The Inaugural Lindas Honor Endeavor Entrepreneurs Marcos Galperin, Verónica Pascual Boé, Nevzat Aydın and Guibert Englebienne as Ambassadors of the Endeavor Spirit

Endeavor honored four Endeavor Entrepreneurs on November 21 with The Lindas, an award launched for the first time this year to recognize and celebrate entrepreneurs in the Endeavor network who most embody the Endeavor spirit of dreaming crazy, scaling up, and paying it forward. 

The inaugural recipients of The Lindas are: Marcos Galperin (MercadoLibre, Argentina), Verónica Pascual Boé (ASTI, Spain), Nevzat Aydın (Yemeksepeti, Turkey), Guibert Englebienne (Globant, Argentina). 

From our inception in 1997, Endeavor has always been of, by, and for entrepreneurs. Our mission is to prove that anyone, from anywhere, can launch a “crazy idea;” access the networks, talent, and capital to build that idea to scale; achieve success; then, most importantly, pay it forward to inspire, nurture, and enable the next generation.

The Lindas, named in recognition of Endeavor Co-founder and CEO Linda Rottenberg’s legendary enthusiasm and passion, were created to honor entrepreneurs in our network who live Endeavor’s values by: becoming leaders who foster a community based on mutual trust and respect; personifying our “Going Big” ethos through job and wealth creation; embodying a “One Endeavor” mindset that transcends borders; bringing life to Endeavor’s “Of, By and For Entrepreneurs” philosophy by serving as selection panelists, mentors, board members, and Endeavor Catalyst LPs; and demonstrating a broader commitment to paying it forward through role modeling, mentorship, reinvestment, philanthropy, and ecosystem building.

Candidates from around the world were nominated from the Endeavor network by mentors, board members, staff members, colleagues, and other Endeavor Entrepreneurs, after which four winners were selected by the Endeavor Global Board:

Marcos Galperin, Endeavor Argentina Board Vice-Chair, and Co-founder and CEO of MercadoLibre. Co-founded in 1999 by Marcos Galperin (along with Endeavor Entrepreneurs Hernan Kazah and Nicolas Szekasy), MercadoLibre.com (Nasdaq: MELI) is the dominant online marketplace in Latin America. In 2007, the company went public on the Nasdaq as the first Endeavor company to IPO, and in 2017, MercadoLibre became the first Endeavor company to surpass a $10 billion market cap (today valued at $25B), replacing Yahoo on the Nasdaq-100. In addition to achieving unprecedented success with MercadoLibre, Marcos has been instrumental to the growth of Argentina’s entrepreneurship ecosystem as an investor, role model, mentor, and philanthropist. He has further reinvested his success into the Endeavor Network as a board member and Endeavor Catalyst LP, and in 2019, donated a new office to Endeavor Argentina.

Verónica Pascual Boé, CEO of ASTI Technologies Group. Headquartered in Burgos, Spain, ASTI is an international engineering company, which creates autonomous vehicle systems for the automation of internal logistics processes in the manufacturing industry. With major global clients such as Tesla and Apple, ASTI is advancing the global standard for production. Under Veronica’s leadership, ASTI launched the ASTI Talent and Technology Foundation, which is dedicated to fostering job experience and training in STEM and hard sciences for vocational and college-aged students to create and develop the skills needed to meet the growing digital economy. So far, ASTI has dedicated over 10,000 hours and trained over 100 students—many of whom ASTI themselves hired after.

Nevzat Aydın, Endeavor Turkey Board Member, and Co-founder and CEO of Yemeksepeti. Yemeksepeti is Turkey’s largest food delivery service. Selected as one of the first Endeavor Entrepreneurs from Turkey, and an early investment of Endeavor Catalyst, Yemeksepeti was acquired in 2015 by Delivery Hero in the largest internet related deal in Turkey. Nevzat and co-founder Melih Odemis made headlines around the world when they elected to share the $27 million profit with their 100+ employees. Soon after, Nevzat was identified by Turkish university students as one of their top three entrepreneurial role models in the world, alongside Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg. Nevzat is widely credited with spurring the growth of the angel investment scene in Turkey, and is a frequent investor in and mentor to early stage entrepreneurs. Today, Nevzat also serves on Endeavor Turkey’s board.

Guibert Englebienne, Endeavor Argentina Chair, and Co-founder and CTO of Globant. Guibert Englebienne co-founded Globant (along with Endeavor Entrepreneurs Martin Migoya, Martin Umaran, and Nestor Nocetti) in the middle of Argentina’s economic depression. They were rejected the first time they attended an ISP. Today, the software company is one of Endeavor’s highest performing companies ever, and have grown to be a story of inspiration amidst chaos, employing over 6,000 people across four continents. In 2014, Globant became the first Latin American tech company to go public on the NYSE. Today, the company’s market cap is $3.9B and growing. Guibert pays it forward as a board member, mentor, ISP panelist, and donor, and often travels around the world to help Endeavor launch in new ecosystems — most recently Ireland. 

Each winner received an award created specially by Italian artisan Eros Raffael through Artemest, the leading online marketplace for Italian crafts, co-founded by Endeavor Entrepreneurs Marco Credendino and Marco Deseri. Resembling a heart shape and comprised of singular pieces of mouth-blown Murano glass fused together, the sculpture is a meaningful embodiment of the award, and Endeavor’s powerful and diverse global network “of, by, and for” entrepreneurs.

The Endeavor Global Board also recognized eight finalists for their exceptional impact as entrepreneurs and commitment to paying it forward: Achmad Zaky (Bukalapak, Indonesia), Freddy Vega (Platzi, Colombia), Gigliola Aycardi (Bodytech, Colombia), Guillaume Pousaz (Checkout.com, UAE), Heather Hasson & Trina Spear (FIGS, Miami), Juan de Antonio (Cabify, Spain), Mario Chady (Grupo Trigo, Brazil), Markus Bihler (Builders Union, Indonesia), Nadine Hachach-Haram (Proximie, Lebanon), and Sergio Furio (Creditas, Brazil). 

The Lindas award ceremony was held November 21, 2019, at the Endeavor Gala in New York City. Learn more about the winners here: