GEN in Colombia

The Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) began operating in Colombia in 2009 by launching Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) in partnership with Endeavor Colombia. More than 10,000 people participated in that inaugural campaign through events hosted by government ministries, universities, corporations, and entrepreneurship support organizations. Successive annual campaigns each November built community over the years through partnerships with a broad coalition of ecosystem leaders including iNNpulsa Colombia, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism (MinCIT), Cámara de Comercio de Bogotá, Cámara de Comercio de Barranquilla, Confecámaras, ANDI del Futuro, CREAME, Red Universitaria de Emprendimiento (REUNE), and Somos Más.

The growth and coordinated impact of Colombia’s GEW campaign was recognized on the world stage in 2018 when Colombia received the Best Global Entrepreneurship Week Campaign award at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Istanbul. The award recognized the work of 11 ecosystem organizations that together produced 1,119 activities across 28 of Colombia’s departments during GEW 2017, establishing Colombia as one of the most active GEW countries in the world.

In 2016, Colombia’s role in the global entrepreneurship ecosystem reached a historic milestone when GEN, the City of Medellín, and the Kauffman Foundation brought the Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC) to Medellín. Nearly 4,000 entrepreneurship leaders from more than 100 countries gathered at the Plaza Mayor Convention Center, with thousands more participants frocom Colombia, for four days of collaboration between entrepreneurs, policymakers, investors, and researchers. Medellín’s selection as host city recognized its remarkable transformation into one of the most innovative urban centers in Latin America. At the Congress, the Medellín City Government was awarded the One Global Ecosystem Award. 

GEC Medellín: A Lasting Legacy

The Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC) in Medellín served as a catalyst not only for Colombia's entrepreneurial ecosystem but also for the broader Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN). During GEC Medellín, Cecilia Álvarez-Correa, Colombia's Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism, welcomed government leaders convened by GEN and the U.S. Small Business Administration for the second Global Small & Medium Enterprises Ministerial. This landmark gathering launched what would become the annual Startup Nations Ministerial, bringing together national policymakers responsible for entrepreneurship policy from around the world.

Following the Congress, iNNpulsa Colombia became an active participant in the Startup Nations Ministerial, leading Colombian delegations of public- and private-sector stakeholders to subsequent Global Entrepreneurship Congresses in Johannesburg (2017), Istanbul (2018), Bahrain (2019), and Riyadh (2022). Colombia's continued engagement helped strengthen international collaboration on entrepreneurship policy while showcasing the country's leadership within the global startup ecosystem.

GEC Medellín also marked the birth of Startup Huddle – a free, community-driven program designed to connect entrepreneurs and help them solve challenges together. Since its launch, Startup Huddle has grown to more than 200 chapters worldwide. In Colombia, Bogotá emerged as the country’s first chapter in 2019, organized by Flor Liévano, and has become a vital meeting point for the capital’s founders. In 2022, a new chapter launched in Barranquilla organized by Ricardo Peña Ruíz, extending the program’s reach into Colombia’s Caribbean coast.

Supporting Colombia's Entrepreneurial Cities

In November 2016, María José Vengoechea, Executive Director of the Barranquilla Chamber of Commerce, received the inaugural Startup Nations Award for Local Policy Leadership at the Startup Nations Summit in Cork, Ireland, recognizing the city's commitment to fostering entrepreneurship. 

As a member of the International Advisory Board of the Grupo de Ecosistemas Inteligentes de América Latina (GEIAL), GEN contributes global expertise and connects Colombian ecosystem leaders with international knowledge and best practices. Through GEIAL, five Colombia cites mapped and benchmarked their ecosystems (Barranquilla, Bogotá, Cali, Manizales, and Medellín) generating data and insights that support evidence-based decision-making by local leaders.

At GEC Indianapolis (2022), Marcela Escobar of ManizalesMas was a speaker in the Towns + Cities Making Entrepreneurial Strides roundtable, showcasing Colombia's growing experience in strengthening entrepreneurial ecosystems at the city level.

A Global Platform for Startups

In addition to Startup Huddle, GEN connects Colombian startups to global opportunities through the Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC). Since the competition launched in 2019, 16 Colombian companies have advanced to the EWC’s global stages across all six editions, making Colombia one of the most active participating countries in the Latin American region. Among them, Talentu, a Medellín-based AI hiring platform, competed in the inaugural 2019 edition; Kiwibot, the Colombian-born autonomous delivery robotics company, reached the global stages in 2020; and Munily, a Y Combinator-backed proptech startup from Bogotá, advanced in 2022. In that same year, Fabián Corredor, founder of Vive Travel, was celebrated as the national winner and represented Colombia at the EWC Global Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In 2024, Swiset – a Cali-based company specializing in software and analytics for financial market operators – won the Colombian national finals organized in partnership with iNNpulsa Colombia and competed among the top 100 startups worldwide. Most recently, in 2025, Teral, Decimetrix, and Humanos 3D traveled to Saudi Arabia for the Biban Global Forum. Colombia’s EWC alumni span fintech, agtech, healthtech, robotics, and enterprise software, demonstrating the breadth and global competitiveness of the country’s innovation economy.

In 2020, GEN supported the Techstars Startup Weekend “Unite to Fight COVID-19” initiative and nationally organized by Steven A. Rodríguez, bringing together entrepreneurs to tackle pandemic-era challenges. AportApp, a Colombian venture, was named one of the global winners and received a $10,000 USD grant from Differential Ventures.

An Ongoing Commitment to Supporting Entrepreneurial Performance in Colombia

Beyond programs that directly support founders, GEN’s research community is also active in measuring the strength of Colombia’s startup ecosystems. GEN releases the Global Startup Ecosystem Report each year in partnership with Startup Genome, and Bogotá has featured consistently in its rankings as one of Latin America’s leading startup hubs alongside São Paulo and Mexico City – a testament to the city’s deep talent pool, growing investor base, and maturing support infrastructure.

As Colombia continues to invest in its entrepreneurial future – with national policies targeting the growth of high-impact ventures and an expanding network of accelerators, universities, and innovation centers from Bogotá and Medellín to Cali, Barranquilla, and the Risaralda region’s emerging RisValley corridor – GEN is accelerating that progress by connecting Colombian founders and ecosystem leaders to global networks, development opportunities, and communities of seasoned experts. Our goal is to deliver high-impact entrepreneurial performance by: monitoring and assessing ecosystem performance, sharing best-in-class programming and knowledge sourced from around the world, and leading ecosystem stakeholders in collective action.