On the road to starting a business, the most frequent obstacle is accessing the capital to bring the project to life. Read what the options are financing for entrepreneurs in Chile. Check out these options it presents Hispanic Entrepreneurs and you will surely find more than you thought existed.
Financing in Chile: a challenge for entrepreneurs
For Chilean entrepreneurs, one of the main difficulties when starting a business is accessing financing. This has been shown by various studies, such as the X-ray of Entrepreneurship in Chile 2019 44,5% of those surveyed think that way.
Most choose to use their own resources or loans from family or friends to finance the business. According to Perception and Expectations Index of SMEs from AVLA that same year, 30% of small businesses did not apply for any type of credit. Another 10% had their request rejected by the entity.
AVLA also found a percentage that withdrew or rejected the loan. Among the reasons for abandoning the process, they highlight that they thought they were going to be rejected, they did not want to go into debt and the excess of paperwork that the application implies.
The lack of an endorsement or guarantee is also a problem at the time of request financing for entrepreneurship in Chile. This is one of the reasons for rejection by financial institutions. For this reason, it is very likely that the interested parties will give up this management.
A business doesn't just require financing to start. You will also need it in the next stages for different expenses; for example, remuneration payments and suppliers.
The difficulty in accessing bank loans makes them resort to their own resources and other systems such as factoring. However, we must look beyond these sources of financing, since the country has various options beyond financial entities.
Learn about financing options for entrepreneurs in Chile
Next, we summarize several financing alternatives for ventures in the country.
Competitive funds
They are programs through which an economic contribution is delivered to the winning venture. There are various programs of this type in Chile and the amounts awarded vary from one to another; as well as the conditions, application requirements.
Applications for competitive funds are opened at different times of the year. Therefore, you have to be attentive to make the request. Among the different alternatives are the following:
- Seed Capital of Sercotec. This is one of the funds provided by the Technical Cooperation Service and is aimed at micro-enterprises. The financing amount is equivalent to 3.500.000 pesos. The amount awarded cannot exceed 75% of the total amount of the project. If you are going to apply, you must meet the requirements that include being over 18 years old, not having started activities in the first category and meeting the focus of the call in the region.
- CORFO seed. It is one of the funds of the Corporation for the Promotion of Production. This is delivered to enterprises that have started activities in the last 24 months and part of the resources should be allocated to consultancies.
- I undertake. It is a program of the Solidarity and Social Investment Fund that includes consultancies, training workshops, as well as financial resources and other benefits.
- Brain Chile. It is aimed at scientific and technological projects that come from higher education institutions. It is in charge of the Catholic University and Banco Santander. Apart from the financial resources, it also provides mentors, laboratories and other benefits.
Capital Abeja, The S factory and Youth Action Net are other financing programs for entrepreneurs in Chile.
Angel investors
It can be a single person or a network of investors contributing capital to sponsor a business in its early stages. But they are not only supportive from a financial point of view, but they bring their experience.
Angel investors are also willing to offer their advice to carry out the project. They generally look for high impact projects.
Some investor networks that operate in Chile are: ChileGlobal Angels, Chambers Capital and Fen Ventures.
Business incubators
Another sources of financing for entrepreneurs in Chile are the incubators. These are defined as organizations that accompany the first steps of these companies to drive them to success.
So these organizations not only provide financial support, but also provide logistics. It means that through an incubator you can have access to workshops, workspaces, consultancies, mentoring, etc.
Incubators in Chile obtain financing through CORFO funds and then choose the ventures to support.
You can find different alternatives depending on the region in which you are. In Bio Bio, for example, there is Incubaudec.cl.
Crowdfunding
It is a crowdfunding system in which several people contribute money to support a project.
Contributions are made through internet platforms such as Cumplo, Red Capital and Skala.
If you are looking for financing for entrepreneurs in Chile, evaluate these alternatives. Remember contact us if you need advice for your business.
