Fellowship / 2-minute read
It's our pleasure to announce that Mateo Bolívar, a former participant of the START Global Fellowship Program, recently wowed the audience at Sharktank Columbia with his thriving business.
His startup, Contler, offers a tailored, one-stop-shop platform for hotels to provide all their products and services to guests with three smooth and user-friendly interfaces (Guest, Staff & Manager). By enhancing communication between guests and hotels, Contler has established a substantial presence in Latin America and Europe, especially in Switzerland.
Presenting at Sharktank Columbia can be a daunting experience, but Mateo approached it with unwavering self-assurance, honed by his many prior pitches to investors in the Fellowship Program. He learned the value of being authentic and not relying on memorized scripts, even in high-pressure situations.
Mateo stressed the importance of being prepared before appearing on Sharktank, with a scalable business plan, clear and convincing charts, and the courage to be truthful. He was able to present Contler, which had all these elements, with great pride.
The highlight of Mateo's Sharktank experience was the unanimous interest from the judges in investing. Despite this being a significant opportunity, he faced a tough decision. Mateo already convinced European investors during his time in START Fellowship Program to support his Startup. But their condition was that no other investor should invest less than them. It was a challenging choice, but Mateo chose not to accept the Sharktank offers as they were too low and didn’t fit in his vision. The audience was amazed by his uncommon choice.
Mateo happily acknowledged that the process of connecting with investors and testing himself in front of many cameras helped him to grow.
We are overjoyed by Mateo's accomplishments and look forward to seeing what he achieves next!
