Country Updates
Off the record, because we did not say goodbye to 2009 yet: BiD Network Investor Matchmaking this year matched 25 investors to BiD Network entrepreneurs amounting to a total investment value of 4,755,000 USD. These matches come from all over, from the green hills of the Peruvian Andes to the humid jungle in the Philippines.
Check out below an overview of the completed and ongoing deals, and latest news per country.
Peru
Ecuador
Mexico
Argentina
Colombia
The Philippines
Kenya
Uganda
Tanzania
Jordan
Peru
Peru celebrated in December its 4th edition of BiD Challenge Peru, with a grand event featuring 30 finalist entrepreneurs and a diverse public at the "Hotel Los Delfines" in Lima. The event was divided in 2 parts; first a "Rueda de Negocios" (Investor MarketPlace), and the Award Event and Cocktail.
At the Marketplace 30 motivated finalists had their stands and were available to expose and explain their businesses to an audience of investors, representatives of NGOs, government and the general public. Many had traveled from far and brought their merchandise to display, mostly accompanied with very clear and seductive investment proposals on the table.
All plans were assessed by the Peru team and subsequently the Jury the week(s) before, and a selection of winners was made based on live presentations and personal interviews. The Jury was very satisfied with the quality of the participants and their presentations, so it was especially hard to reach a conclusion. One member of the Jury stated that: “I must say I agree that the quality of Peruvian plans was outstanding this year. I think in terms of 'invest ability' it was the best selection I have seen so far in any BiD Challenge finale. It is encouraging and a privilege to work with a selection of such creative, professional and smart Peruvian entrepreneurs. We are committed to be part of their future growth and evolution and add value where possible.” Thus, the prizes were announced and awarded by the Jury, Sponsors and the Dutch Attaché of Economic Affairs to Peru, Mrs. Carla Brokking, and the winning entrepreneurs were asked for a short reaction on stage.
...... and the winners are:
1st prize (trip to NL + cash prize)
Phangus Moss - Marco Piñatelli (Lima, zonas rurales de la Sierra)
Sustrato Natural para el cultivo de orquideas, filtración, jardines verticales y otros usos.
www.bidnetwork.org/137122
2nd prize (trip to NL + cash prize)
Windaid - Michael Verkamp (Trujillo (US citizen))
"El poder del Progreso"
www.bidnetwork.org/124555
3rd prize (cash prize + scholarship Universidad Pacifico)
Neluba - Nelly Lucy Barandiaran (Lima, conurbano)
Confección de Prendas tejidas con los mejores hilos peruanos para empresas internacionales de moda contemporánea.
www.bidnetwork.org/136083
Ecuador
ConQuito, BiD Network’s national partner in Ecuador, is still on the move. On November 25 ConQuito celebrated the BiD Challenge Ecuador 2009. After a tough selection process, two entrepreneurs were chosen to come to the Netherlands next April. This year winners, a plan featuring soya milk production and handmade Ecuadorian handicrafts, were chosen to join the rest of the international entrepreneurs that will come to the Hague for one week during the BiD Network week next April 2010. During the event in Quito, some entrepreneurs had the chance to pitch their plans before experienced Ecuadorian investors, who not only got interested in their business proposals but also gave them important tips to bear in mind regarding their plans. Some investors asked to have private meetings with the plans that got their attention. Conquito’s team is following up on these prospect local matches.
The ceremony itself was quite emotional and interactive. Several functionaries attended it together with more than 250 people, who congregated to close a year of great success for Ecuador. This year Ecuador doubled their amount of plans presented and in fact the finalists were chosen between 92 high caliber plans. Last year it amounted up to 45 plans. Big applause for Conquito, that has, as always, delivered great quality work and extraordinary response to help local entrepreneurs.
Mexico
Fundación E, BiD’s national partner in Mexico, organized in partnership with BiD Network its first International SME Investor Forum that took place during the a bigger event called “Week of the small and medium enterprise or SME week”. This special week gathered more than 100, 000 visitors and attracting more than 10, 000 entrepreneurs to the event.
Mr. Juan Armagnague, regional manager for Mexico, attended the forum and together with several high profile invitees talked about the BiD Network and the main advantages to becoming an entrepreneur of the network. Among the speakers, the OECD representative was present at the event, and also Tom Gibson, a Senior BiD Network consultant also talked about his Royalty finance structure. Also the main Mexican Angel networks were at the event.
Ten entrepreneurs pitched their plan and several investors followed up on private meetings to get to know the plans more thoroughly.
Fundacion e is delivering a high standard of work and organization. Congrats to them all!
Argentina
Last December 3rd marked the close of the 3rd Edition of BiD Challenge Argentina. Is was a long but very rewarding finalist day at the "Club de Amigos" in Buenos Aires, we can now proudly announce the winners.
The Finalist day in brief:
All 20 Finalists did their 3-minute elevator pitch in the morning.
To our amazement everyone kept with the time-limit and we were done before scheduled time (first time ever!)
After a common lunch with all entrepreneurs, the Jury interviewed 7 candidates in depth (divided in 3 groups), and rated all the candidates. The Jury was very satisfied with the quality of the participants this year so it was especially hard to reach a conclusion. The end-result seemed fair however, and most entrepreneurs I talked to also agreed with it. Without exception they were all very happy with their experience with BiD Challenge, and they expressed to have learned a lot in the process of mentoring and improving their Business plan Of course we will continue to work with all to help them to find investment or start-up their companies in other ways.
The prizes were awarded in the evening by the Jury, Sponsors and the Dutch Ambassador to the Netherlands, Mr. Henk Soeters.
