• Seedstars prize winner received $ 7500 and a ticket to participate in the global finals to be held in Switzerland
• The contest evaluated the sales pitch of 12 finalists

On September 17, after months of touring the country in search of the best SMEs and startups, the Costa Rican Foreign Trade Promoter (PROCOMER) presented the 12 finalists of Seedstars Costa Rica held by PROCOMER, under the framework of the Buyers Mission (BTM). In the hopes of winning one of the 6 prizes awarded in this competition, the finalists presented a three-minute pitch to bleachers full of representatives of the Costa Rican entrepreneurial ecosystem.

For the Minister of Foreign Trade, and President of the Board of Directors of PROCOMER, Dyalá Jiménez, “Seedstars Costa Rica by PROCOMER is an example of the path and hard work required to achieve excellence, a path similar to the one our country is going through to enter the OECD. To stand out as a country or as an entrepreneur requires courage and passion. We invite you to rise to the challenge, to shed those fears and represent the best of Costa Rica through your ventures or SMEs. As for us, we will continue working to make Costa Rica grand. “

The contest, designed to identify innovative SMEs, or startups, to expand the country’s exportable offer, chose the Costa Rica Insect Company for the Sustainability award, Sport Sonar for the People’s Choice award and LINGVO for the PROCOMER award. For Seedstars, PIXDEA came in first place, followed by Viral Media SA Lisa, with a tie for third place between Solmatec and Local Keeps.

“Through this contest, we had the opportunity to demonstrate that the foreign trade sector offers opportunities to everyone, regardless of the region or the sector,” commented Pedro Beirute Prada, General Manager at PROCOMER. In addition, it is thanks to this extension of our services that we have identified a number of prospects capable of expanding Costa Rica’s exportable offer, and boosting the growth of the economy, through businesses with a purpose – businesses that are inclusive and sustainable.

The panel of judges responsible for evaluating each project was made up of international actors such as Israel Pons, CEO & Founder of the Angels Nest LATAM, a network of angel investors. Rodrigo Dumont, Director of the Salvadoran venture capital fund Innogen Capital Ventures, Susan Amat, Executive Director of GEN Accelerates, a network of entrepreneurs and Katarina Szluenyiova Director of Operations at Seedstars. They were joined by Pedro Beirute Prada, General Manager at PROCOMER and Andrés Valenciano, Executive President of the National Learning Institute (INA).

The evaluation of the projects took into account criteria such as differentiation of competition, customer segmentation and market, business model, scalability, specialization among team members, investment needs, and more.

For Gabriel Bustamante, representative of LINGVO and winner of the PROCOMER award “this contest is a space that helps us organize the project and our ideas. It helps us answer questions that we didn’t ask ourselves before, to better understand if our business model makes sense. This contest, and the support provided by PROCOMER, are important to attract investors and a great help to continue.”

Xaviar Rudio, part of the PIXDEA team and winner of the first place of Seedstars, went on to say that “in addition to the prize, this contest gave is the opportunity to learn more about many projects and the chance to meet a lot of people, all interested in change and making a contribution to the country. In addition, it has helped us refine our value proposition and has given us the courage to continue working and do our best, with a global vision capable of accelerating the project.”

The event, loaded with innovation and technology, closed with the presentation of a total of 6 awards:

•        People’s Choice Award: $3000 worth of legal advice from Dentons & Muñoz.

•        Sustainability Award: $ 5,000 in cash and legal advice of $3000 worth of legal advice from Dentons & Muñoz.

•        PROCOMER Award: $ 15,000 in cash. The winner of this award also receives $5,000 worth of legal, financial or strategy advice from Ernst & Young.

•        Seedstars Awards:

o First place: $ 7,500 in cash, travel ticket to the finals in Switzerland in 2020, 3 months of a Seedstars acceleration program and credit for use on virtual platforms. Plus $5.000 worth of legal, financial or strategy advice, granted by Ernst & Young.

o Second and third place: 2 months of a Seedstars acceleration program and credit for use on virtual platforms.

Plus, each winner will have 6 months access to the PROCOMER 2020 Training Program.

“What grabbed my attention is that environmental and sustainability awareness is very much a part of every project we saw and every company we talked to. It’s something that we don’t see very often in other countries. It was a pleasant surprise,” commented Katarina Szluenyiova Director of Seedstars operations.

Winners Profile