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TheShoppingEvolution: Call seeks to bring the mall of the future closer through disruptive innovations

Posted on June 23, 2020

The initiative is promoted by Parque Arauco together with ChileGlobal Ventures, the venture capital area of Fundación Chile.

The selected startups will have the possibility of implementing their innovations in the holding’s facilities, with the potential to be scaled to other operations in Latin America.

As a way of continuing to promote innovation and the customer experience in each of its shopping centers, Parque Arauco has joined forces with ChileGlobal Ventures, the venture capital arm of Fundación Chile, to launch “The Shopping Evolution”, a call that seeks the most innovative and technology-based solutions to bring the mall of the future closer to the present.

The initiative is aimed at startups around the world that have already developed solutions, to be implemented in the markets of Chile, Peru, and/or Colombia, with focus on:

  • Customer experience:  Technology-based solutions that allow understanding the levels of satisfaction of Parque Arauco’s clients and which services are most valued by them.
  • Sustainability and efficiency: Innovations that allow achieving high standards of efficiency and environmental sustainability in areas such as energy, water, and recycling, among others.

The selected projects will have the opportunity to sign a contract to implement their innovation in one of Parque Arauco’s shopping centers in Latin America, which could potentially be scaled to its more than 784,000 m2 of surface area in Chile, Peru, and/or Colombia.

Benjamín Del Sante, Manager of Operational and Business Excellence at Parque Arauco, says: “as part of our sustainability strategy, we seek innovative and disruptive solutions that allow us to improve the experience of our visitors and at the same time, develop the environmental management of our shopping centers. We want to support entrepreneurs so that they can deploy new alternatives with us, to make progress on these issues, which is why we are very much looking forward to the results of this call”.

Jamie Riggs, Managing Director of ChileGlobal Ventures, added: “it is very valuable to see how companies, in the midst of the crisis caused by the COVID-19, are investing this time of confinement to improve their facilities, in order to ensure an excellent and safe return to customers and tenants of their shopping centers. We are very happy to partner with Parque Arauco and continue to support entrepreneurs in these much-needed moments, understanding that the link between corporations and startups is essential to build a more dynamic economy”.

Additional perks

In addition to having the opportunity to win a contract to implement their innovation in one of Parque Arauco’s shopping centers, the finalist startups will be reviewed by the Scouting Team of ChileGlobal Ventures to evaluate the possibility of being included in the institution’s portfolio, accessing one of the three branches of financing of the platform, to accelerate the development of their businesses.

Interested entrepreneurs can apply at www.theshoppingevolution.com until July 19.

About Parque Arauco

Parque Arauco is a leading company in the development and operation of real estate assets, based in Chile, with 1,075,500 m2 of the consolidated gross local area (GLA) between that country, Peru and Colombia. The company opened its first shopping center in Chile in 1982, entered Peru in 2005 and Colombia in 2008.

To date, it has 54 real estate assets, more than 3,700 tenants, and over 500 employees. In Chile, it has consolidated its leadership by operating eight regional shopping centers, one neighborhood shopping center, 17 strip centers, and four outlets; while in Peru, it has six regional shopping centers, nine neighborhood shopping centers, three strip centers, and two outlets. Meanwhile, in Colombia, it operates three regional shopping centers and one outlet mall.

About ChileGlobal Ventures

ChileGlobal Ventures is the Venture Capital area of Fundación Chile, whose mission is to interconnect its main actors to generate better and greater investment opportunities in startups with high innovative content and strategic value for the development of Chile and Latin America.

ChileGlobal Ventures has a portfolio of more than 180 financed startups; having a capital under management of USD $30.5 million among its four lines of business: the accelerator, the angel investor network, the CLIN investment fund, and its open innovation projects.