A Look Inside 40 Medellin Startups -2018 List

In 2015-2016, I was living in South East Asia and while I was there I started writing about the top startups in South East Asia in my blog. Since, I am currently living in Colombia. I wanted to know what the Medellin, Colombia startup ecosystem is like. So this past weekend I was on AngelList doing a search on startups in Medellin, Colombia. I would like to share some of my findings with you. AngelList is a reputable database of startups and investors worldwide. According to AngelList’s databases there are 305 startups, which is not actual representation. So I decided to check all 305 startups and make a more accurate determination of startups.

For this article I decided to include only tech startups. In other words, their product should be centered around technology. Investopedia’s definition of startups “is a company that is in the first stage of its operations. These companies are often initially bankrolled by their entrepreneurial founders as they attempt to capitalize on developing a product or service for which they believe there is a demand.”

In my list I have omitted non profits, software development, co working spaces, legal, startup advisors, venture capital, digital agencies, and outsourcing companies to get more accurate number of startups. Of the 305 startups, 117 companies have failed knocking the number down 188. Keep in mind startups have a high failure rate so this was expected.Out of the existing 188 startups, I have put together a list of 40 startups that meet the definition of a tech startup. So take a few minutes and go through the list to see what kind of companies make up the Colombian startup ecosystem.

Viajala is a travel metasearch engine that aggregates an inventory of hotels and flights for the Latin American market. It basically a referral site to sights like booking.com, hotels.com, and Expedia. https://vimeo.com/90249595

Ubidots is an Internet of Things solutions provider using IoT cloud service, They have empowered more than 10,000 developers to build IoT projects; from smart vineyards in Chile to connected energy generators in the US.

Workep is a project management solution for Google Suite of products, you can create G Docs, sync Calendar events, add Contacts, start Hangouts and more.

Virtuagym gives consumers and professionals the tools to create their own workouts, keep track of their progress and achieve a healthier lifestyle. Consumers can use the software as a standalone service whereas health/fitness professionals can use the software to establish their own business fully customized to their needs and with over 2500+ exercises to choose from. https://youtu.be/M9WgAg6oCl4

Bankity is an automatic mobile expense manager that gives you reports about your finances/expenses, registering all your transactions. Bankity will tell you how much money you will save at the end of the month according to your actual expending patterns. https://youtu.be/C4eC7LhD9dY

Wagglio platform automatically interconnects landlords, agencies and tenants. It serves to save the time and effort while looking for a tenant and while looking for a place to rent.

Eventtia is an event management software. Eventtia believes in the transformative power of events. But planning events is a complex and not scalable process. At Eventtia, we help organizations communicate better and connect with their audiences by providing them a very powerful, flexible and easy to use event management software.

BaseLang offers unlimited Spanish tutoring at a very low price. Classes are one-on-one over Skype with a real, professional teacher. Students follow an optimized, communication-first curriculum that is personalized to their weak points, interests, and needs with the language.

La Haus is a residential brokerage for Latin America

InOut Delivery is a global technology company that enables unique consumer experiences for our customers through custom online and mobile apps, third-party channel integration, and dynamic features. InOut Delivery provide a full-suite of services for Eat-In Customers, Take-Out Orders and Delivery Logistics and booking. https://youtu.be/yUAE7ei4TjI

Vozy is a cloud communication platform that allows business to make, receive and manage all their phone calls, from anywhere. https://youtu.be/RqFTpMJqZ5A
inSitu Mobile is an invoicing app for field sales and field services. It handles mobile invoicing, sales orders, estimates, inventory, pricing, sales reps tracking and more!

Juanregala is an online market place focused on the gifts segment. The platform allows SMEs to sell their products in an easy way.

Ynasu is a transparent B2B online network and market place where buyers meet farmers and artisans, learn about their stories, and buy products directly from them. Each farmer association or independent farmer can create their own dynamic profile with photos and videos, providing buyers with insights into their history, goals and their products. This provides buyers with an opportunity to get to know where their products come from.

Justgo is a carpooling platform that connects passengers with drivers going in the same destination. Justgo is creating a B2B product that tracks employees trips and generates reports on distances traveled, CO2 generated, efficiency, among others. https://youtu.be/b4jZ4bw52CE

SurBTC develops technology services based on Bitcoin Blockchain. We operate an Exchange in Chile, Colombia and Peru. Also, SurBTC is leader in Bitcoin API services. Entrepreneurs can develop new business models based on this disruptive technology (payment systems, crowdfunding, international money transfer, among others).

Tpaga is a payment solution for unbanked consumers in Latin America. Transfer money to your coworkers, employees or suppliers.

Parkeapp allows you to search and reserve parking. Find available space at the best price in Colombia

Investopi is an investment education platform. Live online classes and good way to learn how to invest in financial markets.

