Are you sure you know your customers really well? To better understand your customers and sustain a profitable e-commerce business, one of the necessary metrics you should employ is customer lifetime value. Broadly defined, customer lifetime value or CLV is the projected revenue a customer will generate in their lifetime for your company. Continue reading
Category Archives: Featured Start-ups
Wash away your worries with HogarImpeque
Here in Chile, nanas are an institution. Short for the English word “nanny,” nanas are the ultimate superwomen: an admirable mix of babysitter, chef, and housekeeper, many middle- to upper-class Chilean households would fall apart without their invaluable help. As an American who has lived in a number of developing countries throughout my life, I realize that the concept of hiring help for many of the daily chores that I was raised doing myself is not a novel one. What sets Chile apart from other countries is the level of confidence, reliance, and trust with which nanas are endowed. Many Chilean families form strong relationships with their hired help, especially as their nanas commit to working for them for years or even decades.
The problem is, what if you are a foreigner just moving to Chile? Or a younger Chilean couple that is moving into their own apartment for the first time? Or maybe just a busy family that has neither the time nor energy to devote to completing daily chores as well as finding a reliable housekeeper? For these demographies, it can be a daunting prospect to find a person whom you can not only 1) trust to occupy your house while you are gone during the day, and 2) trust to do an outstanding job with chores.
Chilean startup HogarImpeque is seeking to fill this need with an online, on-demand cleaning service.
Watch out for Ttanti!
In Kunza, an extinct language native to the Atacama Desert region of Northern Chile, “ttanti” means “seed”. The ancient word is now also synonymous with an environmentally-friendly, culturally-conscious line of watches being pioneered by two young Chilean entrepreneurs.
As Ttanti’s manifesto states: “Nothing is forever; only memories.” The Ttanti brand is built on the belief that the connection between man and nature inspires emotions that are the foundation to our life stories and memories. This belief has inspired the Ttanti duo to produce a line of watches that combines nature, ethics, and practicality. Fusing leather from the Chilean north with wood from the Patagonian south, and employing local artisans to produce the watches, Ttanti has created a product that embodies Chilean culture, resources, and craftsmanship.
This Italian couple will increase your online sales faster than you can order pizza
We are die-hard champions of small business here at AndesBeat, so when we come across an entrepreneur equally invested as we are in helping other small businesses succeed, we fall in love a little bit.
Today we’re excited to spread the word about Fanchimp, a service that helps online shop owners increase their sales by turning them into Facebook and Twitter marketing pros overnight. Well, actually, that’s an exaggeration; it doesn’t take a full night, only a couple clicks. Within minutes, online businesses can easily create a successful social media marketing campaign that will drive more customers to their online shops and increase sales.
On average, organizing a social media marketing campaign for a small business can take up to 10 hours per week, a daunting time investment for business owners with a variety of other management and production tasks on their hands. Users of Fanchimp have the same ROI as contracting with a social media agency, with the added benefit that Fanchimp is less expensive and easier to use. Check out how the service works here:
Kudo!: Makes learning a second language easy for children
A recent report from Education First (EF) ranks the level of English spoken across 60 countries worldwide; in short, things don’t look good for Latin America, which is the worst-performing region worldwide in terms of proficiency. Of the 16 countries EF has designated to have a “Very Low Level” of English, an equal percentage (44%) were divided between Latin America (including Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, Guatemala) and the Middle East. Five Latin American countries (Peru, Mexico, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Uruguay) obtained a slightly higher distinction as having a “Low Level” of English. The only Latin American country that obtained a “Medium Level” of English proficiency within the report was Argentina. The report concludes: “A poor level of English is still one of the most important competitive weaknesses in Latin America.”
Luckily, there are a couple of entrepreneurs that are making strides in turning this all around.
Pictual: Finally an app that makes texting less boring
Being the diligent investigative journalists that we are here at AndesBeat, we spent hours doing independent research for today’ s post about Chile’s up-and-coming picture messaging app, Pictual.
…By “independent research” I mean: I couldn’t tear myself away from my desk where I spent an hour inserting every phrase that crossed my mind into the app to see what groovy graphics resulted. Below I bequeath you with the fruits of my investigative research for your viewing pleasure. Continue reading
Ex-Groupon executives launch site for parents and their babies
This article, originally posted on February 15, 2014 on Emol.com, has been translated from Spanish to English for AndesBeat readers. To read the original version, click here.
Babytuto subscribers grew from 10,000 in August of 2013, to more than 50,000 of January of this year. They hope to reach 200,000 by the end of 2014. Continue reading
Thanks everyone! Mindscore app “draws the curtain”
The following is a post from MindScore’s blog that has been translated from Spanish to English. The original post, shared on February 17 2014, can be read here. See our previous posts covering MindScore on AndesBeat here.
Without a doubt, this is one of the most sorrowful moments for our team, as we have decided to “draw the curtain” on our first project together.
Several decisions have led to the above, which are detailed in this and this post. It is probably not the best moment for this tool/platform; perhaps the business model is not validated or as a team we are not mature enough. Whatever the case, we feel assured that we made the decision conscientiously and earnestly.
Latin American Startups demo day at 500 Startups Silicon Valley
The following is an article from Digitantes posted on February 7, 2014 that has been translated from Spanish to English. Read the original version here.
This week, 28 startups presented their pitches at 500 Startups Demo Day, after passing through an acceleration process of almost 4 months in the heart of Silicon Valley.
During the program, these entrepreneurs have access to mentors and experts in different industries and disciplines. The program’s primary focus is improving the startups’ models of distribution, monetization, and design.
Startups from more than 10 countries, including Colombia, Brazil, and of course Mexico, had the opportunity to present their pitch in 3 minutes in front of investors and investment funds. The objective: proving to be an attractive investment opportunity.
Here is the list of Latin American startups that were present.
Nazca Ventures Bets on Fashion E-Commerce in Two New Investment Deals
On January 22, 2014, PulsoSocial published an article highlighting Nazca Venture’s latest investment picks: Cranberry Chic and eGlam & Ropit. Read the full article here.
Nazca Ventures made its seed capital debut in December 2013 by leading a $1.3 round for the freelance job marketplace, Nubelo. This January it made its second and third investment selections in:
1) Cranberry Chic, an exclusive social network and e-commerce platform that allows fashionistas to share their styles, save lists of clothing items and accessories they have or want, purchase new items
2) eGlam & Ropit, a platform that allows end-to-end e-commerce services for fashion brands and sports teams.
As Emily Stewart, PulsoSocial journalist notes: “Nazca Ventures is clearly placing its bets on fashion e-commerce, though neither of its most recent picks are going the most traditional routes in their strategies.”