blockchain technology, which allows for fiat (national currency) to digital currency trades (and vice-versa) and worldwide money transfers. Operating in the vibrant emerging Mexican fintech market, Bitso boasts an impressive number of B2C and B2B clients, which use its technological infrastructure to send and receive payments from end-users in Mexico. Working to fix Mexico’s financial inclusion problem, Bitso looks to grow international transfers, including remittances, which represent Mexico’s most important source for capital inflows at US$28B per year.
Entrepreneurs: Juan José Mora Vilanueva, Daria Nikitina, Mayte Velazquez
Company: Atlantia Search
Description: Atlantia Search makes market research easy, fast and affordable by combining technology with proprietary research methodologies and a global, screened network of researchers. Atlantia Search delivers finished products in as short as 3 minutes to 15 days — much faster than the industry average of 3-6 months — at prices 70% cheaper than competitors. With an impressive portfolio of clients, including some of the largest global brands, the company will have expanded to all of Latin America by 2018, and globally by 2020.
MIAMI
Entrepreneurs: Carlos Ramirez
Company: Powerful Men
Description: For consumers looking to complement a physically active lifestyle, high-protein diets help build muscle, aid digestion, and assist in preventing weight gain. However, shoppers often have to navigate grocery stores’ supplement sections and choose from products that require mixing concoctions and taste artificial or chalky. Powerful Yogurt (PY) offers health-conscious consumers looking to “find their inner abs” a full line of delicious, high protein products that include Greek yogurt, protein drinks, instant oatmeal and yogurt-covered protein bars. Developed by a team of sports nutritionists, trainers, and food scientists, Powerful Yogurt’s snacks help active consumers achieve optimum nutrition through delicious, all natural means.
SOUTH AFRICA
Entrepreneurs: Paul O’Linn, Crispin Russell
Company: ArcAqua
Description: ArcAqua has developed new technology that allows for the application of ozone, a natural-occurring molecule formed when electricity meets oxygen, to food surfaces as a means of sanitation. The internationally patented technology kills up to 99.99% of known bacteria, saving water and lengthening the shelf life of produce. Focusing on the citrus and avocado industry, ArcAqua captured 20% of the South African market share after only one harvest season. Already with solid leads for US expansion, the company is seeking to become the fruit and vegetable packaging industry’s first choice for sanitation.
SPAIN
Entrepreneurs: Jorge Poyatos & Albert Nieto
Company: Seedtag
Description: 90% of information transferred to the brain is visual, so it isn’t surprising that online articles with images receive 94% more views than those without images. While pictures and videos are key elements of storytelling, they have remained under-utilized by advertisers. Seedtag has changed that – it places non-invasive ads into digital images so that publishers can monetize and advertisers can leverage a new format of premium ad space. Seedtag’s high-performance technology positions it as a premium player in advertising technology. The page analysis algorithm matches relevant images with the native ads that will complement them. This contextualization increases the probability that an ad will reach its target audience leading to an increase in CTR and conversions for advertisers.
UAE
Entrepreneurs: Kim Thompson & Matt Toogood
Company: Raw
Description: UAE’s first roastery to offer 100% organic and fair-trade coffee, Raw is trailblazing the “Third Wave” specialty coffee movement in the Middle East. The company sources and roasts Grade 1 specialty beans from around the world to produce five premium blends and fifteen single origin coffee strains. Through an efficient logistics operation, the company delivers its coffee to commercial cafes and restaurants weekly to ensure freshness. As an end-to-end solution, Raw supports the sale of coffee beans through the provision of hands-on barista training, customer service, equipment and maintenance to ensure raw perfection in every cup.
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Published by Endeavor on 12 December 2016.
