A Costa Rican entrepreneurship academy and incubator, launched the first edition of the Despegar Fund, an initiative that seeks to invest in Costa Rican technology-based startups in the pre-seed stage. This initiative will also invest a percentage of its funds in for-profit social enterprises.
“Our objective with the Despegar Fund is to promote innovation in the technology industry through financial support and accompaniment to the great ideas that exist in the country. Costa Rica’s entrepreneurship ecosystem is made up of highly trained human capital and we want to invest in it,” said Amadeo Quirós M., president of Caricaco.
Caricaco is an impact enhancer, which provides opportunities through the promotion of quality education, access to capital and the strengthening of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The fund will seek to invest up to $ 50,000 for each company that qualifies according to the participation requirements. The startups that participate may be aimed at the health, lifestyle, e-commerce, tourism, real estate, and educational sectors, among others.
Conditions to participate
“To be investment candidates, startups must operate in Costa Rica, be digital-technology based, have a clear and defined business plan, have generated monthly sales of at least $ 5,000 in the last 3 months, have growth goals established, have trained human capital and that the product or service is scalable to other markets ”, added the president of Caricaco.
The chosen startups will receive quarterly disbursements, conditional on meeting the goals and objectives defined jointly at the beginning of the established relationship. In addition to the investment amount, the selected startups will have access to the Caricaco mentors network, connections with international investment funds and manage strategic alliances with the rest of the participating companies.
The call to apply for this investment opportunity began on September 9th. Those interested should access the website fondodespegar.caricaco.org and fill out the form.
“According to the Estado La Nación Program, these types of companies have deficiencies in financing, access to seed capital, risk capital and models for internationalization. The Despegar Fund seeks to be a key ally that helps take startups to the next stage” he concluded
