These are the top 10 entrepreneurs in Colombia, based on their current success with their respective startups. We take into account the ranks of their startups within StartupRanking.com, value creation and general contributions to the tech community.
1. Andres Barreto (GrooveShark, Onswipe, PulsoSocial)
As a founding partner of GrooveShark, one of the most visited websites on the internet, Andres Barreto has paved a legacy that has earned him the nickname “the latin american Mark Zuckerberg”. He’s currently making strong efforts to develop the Colombian startup ecosystem through a startup accelerator, a coworking space, coding programs for young children and startup investments.
2. Alex Torrenegra (VoiceBunny, Voice123, WeHostels)
Aside from being a super smart and friendly entrepreneur, Alex has successfully grown his voice marketplaces to become undisputed leaders in the space. Torrenegra has also helped countless startups within the Colombian ecosystem through HubBog, the biggest coworking space in Colombia and through various investments and mentorship to successful startups like WeHostels.
3. Freddy Vega & Christian Van Der Henst (Mejorando.la, Cristalab)
Through Mejorando.la, John Freddy Vega and Christian Van Der Henst have created the biggest online education effort in Latin America. Out of all of the entrepreneurs in this list, they summon the biggest and most active social media following. They have also managed to create one of the strongest latin american startups without outside investment.
4. Daniel Palacio (Authy)
Daniel Palacio created one of the leading two factor authentication services in the world. He did so by becoming the only Colombian to go through the prestigious YCombinator accelerator program in Silicon Valley. Dubbed by many as one of the smartest minds within the Colombian startup ecosystem, he’s not as known as others on this list due to his general lack of interest for startup events and media exposure.
5. Tomas Dueñas Uribe (Mavish.com, Carros.com.co, Hypefire)
Through Mavish.com, Tomas Dueñas Uribe has created one of the most visited websites in Colombia by having more than six million readers per month. Regarded by many as the top growth hacker in Latin America, Tomas actively helps startups around the world with their marketing efforts through his courses in Mejorando.la and through startup conferences.
6.Andres Gutierrez & Juan Salcedo (Tappsi)
The undisputed leader in the App space in Colombia, Tappsi has garnered hundreds of thousands of loyal users who rely on the app to transport themselves safely through the country. Having recently closed a big funding round and having begun their monetization efforts, its clear that their dominion over the taxi space will continue, despite strong efforts from Rocket Internet to change that situation through Easy Taxi.
7. Miguel McAllister & Pablo Gonzalez Del Corral (ClickDelivery, PideFarma)
Miguel McAllister and his partners at ClickDelivery, have created the most effective way of getting fast food at your door through DomiciliosBogota.com and various other localized sites. They are now successfully offering the same service for pharmaceutical products and have no signs of slowing down in their general growth within the space.
8. Hernán Aracena (Oja.la, Pio.la)
Hernan has recently raised a substantial round of funding for his online courses startup Oja.la. The round was led by Alta Ventures, under the supervision of Diego Serebrisky. Competing within the same space as Mejorando.la and TareasPlus, Oja.la must use that investment wisely in order to try to overcome them in terms of traffic and revenue.
9. Jorge Soto (Keraderm)
Keraderm has recently become a finalist at Boston’s MassChallenge with their breakthrough technology that allows large pieces of skin to be created from a very small sample of tissue. This technology is already curing hundreds of patients and will become more widely used as time goes by.
10. Hernán Jaramillo y Roberto Cuartas (TareasPlus)
Hernan and Roberto have successfully created a course platform where any spanish speaker can learn how to hack or learn italian. They received a substantial investment a couple of years ago and are currently based in Silicon Valley. It’s direct competition is Oja.la and their race seems to be getting tighter every day.
These are the top 10 Colombian entrepreneurs and their startups. Colombia is a country with a vibrant startup community and its getting better everyday with the influx of resources by government entities and private investors. Share this article and comment on who else should be included in this list.