En promedio terminó el 2020 en Chile con 100 empresas compradoras, 13.500 proveedores y transacciones de US$500 millones. Cifras inimaginables de un proyecto que comenzó en 2016 en Puerto Paras con un Capital Semilla de $25 millones para transparentar y agilizar las licitaciones del mercado acuícola y pesquero. Hoy, Wherex -la plataforma online para cotizaciones y licitaciones B2B, pionera en usar inteligencia artificial para agilizar los procesos de compras y contrataciones de diversos rubros del sector privado- proyecta transar US$ 2 mil millones de dólares a nivel mundial en 2022.
The founder and CEO of this national platform, Juan Carlos Hurtado, indicated that "the effects of post-pandemic confinement, coupled with the supply chain supply crisis, have been the biggest problems companies have encountered in the continuation of business. The rise of e-commerce and teleworking, consequently, had to be refined for better results, thus jumping on the bandwagon of digital transformation. In this scenario, we know that companies like ours have been key and strategic to the levelling of the economy.
Tendering platform in new markets
In December 2020 and initiating an internationalisation plan, the Chilean company entered the Peruvian market, then the Mexican market last May, although this time setting up offices run by a team led by the company's co-founder, commercial engineer Felipe Manterola.
"To run this business in Mexico, we incorporated two new executives: Benjamín García as country manager and Francisco Puente as operations director, both ex-MIT and with a lot of experience in scale-ups. Despite our recent arrival, we already have eight clients, including Riisa, Pochteca and Lambi. Here, we want to close the year with 50 clients and 10,000 suppliers," said Manterola.
"Mexico is a very large market, so it offers us multiple business opportunities. Now, in June, we will also be arriving in Colombia, another market where we see high demand. With this expansion, by the end of the year we are projecting a growth of 300%", concluded Hurtado.
In Chile, the online platform for B2B quotations and tenders has more than 17,000 supplier companies and aims to achieve transactions worth US $700 million by 2021. The company's human capital is made up of 90 people, a figure that by December of this year - according to the company's growth projections - will be 150 at a global level.
También podría interesarte
1 septiembre, 2026 | 2mins
