The 400 semifinalists were selected from more than 18 thousand applicants by Corporación Simón de Cirene, based on their commitment to business development, growth potential, differentiation from the competition, and clarity of business objectives.
For this third edition of the contest, an Evaluation Committee was created, composed of the Corporación Simón de Cirene, the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and the Luksic Foundation, which will be in charge of reviewing the videos of the semi-finalists and selecting the winners.
“We congratulate the 400 semifinalists of Impulso Chileno. It was a difficult task for the evaluation team, as thousands of applications were received with excellent businesses from all over Chile. We especially applaud the women, who have been the protagonists in this call, which makes us proud as a Foundation. Much success to all the entrepreneurs in this last stage of evaluation,” said Paola Luksic, president of the Luksic Foundation.
The 400 semifinalists
Of the 400 semifinalists, 50% were women, while 49.5% were men. The semi-finalists ranged in age from 20 to 90 and the majority, 53.5%, were between 34 and 48 years old.
“Impulso Chileno has once again shown us the great entrepreneurial strength we have in our country. We know that these months have not been easy for entrepreneurs so we hope to be a concrete and comprehensive contribution so that the winners can move their businesses forward,” said Andrónico Luksic, founder of the Impulso Chileno program.
The 400 semifinalists represent all the regions of the country. The three regions with the highest participation rate were the Metropolitan Region (28%), Coquimbo (10%), followed by Valparaíso (9%).
The most represented items were those related to Food with 29%, followed by Commerce with 19%.
Second evaluation stage
The semifinalists will go on to a second stage of evaluation, in which they must complete a form and send a video of 3 minutes maximum to show and provide more information about their business. The final deadline is Sunday, November 1.
The 100 winners will be announced in mid-December on the contest’s social networks and on the website www.impulsochileno.cl.
