Bogota has been on the rise as an entrepreneurial city for many years, and there are no signs this trend will stop anytime soon.

In fact, the city is home to 50.2% of Colombia’s startups (over 370,000 enterprises in total), including some of the region's fastest growing companies like Rappi, Mercadoni, Tappsi and Fitpal.

One of the best reasons to build a startup in Bogota is the vast number of funding resources in the city. If you’re looking for investment for your startup in Bogota, then check out this massive list of some of the most important funding sources, regardless of how far along your startup is.

The Founder Institute is currently enrolling in Bogota. Apply today to build a business alongside the city's top entrepreneurs and investors!

Early Stage Funding in Bogota

Notable Seed Accelerators in Bogota

A "seed accelerator" is a cohort-based program that typically accepts teams (not solo-founders) with a product (functional prototype or live product) and some form of traction (for example, user, revenue, or team growth). If accepted to a seed-accelerator, a company typically receives a small investment ($15,000-$150,000) in exchange for equity (6-10%). The goal of a seed-accelerator is to help companies accelerate their product or user growth during the program (typically 3-6 months) in order to raise a proper Angel or Seed Round of funding at the "Demo Day" that concludes the program.

• ANDI del Futuro
• Connect Bogota
• Destapa Futuro
• HubBog Accelerator
• NXTP Labs
• Socialatom Ventures
• Wayra Colombia

Notable Angel Investors in Bogota

Angel investors are affluent people that invest their personal capital in early-stage startups or entrepreneurs, and generally provide only a small one-time investment to help the business grow. They generally provide more favorable terms compared to other types of investors, since they usually invest in the entrepreneur starting the business, rather than the viability of the business, and are more focused on helping startups build a product instead of generating a profit. Angel investors sometimes go by other names, including “informal investors”, “angel funders”, “private investors”, “seed investors”, and “business angels”.

• Alejandro Laplana Zabarain
• Alexander Torrenegra
• Andres Nuñez Alvarez
• Benjamin Bogdan Ravaru
• Camilo Nova
• David J Gonzalez
• Esteban Mancuso
• Fabio Rodriguez
• Guillermo Sencion
• Gustavo Jimeno
• Hernando Barreto
• Javier Alvarez Quero
• Jonathan Mirabito
• Jose Velez
• Leonardo Suarez
• Lisandro Bril
• Lluis Faus
• Martin Ramos
• Martin Schrimpff
• Patrick Wakeham
• Raul Oviedo
• Rene Rojas

Notable Angel Investor Groups in Bogota

Angel investor groups are networks, or syndicates, of angel investors who pool their resources together to invest more money than would typically be issued with a private angel investment. Most angel networks focus their efforts on sectors or verticals in which members have experience or knowledge, although they are usually open to investments in other areas. In general, investors in groups contribute funds to the group, and a professional syndicate management team chooses the investments.

• AIM Network
• Andean Infrastructure and Capital Markets Forum
• ANDI del Futuro
• Angeles Bavaria
• Colombian Investors Forum
• Colombia Startup & Investor Summit
• Ellevate Bogota
• Endeavor Investor Network
• Startup Angels Bogota

Growth Stage Funding

Notable Venture Capital Firms in Bogota

Venture Capital ("VC") firms provide startup or growth equity capital and/or loan capital to promising ventures for returns that are higher than market interest rates, and typically focus on later stage companies. VC firms only invest in companies that have long-term growth potential of at least 10X their investment, and that already have considerable traction (very fast revenue or user growth), a strong team, and a viable product or service. Because of these high standards, generally less than .1% of businesses are funded by venture capital.

There are also many different types of VC firms. The first (and lowest) funding level for VCs is typically called a "Seed Round", which is appropriate for smaller companies that have just recently generated traction and need capital to fuel the fire of growth. After that, rounds of subsequent funding are categorized by letter ("Series-A", "Series-B", "Series-C", and so on), with the investment amount (and maturity of the business receiving funding) getting larger as the letters progress down the alphabet. Some firms invest across many (or all) of these types of rounds, but most specifically focus on one or two of these stages.

• Alianza
• Alta Ventures
• Amazon Venture Capital
• Axon Capital
• Colombia Capital
• Corporacion Ventures
• Elevar Equity
• Linzor Capital Partners
• Mas Equity Partners
• SEAF Colombia
• Taurus Capital
• Tayrona Ventures
• Velum Ventures
• Victoria Capital Partners

Are you a solo-founder, or is your company or idea too early for these funding options?

The Founder Institute is an idea-stage accelerator that works with solo-entrepreneurs, and teams, during the earliest stages of building a business. Through an intensive 3.5 month program, FI participants build their business through a proven structured process, and receive feedback and assistance from over 30+ successful entrepreneurs and investors in Bogota. Upon completing the program, Graduates join a global network of entrepreneurs and receive ongoing help to get funding and build their business. FI Graduates have raised over $1.85BN in funding, and are building some of the world's fastest growing companies.

Learn more about the Founder Institute at FI.co, join a free startup event in Bogota, or apply to build a startup in Bogota today.