Jesús, Ximena, Tamara, Cristián and Ana are just some of the winners of the four versions of Impulso Chileno, a Luksic Foundation contest that was born in 2018 with the aim of providing an opportunity to entrepreneurs who for various reasons have not been able to get their businesses off the ground.
“We are convinced that entrepreneurs are the engine of our country. For the same reason we are proud to have more than 400 entrepreneurs in the Impulso Chileno family, all with a great profile and potential to continue climbing. We hope they can all achieve their goals and that each year we reach more corners of Chile with new opportunities,” says Alvaro Ipinza, general manager of Fundación Luksic.
On January 14, the Impulso Chileno contest announced the 200 winners of its fourth version, who join the 220 entrepreneurs who participated in the three previous editions. All the winners receive financing; training from the UC School of Management; and personalized mentoring from the Simon of Cyrene Corporation.
“As the name says, it was really a boost for our business and family livelihood to grow. The trainings were key to acquire new knowledge and take advantage of new opportunities to strengthen my small business. I started more than 10 years ago with five orders a month; today I have more than 30,” says Lastenia Albornoz, owner of Fundas Truck and winner of the second edition of the competition.
420 winners in four editions
More than 44 thousand applications have been received by the Impulso Chileno contest since its launch in 2018. Since that time, once a year it opens its call so that thousands of entrepreneurs have the opportunity to receive knowledge, tools and financing for the growth of their businesses.
In these four years the program has received ventures with great potential, so the selection process has not been easy. Under the different criteria previously established in the contest rules, 420 winners have already been selected: 60 in the first and second version, 100 in the third and aware of the challenging scenario that entrepreneurs have had to face, in 2021 the contest doubled the number and 200 SME owners were chosen.
Always with a special focus on supporting entrepreneurs from the regions, 65% of the total winners belong to regions other than the Metropolitan Region, leading Valparaíso (11.19%), Biobío (8.33%) and Los Lagos (8.10%). In addition, of the 420 winners, 53% of the businesses are led by women, and their ages range from 25 to 70 years old.
“In each version we have been working to support entrepreneurs who can take full advantage of the different components of the program and thus strengthen their businesses. Today we are focused on empowering formal entrepreneurs with a range of sales that place them between micro and small businesses, which show great growth potential,” said Cristián Schalper, head of the Entrepreneurship area of the Luksic Foundation.
In addition, it should be noted that in its first three versions, more than 60 hours of classes and workshops have been conducted by the UC School of Management, which have provided the tools and guidelines for entrepreneurs to further develop strategies for their business. Likewise, the mentoring has totaled more than 3,000 hours, where each expert has transmitted his knowledge and experiences to strengthen the different winning ventures of Impulso Chileno.
*Meet the winners and their businesses at www.impulsochileno.cl
