Endeavor Selects Six Entrepreneurs Leading Five Companies at the Fifth Virtual International Selection Panel

Endeavor selected six entrepreneurs from five markets at its Fifth Virtual International Selection Panel (ISP). Endeavor now supports 2,083 entrepreneurs leading 1,300 companies in 37 markets around the world (read more about the newly selected entrepreneurs below).

The Virtual ISP was presented by Softbank, with additional support from AXA, Bain, Cooley, EY, HSBC, Silicon Valley Bank, and Zoom.

Typically held eight times per year, the ISP is the culmination of a rigorous multi-step selection process to identify high-impact entrepreneurs who demonstrate the potential to leverage Endeavor’s resources and mentorship to create large-scale wealth and jobs, and are committed to reinvesting their time and money in their local entrepreneurship ecosystems to help others take off. Beyond the selection process, ISPs are also unique international gatherings that bring entrepreneurs, dedicated business leaders and staff together across borders and industries, and allow them to make connections they may never have otherwise. This event marks the fifth Virtual ISP that Endeavor has held.

Over the course of three days at the Virtual ISP, panelists utilized Zoom breakout rooms to interview a small group of high-caliber entrepreneur candidates about their businesses. In “deliberation rooms” — private Zoom meetings with only Endeavor staff and panelists — panelists evaluated the entrepreneurs on their potential for high-impact growth, discussed which candidates should be selected to become Endeavor Entrepreneurs, then voted unanimously to select the newest Endeavor Entrepreneurs.

“The beauty of the Endeavor system and culture is how super smart and successful people come together to help others pro bono. I’m 100% pro Bono, but 110% pro the Endeavor global network and community. This Endeavor thing really works,” said The Edge (U2; Endeavor Ireland Board Chairman), who served as a panelist at the event.

Panelists at the ISP also included: Francisco Alvarez-Demalde (Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Riverwood Capital; Endeavor Global Ambassador), Martín Migoya (Co-Founder and CEO, Globant; Endeavor Argentina Board Member, Alumni Endeavor Entrepreneur), Matt Cameron (CEO and Sales Leadership Principal, SaaSy Sales Leadership), Mohamed Azab (CEO and Founder, Seha Healthcare; Co-Founder, AR ventures; Endeavor Entrepreneur, Endeavor Egypt Board Member), Shari Loessberg (Senior Lecturer, MIT Sloan School of Management), Ayman Ismail (Partner and Chairman of the Board of Directors, DMG; Endeavor Egypt Board Chairman), Elaine Coughlan (Managing Co-Founder and Partner, Atlantic Bridge; Endeavor Ireland Board Member), Jason Green (Partner, Emergence Capital Partners; Endeavor Global Board Member), Jean Michel Enriquez (Managing Partner, Creel, García-Cuéllar, Aiza y Enríquez, s.c.), Mauro Schnaidman (Independent Board Member), Vassil Terziev (Co-Founder, Telerik Academy; Partner, Eleven VC; Endeavor Bulgaria Board Co-chair)

As part of Endeavor’s network, the entrepreneurs selected at the Virtual ISP will gain access to comprehensive, strategic, global support services, including introductions to local and international business mentors, investors, and volunteers from Fortune 500 consulting firms who will help them address key needs.

Endeavor Entrepreneurs have had a significant track record of impact. Endeavor Entrepreneurs have created 4.1M+ jobs, generated $24+ billion in revenues in 2019, and help build sustainable growth models in their home countries.

Learn more about the companies and entrepreneurs selected below.

MEXICO

Entrepreneur: Javier Mata
Company: Yalo
Description: In today’s customer-first age, services are increasingly valued, and customer relationships have become a key differentiator that businesses strive to cultivate to stay ahead in the industry. Yalo is built on the knowledge that customers are already living inside of global messaging apps, spending more than 84% of their smartphone time on them. The company developed a platform to allow businesses to not only interact, but run their most critical workflows on top of popular messaging apps, allowing them to sell more, serve better, and save costs. Yalo is redefining what a CRM platform is, building a system that truly manages the relationship and interacts with the customers. With an HQ in Mexico, partner networks extending into South (and Southeast) Asia and Europe, and offices in Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, China, India, and the US, Yalo has sent over 600M messages to over 34M users for enterprises.

SOUTH AFRICA

Entrepreneur: Benji Meltzer and James Paterson
Company: Aerobotics
Description: Aerobotics is an agritech business that helps farmers protect their crops and manage yields. It uses drones to collect data at scale and machine learning to analyze and detect issues,offering end-to-end data analytics that helps farmers identify potential deficiencies in the field, reduce insecticide and fertilizer use, and increase profits. With three main products including orchard monitoring, yield estimation, and crop insurance inspection, Aerobotics is using technology and analytics to help revolutionize the agriculture industry.

TUNISIA

Entrepreneur: Noureddine Tayebi
Company: Yassir
Description: Yassir is a Maghrebi-built super app that aims to revolutionize mobility in French Africancountries by providing an ecosystem of services centered around ride hailing. Car ownership is less than 8% in French-speaking African countries, and public transportation is very limited, unreliable, and unsafe. Regular taxi services don’t meet expectations either: random street pick up, unavailability during peak hours, and poor customer service make it ripe for the disruption that many markets have seen in recent years. Yassir targets 29 countries with a population of 430M. Currently actively operating in 3 countries (Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco), the company has recently launched a companion delivery platform. CEO Noureddine aims to develop a financial services platform atop Yassir to further address a 72% unbanked population. 

TURKEY

Entrepreneur: Ahmed F. Karslı
Company: Papara
Description: Papara is a Turkish fintech company that provides services such as cash-in/cash-out, bill payments, commercial payments, and P2P payments. Currently, Papara is the largest turkishfintech, with over 4M clients and 600+ B2B customers such as Uber and BiTaksi using its platform. Started in 2016, Papara seeks to continue its rapid growth both in and outside of Turkey. It plans to expand its suite of financial services to investments, loans, and forex currency, as well as to expand into Europe, where it will target the millions of young adults who are underbanked by traditional financial institutions.

VIETNAM

Entrepreneur: Vu Van
Company: ELSA
Description: ELSA (English Language Speech Assistant) is a mobile application for English pronunciation training and accent reduction using speech recognition. Powered by the company’s proprietary AI and speech recognition technology, ELSA scores a learners’ speech to pinpoint individual syllable and phoneme level mistakes with real time feedback. Based in San Francisco, ELSA has raised $12 million in capital from Monk’s Hill and Gradient Ventures (Google) and is available on iOS and Android, with 750 thousand monthly active users from 101 countries. ELSA has offices in locations across the world including Vietnam, India, Portugal, Japan, and Indonesia.