Endeavor Selects Ten Entrepreneurs From Five Markets at the 35th Virtual International Selection Panel

Endeavor selected ten entrepreneurs leading five companies at the 35th Virtual International Selection Panel (ISP) held March 20-22, 2023. Endeavor now supports 2,433 entrepreneurs leading 1,502 companies in 41 markets around the world.

The ISP is the culmination of a rigorous, multi-step selection process to identify high-impact entrepreneurs from all over the world. During this process, we seek founders who demonstrate the potential to leverage Endeavor’s resources and mentorship to create large-scale wealth and jobs, as well as those who commit to reinvesting time and resources into their local ecosystems to help build the next generation of entrepreneurs.

During the ISP, panelists interview an exclusive group of candidate entrepreneurs about their businesses. Then, panelists evaluate the entrepreneurs on their potential for high-impact growth, discuss which candidates should be selected to become Endeavor Entrepreneurs, and ultimately, vote to select new Endeavor Entrepreneurs.

Endeavor would like to thank our panelists: Veronica Serra, Innova Capital Fund (Endeavor Global Board Member); Nicolás Szekasy, Kaszek Ventures (Endeavor Global Board Member, Endeavor Entrepreneur); Diego Piacentini, Former Transformation Italian Government, Former Amazon (Endeavor Global Ambassador, Endeavor Italy Board Member); Joanna Rees, West (Endeavor Global Ambassador, former Endeavor Global Chair); Robson Privado, MadeiraMadeira (Endeavor Brazil Board Member, Endeavor Entrepreneur); Mac Schuessler, Evertec (Endeavor Puerto Rico Board Member); Raoul Oberman, Artemis Impact Pte Ltd (Endeavor Indonesia Board Member); David Wells, Former Netflix CFO; Susan Saideman, Independent Board Member, former Amazon; Erika Rottenberg, Former Chan Zuckerberg Initiative; Noah Breslow, Bain Capital Partners. 

Endeavor Entrepreneurs have had a significant track record of impact. They have helped build sustainable growth models in their home countries by creating more than four million jobs, and Endeavor’s active portfolio companies generated combined revenue of nearly $50B throughout 2022.

Learn more about our new Endeavor Entrepreneurs below:

Fin

Entrepreneurs: Timothy Nuy & Tonderai Mutesva

Vertical: Fintech

Endeavor Office: South Africa

Description: Founded in 2019, Fin is an African credit-led digital bank. Fin is simply smarter finance for everybody. Together with its partners, the company is providing credit, wallets, savings, insurance and more in a fast, convenient, and reliable way. With traditional financial institutions unable to address the increasing credit gap in Sub-Saharan Africa, Fin aims to drive financial inclusion in the region through its digital solutions and proprietary credit risk technology. The company uses AI algorithms to provide an array of credit-centric products including traditional credit, embedded credit and BNPL. Fin currently operates in South Africa, Kenya, and Tanzania and has raised $40M in funding to date.

Merit Incentives

Entrepreneurs: Julie Barbier-Leblan & Thrishan Padayachi

Vertical: B2B Software

Endeavor Office: Saudi Arabia

Description: Founded in 2016, Merit Incentives is a leading global engagement technology company offering enterprise and SaaS platforms to 1000+ companies with a reach of 70M+ end-users across the world. The team has created multiple no-code, white-label platforms that facilitate customer and employee engagement through various reward programs such as gift cards, coupons, points, and experiences. Today, Merit Incentives has developed a global merchant network of 5.5K+ brands in 150+ countries which gives its clients an unparalleled depth of reward options with a global reach. The company has raised $7.5M since founding to date from backers including Impact46 and Tech Invest Com. 

QI Tech

Entrepreneurs: Pedro Mac Dowell, Marcelo Bentivoglio, & Marcelo Buosi

Vertical: Fintech

Endeavor Office: Brazil

Description: Founded in 2018, QI Tech is a fintech infrastructure company that offers Lending as a Service, Banking as a Service, and KYC as a Service APIs to its clients. The team is enabling new players to enter the banking ecosystem by providing automated back-end tools to its clients, allowing them to focus on creating great products and client experiences. QI Tech obtained the first Direct Credit Society license from the Brazilian Central Bank, and now serves enterprise clients such as Vivo, iFood, and Rappi. The team closed a $50M Series A led by GIC in November of 2021.

Saltbox

Entrepreneur: Tyler Scriven

Vertical: Smart Cities

Endeavor Office:  Atlanta 

Description: Many SMB e-commerce companies face operational friction and fundamental disadvantages due to their smaller size and lack of access to logistics resources and expertise. Founded in 2019, Saltbox solves the hardest parts of running an e-commerce business with its human-centric logistics solutions. The company provides a network of flexible warehouses in major metropolitan areas across the United States (including Atlanta, Dallas, Seattle, Los Angeles, Denver) and more accessible logistics solutions designed for today’s e-commerce businesses, such as co-warehousing, fulfillment, and on-demand labor. Since its launch, Saltbox has raised ~$48M in capital, including its $35M Series B led by Cox Enterprises and Pendulum, which closed in November 2022.

SimpliRoute

Entrepreneurs: Álvaro Echeverría & Eyal Shats

Vertical: Smart Cities

Endeavor Office:  Chile 

Description: Born from a university thesis project, and founded in 2015, SimpliRoute is a B2B logistics intelligence platform optimizing end-to-end last mile operations through their proprietary algorithmic framework. On average, SimpliRoute’s app and platform has helped logistics companies in over 26 different countries reduce logistics costs by 34% and improve delivery success rates by 25%. Today, the company services 1000+ clients across its six offices in LatAm, and is looking to expand into the Brazilian and US markets in the near future. The company has raised $17.1M to date, most recently raising a $6.3M bridge round in Q1 2023.