Source: El Mercurio

The $10 million fund will focus on startups mainly from Chile, Colombia, and Peru, at the seed stage, which already have market validation and are seeking to start their internationalization. “Addressing the structural gaps in Latin America in the labor and finance areas to generate more equitable, developed, and innovative societies” is the purpose of the new $10 million fund, called Imagine Ventures Fund, launched today by Grupo Imagine, an incubator and accelerator founded in 2013.

“This is our first 100% private venture capital fund, unlike the previous fund that was oriented towards a model for very early stages, with Corfo resources. We have complete autonomy to invest in startups not only from Chile but from any country, focusing on their value proposition and potential,” says Javier Cueto, CEO of Imagine and president of AcelerAP, a network of accelerators from Pacific Alliance countries.

The fund will focus on startups related to the future of work and finance, in three main markets of the Pacific Alliance: Chile, Peru, and Colombia. “There we have powerful know-how and networks, and moreover, these markets operate similarly to Chilean, so the support and value proposition that Imagine can provide are greater,” he says, adding that its headquarters will be in Delaware and will be managed from Chile. “We plan to invest in about 12 startups in the next two years. The average initial ticket will be from $300,000 and follow-on investments can go up to $800,000 or $1 million. Contributors include entrepreneurs who have had exits, as well as Microsoft Latam executives, technology firms, partners from international consulting firms, and Imagine partners,” he adds.

Next Steps

Among the plans is to have a greater presence in the USA, where they expect to establish offices in the next two years and raise a second fund.

For this year, meanwhile, they aim to consolidate a new work model with corporates in their innovation and digital transformation strategies. In this line, they launched Spark, their first regional open innovation program, where they will be impacting 14 corporates from more than 5 countries in Latin America. “It is the first program at a regional level that addresses countries and corporates simultaneously.”