The world of Venture Capital has been hit hard in the last year and a half, which has generated more timidity in this type of investments. This has been counteracted with lower valuation amounts and a lower number of deals, followed by more analysis and filters when making an investment.

In addition to this, it is very important to consider two key factors that will determine the success that a fund can have with investments of these characteristics: access to good dealflow and the right selection of startups.

First of all, to have access to a good dealflow, Venture Capital funds create a network of contacts and alliances with different create a network of contacts and alliances with different industry players, such as incubators, accelerators, other investment funds and associations, among others. incubators, accelerators, other investment funds and associations, among others.

There are also many events that bring together the most important exponents of the entrepreneurship ecosystem, both nationally and internationally, where connections are generated with funds with which to sharealflow.There are also many events that bring together the most important exponents of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, both nationally and internationally, where connections are generated with funds with which the dealflow is shared, co-investments are made and companies from other Latin American countries that are looking to enter the local market can be met.

Another type of events are hackathons and other entrepreneurial competitions to meet new startups, where you can find great opportunities for the future. In addition, there are multiple online platforms to search for startups and funds, such as Startupeable, AngelList and Crunchbase, where you can find an extensive directory of players in this industry and, sometimes, quite complete guides that help orient people in the key concepts of Venture Capital.

Second, the funds' ability to select startups is based on three fundamental pillars: the team, the business model and the potential market.. It is important that the team has experience and skills relevant to the business; that the business model is sustainable and has clear growth potential; and finally, that the potential market is large enough to justify the investment.

Logically, this analysis has a depth and level of detail that goes beyond the purpose of this note, but these three points are a good starting point to understand the logic with which an emerging company is analyzed and thus be able to observe its true potential.

In Chile, there are many successful startups that have managed to raise rounds of capital abroad and/or have a profitable operation in the country. Among them is Migrante, a startup that supports the financing of immigrants for the acquisition, This is a model that they have already been able to scale as a company beyond the borders of Chile, starting operations in Peru and Mexico, for now.

There is also Cornershop, a "Unicorn" quite well known due to its acquisition by Uber, which is an online shopping application that grew exponentially in just a few years. Y NotCo, another "Unicorn" that has crossed Chilean and Latin American borders, commercializing food through the use of artificial intelligence to create products similar to those of animal origin, but from plants.

There is a growing entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Chilean economy, with many startups with high growth potential and, in addition, in recent years the adoption of innovative technologies and business models has accelerated strongly, which creates investment opportunities considering the new trends and consumer needs, especially in sectors such as finance, digital health, online education and e-commerce, among others.This creates investment opportunities considering the new consumer trends and needs, especially in sectors such as finance, digital health, online education and e-commerce, among many others.

Thus, the ability to select and access good dealflow is key to the success of Venture Capital investments. Funds that can properly select startups with high growth potential will be more likely to obtain significant returns. In this sense, it is important to it is important to have an expert team in the analysis and selection of investment opportunities and to have a solid network of contacts and alliances in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Tomás Latorre

AGF Team