From all over Chile: ¡Impulso Chileno announces its 250 winners!

26 •  jan •  2023

The Luksic Foundation’s Entrepreneurship program will support 250 entrepreneurs with funding, between $3 and $5 million pesos each, and academic support from experts in the entrepreneurship ecosystem. In this fifth edition, the Foundation will implement an impact evaluation of the program in alliance with the international consulting firm JPAL Poverty Action Lab of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

When an entrepreneur advances, it is a whole family and community that grows. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), Chile National Report 2021, 79% of Chileans consider entrepreneurship as a desirable career path. In this line, and with the certainty that SMEs are the engine of our country, the Luksic Foundation, through the Impulso Chileno program, provides comprehensive support with financing, training and personalized mentoring to those who have a formal business, with the aim of enhancing its development.

The fifth version of the Foundation’s program received more than 21,000 applications from entrepreneurs from all over Chile. “This 2023 will be a complex year for the country’s economy and very challenging for SMEs. This is why we have increased the total number of winners in this new edition to 250, maintaining our commitment to provide them with quality tools to boost the growth of their businesses,” said Cristián Schalper, director of the Entrepreneurship area of the Luksic Foundation.

The total fund to be distributed among the 250 winners is up to $1.25 billion pesos, where each one will receive between $3 and $5 million to acquire fixed assets, tools for the digitalization of the business, dissemination and working capital. In addition, each entrepreneur will receive online training provided by the School of Management of the Pontificia Universidad Católica and personalized mentoring by Corporación Simón de Cirene.

Winners from Arica to Punta Arenas

In the fifth version of the contest, 70% of the winners were from regions other than the Metropolitan Region. Of the total, 52.4% were women and 47.6% men.

The age range of the winners was between 26 and 73 years old, and the most important sectors were food (29%), commerce (23%) and services (18%). The complete list of the 250 winners is published on the impulsochileno.cl website.

Impact evaluation

In order to meet the objectives of its programs, the Luksic Foundation works on the basis of a model that ensures quality through the use of permanent evidence and evaluation methodologies. This is why during 2021 a pre-post evaluation was applied to the winners of the third edition of Impulso Chileno, to assess whether the program fulfills its purpose. The main findings indicated that there was an 83% increase in the average monthly sales of the entrepreneurs, from $2.9 to $5.5 million, an increase in the average number of paid workers in the business and that the entrepreneurs achieved better management in terms of financial health.

In 2023, the Foundation will conduct a study and impact evaluation of the Impulso Chileno program, together with the international research center JPAL Poverty Action Lab, in order to determine whether the results obtained in previous versions are attributable to the program. “We are convinced that reflecting on the lessons learned from different institutions allows us to develop improvement processes to increase the chances of success of the initiatives,” explains Macarena Cea, director of the Foundation’s Evaluation and Measurement area.