Vino Para Mi is a wine shop for easy buying. Lets customers buy in an easy and quick way the wine they look for. The wines sold in Vino Para Mi are carefully selected by a professional sommelier to guarantee the best quality products. The customer service is priority in the shop and as part of it there is a 24 hours online chat and customer line to advice and solve customers questions.

LobbyPMS is a new web system for managing hotels. Very easy to use and very profitable.
Reservations, invoices, accounting, inventory, booking engine, online payments, channel manager, operations control and more. All in a simple and friendly interface.

Hostingfacil.co provides a optimized Web hosting service, it can accelerate your website to load in less than a second, we focus in optimization, security and friendly 24/7 support. We deliver an excellent service from entrepreneurs up to Government entities in 21+ countries in the 5 continents.

HidroLógica Ingeniería is a specialized web applications for decision making, planning, monitoring and/or real time follow-up of several variables for forestry, agriculture, hydrology, climatology, mining and/or hydraulics industries.

Pratech is automating business processes to improve competitiveness for enterprises. Achieving this goal requires quality improvement, productivity, work efficiency and continuous improvement orientation.

Prexview transforms your data from XML or JSON to high quality, beautiful and readable documents in PDF, HTML, PNG or JPG.

LG (libre gestion) let you create documents and fields according your own business, and run reports. Administrative and billing software.

Cuantis is a point of sale cloud based software that allows you manage all your stores, sales, customers, stocks and reports in minutes from any device, with a small monthly payment, and free upgrades.

Morechoice is the Airbnb of meeting rooms and venues. Morechoice platform puts together the offer and demand of meeting places, allowing users to make an effective booking from any part of the world, also selecting all the additional services that the room provides, such as audiovisual aids, food and beverages etc (if required). In less than 2 minutes, and from the comfort of your laptop, tablet or mobile phone. https://youtu.be/kJxN4yz2ku4

Protesis Avanzadas designs and manufacture a 3D printed robotic prosthetic. We use the most advence technology in the world and mix it with the low cost of 3D printing technology. The prosthetic hand reproduce the human movements with it myoelectric technology. This technology catch the electric signals from the muscle and reproduce them as movement.

TrainMe is eLearning platform designed to build LMS for companies. https://youtu.be/8KlGfvO6Xfc

Netqui is a financial payments and money management app. https://youtu.be/pBg2dVvZjzU

Prax is a platform to support human resource management , health and safety at work.

InOut Delivery platform enables restaurants with a customized delivery app or bot that increases sales. https://youtu.be/yUAE7ei4TjI

Pagomio is a software solution that allows businesses to manage their operations and payment collecting from their customers through different web based channels (eg. E-mail, corporate websites, social networks, marketplaces, etc) and different type of payment methods (eg. PayPal, Credit cards, 2CheckOut, Skrill, mobile payments, ACH, etc), while it gives a complete access, in real time, to business operations info (like sales, revenues, customers, purchasing behaviors, etc) from any device with internet access.

Tekus is a comprehensive digital communications platform that allows you to manage multimedia and dynamic information on different types of devices, allowing you to generate an internal and external information network on different types of devices: Industrial monitors, conventional TVs, Android and iOS phones, Tablets.

ControlT is a web platform and mobile application that manages the traceability of shipments, manage operation, safety, news, and track indicators.

Garlink is an event finder app. Publish, promote and sell tickets.

AlistaCar, is an application that connects automotive sector stores with users that need an immediate solution such as wash car, road side assistance, maintenance, parts, car rental, car insurance, and gas stations.

Project Cordillera allows you to go on sustainable adventure travel excursions in Peru and Colombia. The project connects you with social impact partners and experienced guides, creating authentic and responsible adventures. We secure solid impact relationships with local organizations, supporting communities while celebrating place.

SpySpot is a mobile application that tracks the location of users by offering coupons and discount benefits so they can buy what they like saving time and money.

Friends of Medellin is a platform for shared flats for students and young professionals in Latin America.

I believe Colombia is a tech hub just by looking at the large number of software development companies in the country. There is a lot of young and bright talent here. The wages for tech talent here are low making it a companies dream to setup shop in Colombia. Both Bogota and Medellin are prime examples of low cost of living and doing business. One US company in particular that opened an office in Medellin and doing very well is Yuxi Global. Yuxi Global is a software development company Watch the video I enjoyed it. Who knows this could be you in the near future https://youtu.be/81I44oXzr_U

If you are planning on expanding your office internationally or starting your next business venture then Colombia can offer that for you. It’s a beautiful country and setting up business is fairly easy here. Speaking of startups, South American is very big and you have more startup hubs in Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and more. I plan to research more startups in South America, what country should I start with next?