To learn more about the Entrepreneurs, their Plans, the Jury, Mentors and Sponsors, watch our 5 minute FINALIST VIDEO:
...... and the winners are:
1st Category - "High Growth" Companies:
1st prize (trip to NL + 10.000 pesos)
Martin Aboaf Petit de Murat, AgroInformatica Aplicada (Gestambo) (Brandsen, Provincia de Buenos Aires)
www.bidnetwork.org/page/111306/es
Productos y servicios que abarcan todas las necesidades de los productores agropecuarios en cuanto al manejo de la información
2nd prize
Cintia Hernandez, Biosima (Quilmes, Buenos Aires)
www.bidnetwork.org/page/117880
Producción y comercialización de huevos de Artemia salina mediante un sistema que permite ofrecer regularidad de entrega, alta calidad y precios competitivos.
special mention:
Gonzalo Sisak, Norbambu (Yerba Buena, Tucuman)
www.bidnetwork.org/page/119759/es
Tableros producidos a partir de caña de bambu procesada
2nd Category - "Sustainability Impact" Companies:
1st prize (trip to NL + 10.000 pesos)
Pablo Puyal, Pantanos Secos Artificiales (Burzaco, Provincia de Buenos Aires)
www.bidnetwork.org/page/132624
Tecnología sustentable para el tratamiento de efluentes sin uso de energía eléctrica con bajo costo de inversión y mantenimiento.
2nd prize:
Richard Frey, Economizador de Combustible (Cordoba)
www.bidnetwork.org/page/122172/es
Aporte de Hidrógeno (HHO) en motores a explosión para reducción de consumo
special mention:
Maria Swoboda, RE: responsibility + ethics (Capital de Buenos Aires)
www.bidnetwork.org/page/124450/es
Fair Trade Clothing Company
An official press-release will follow later this week. I'm off now to the next Jury-and award event in Peru.
For questions and follow up you can contact Andrea Vila at: avilan@fundes.org
Colombia
On October 2nd 2009, BiD CHallenge and UniAndes organized a succesful investor Marketplace in Bogota.
From the companies that presented themselves there were the closing of the follow-up process of Investor Matchmaking services for the BiD Challenge 2008 participants.
The 8 finalists for BiD Challenge 2009 were selected and published on November 24th. All were interviewe extensively, and some of the finalists had their companies visited by representatives of BiD Network / UniAndes.
The 2 winners for an investor matchmaking trip to the Netherlands were announced on December 16th. They are:
1. Fábrica de Tejas Libres de Asbesto: www.bidnetwork.org/page/103059/en
2. Biosys: www.bidnetwork.org/page/106407/en
The Philippines
The 15th of October last, was the deadline for applications for the BiD Challenge Philippines. Many applications were submitted and the challenge is now to select the best plans. Previous years’ Philippine business plans were innovative, out-of-the box –a testimony to the creativity, resourcefulness and entrepreneurial spirit of the Filipino, will this years plans be the same?
The incentives at least, are many: following an agreement between PBSP and the Talk 'n Text program for instance, Filipino people could add to a pool of prize money for BiD Challenge winners, by simply sending text messages. The total amount now available for the BiD Challenge talk 'n text winners is 1 mln PHP!
Kenya
BiD Network’s partner Synergy Management has started a nationwide promotion campaign to attract as many as possible entrepreneurs for the Clean Energy Challenge (link to East Africa challenge). A good example is a radio commercial broadcasted on Kiss FM for six subsequent days during the morning and afternoon:
Uganda
Two new hires on the BiD Team for Uganda: Brenda Nampiima joined our partner MUBS EC in Uganda in August 2009 and will work solely on BiD Network activities. Brenda used to work for MTN the largest phone operator in Africa and joins us as a sourcing officer. She will use her customer care skills and dynamic approach to people to find, educate and encourage entrepreneurs to join the BiD Network. When not in the office, Brenda is busy following up on leads and working in the field ensuring that each and every entrepreneur get the attention he needs from BiD Network to succeed. Brenda has one lovely little boy called Lincoln.
Shortly after Brenda was hired, Harriet Namuribu was added to the team in November 2009 as the BiD Network manager for Uganda. Harriet brings a wealth of experience acquired both on the field as a research assistant and within the policy making agency of Uganda to help strengthen the BiD Network team in Uganda. Harriet is completing her MBA and has written a book on financial planning. Harriet will be responsible for overseeing the BiD Network activities in Uganda, from sourcing and assessing business plans to managing the promotion of our sector Challenges.
Please join me in welcoming these two talented women to our team!
Tanzania
UDEC, BiD Network's national partner in Tanzania, has been working hard on the promotion of the sector competitions. Response has been good, even such that some of the parties involved are interested in partnering up on similar competitions for Tanzania only, next year.
According to management of the recently launched Tanzania Women's Bank, empowerment is key. Not only do entrepreneurs need to know how to write a good business plan, but moreover they need to feel empowered to do so. A competition such as the Women in Business competition really adds to this.
Jordan
Also in Jordan promotion for the global sector competitions has been a main issue the last months. And however far apart both sectors might seem from one another (Women in Business and Clean Energy) BDC (BiD Networks national partner) has actually been able to find quite some similarities.
On the 8th of November last for instance a conference was held under the umbrella of the Professional Business Women- Amman (BPWA), under the topic "Green Businesses, Sustainability as a Business Strategy.
In view of the fact that the topic is related to green projects and since it was held under the umbrella of business women association, a special session was introduced into the conference's agenda to launch both challenges.
released on December 17, 2009
