Latin American retail giant Parque Arauco has chosen four proptech startups, from four countries, from over one hundred applicants to join its Parque Arauco Venture Client program. These innovation leaders and retail-focused startups will receive funding, office space, and the opportunity to pilot their solutions in Parque Arauco malls across Chile, Peru, and Colombia. Real-world testing through a pilot program is critical for startups to refine their offering. What an opportunity!
The four participants in the Parque Arauco Venture Client program have been selected from a pool of more than one hundred applicants from fourteen countries. The four selected startups will have access to financing during the pilot stage and the physical office necessary for their development. The proptech firms will develop pilots in actual malls in Chile, Peru, and Colombia.
Perhaps the largest benefit of the incubator or venture program is the possibility of making Parque Arauco a client. The Chilean mall owner and retail giant is the third largest in Latin America by GLA (i.e., 1.18 million square feet GLA), and fifth largest by NAV. It has seven malls in Chile (1982), five in Peru (2005), and one in Colombia (2008). Its major competitors in the region are Cencosud and Mall Plaza, also with roots in Chile.
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The winners of the Parque Arauco Venture Client Program
According to the CEO of Parque Araucio, Eduardo Pérez Marchant, the startups selected include:
KSI VISION has an AI solution that analyzes customer behavior using existing security cameras, generating valuable data and digital twin model of shopping malls. This allows you to get to know the visitors and their characteristics.
Skeleton Technologies is an Estonian company whose ElevatorKERS proposal is dedicated to recovering and storing the energy generated by the elevator to return it on the next consumption trip or to support the reservation in times of waiting, increasing the energy efficiency of the equipment up to 70%.
Blue Box Air was selected for its cleaning technology for HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) systems. This consists of an enzyme-based foam solution that penetrates and breaks up biofouling, cleaning the heat transfer coils in the commercial HVAC system for less energy-efficient operation.
Bluetek Global has sensor technology capable of capturing air quality information in real-time and then, through the Internet of Things, controls climate systems to turn on, off, increase flow or inject air as needed. With this, it promises to reduce the energy impact of ventilation systems, and at the same time, improve the air quality inside these spaces.
Christian Calcutta, corporate manager of Technology and Digital Transformation at Parque Arauco, said the company is happy with the results and level of participation:
"We are very happy with the results obtained with this call, not only because we achieved a participation that exceeded our expectations, but also because of the quality of the proposals received. We are convinced that the selected projects will allow us to find – together – new solutions to optimize processes and deliver a more disruptive customer experience based on innovation."
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