"Expanding and succeeding in a 50 million people market like Colombia”
This event is the beginning of a series of events targeting the start-up communities in both Colombia and Norway. The purpose of these events is for start-ups and SMEs in Norway to gain knowledge on how it is to enter and operate in the Colombian Market in different sectors, as well as for Colombian start-ups and SMEs to gain the same knowledge for the Norwegian Market.
In this initial event, we will mainly discuss critical success factors of entry and operating in the Colombian market from a Norwegian Entrepreneur perspective, as well as from successful Colombian Entrepreneurs perspectives. Doors open at Oslo International Hub at 16:30 with mingling, light refreshments and gelato from Paradis Gelateria.
Program:
16:30-17:00 Registration and Mingling
17:00-17:05 Welcome from CNCC Managing Director, Alejandra Neira
17:05-17:20 "Aldeamo, a Norwegian start-up success in Colombia. Key lessons a Norwegian company must know to succeed in Colombia". By Hans Christian Boehlke
17:20-17:25 “Replicating Aldeamo’s success to build an impact investment fund” By Pilar Castillo
17:25-17:30 Introduction to Colombian panel of Entrepreneurs live from Bogotá:
- Gigliola Aycardi and her business partner founded Bodytech, one of the most prominent brands of gym studios in Latin America. It operates 140 gyms in Colombia, Peru and Chile with 300,000 members. Gigliola was also awarded the 2014 Ernst & Young entrepreneur award. Bodytech has revenue of over US$ 100 million a year. https://endeavor.org/entrepreneur/gigliola-aycardi-batista/
- Martin Shcrimpff is one of the founders of PayU, one of the leading online payment platforms in the world. Martin, together with his investors, was able to grow and transform the company into a world class player with transactions of over US$ 20 billion a year. https://endeavor.org/entrepreneur/martin-schrimpff/
- Alvaro Hoffmann is a doctor that when faced with the lack of work for physicians in the 1990s in Colombia, built a school with his partners. Campo Alto, the school, began training assistant nurses, and now trains 8,000 underprivileged people a year in 7 locations. Campo Alto has received 6 purchase offers in recent years. https://endeavor.org/entrepreneur/alvaro-hoffmann/
- Juan Carlos Paris is the founder of Spira, which is a company that trains employees to do specific tasks within their companies. Since 2005 he has worked with more than 100 companies training more than 5 million people. https://endeavor.org/entrepreneur/juan-carlos-paris/
- Hans Christian Boehlke partnered with a Norwegian company to create one of the largest SMS companies in Latin America operating in 11 countries. Hans Christian is one of the managing partners of Makondo, an Impact fund created in Norway to invest in post-conflict Colombia. https://endeavor.org/entrepreneur/hans-christian-boehlke/
17:30-17:40 Panel Discussion: “Critical Success Factors for Norwegian companies in Colombia and Latin America”
17:40-17:55 Q&A Session
17:55-18:05 "Oslo International Hub Project in Colombia” by Jørn Lein-Mathisen
18:05-18:15 “Bogbi, a Colombian Cargo & Family Bike made for Peace, People, and the Environment” by Sigurd Kilhl
18:15-18:25 Q&A Session
18:25-18:30 Closing remarks
We are looking forward to seeing you there!
