The five chilean startups of 2016 that you have to know

From safety gloves that protect you from a hammer blow to inventions that transform your house and car into an episode of Black Mirror, come get to know the best start-ups “made in Chile”.

Nathan Lustig, ex-judge in Start-Up Chile and one of the directors of Magma Partners, an American-Chilean investment fund based in Chile, shared with us the start-ups that most got his attention in 2016.

In addition to working day-to-day with different start-ups, Nathan is also a technology columnist for El Mercurio. We asked him to put together a list of young businesses that, in his judgment, stood out this year.

Umbo

From the Chilean entrepenuer Francisco Saez, but based in Silicon Valley, Umbo could be the future of homes as we know them. A small device full of technology that can transform your mornings into “Minority Report”. Using sensors, Umbo promises to make your mornings more productive and make you forget the vertical scroll upon waking up.

Resafe

Resafe is one of those products that makes you ask “Seriously, they invented it in Chile?” The famous industrial safety gloves have undergone a redesign, now with a technology that protects their users from hammer blows and prevents fingers from getting pinched. Bit by bit they are taking over the international market.

Maker.do

Do you have a super good idea that can change the world? All you need to do is put together an online store to sell your art. Maker.do can solve your problem. This web application can create an online store or a kickstarter in seconds and without a programmer.

https://www.facebook.com/makerdo/videos/1561705090790933/

This current clients have received more than 500,000 dollars in less than four months of operation. They are currently releasing their useful application to the American market.

Jooycar

Founded by Maria Paz Giller and Emilio Figueroa, Jooycar allows to pay up to 30 percent less in insurance premiums if you “drive well”. Using technology to connect to your car, the app gathers data about your driving. In this way it helps you to drive better and it gives you discounts in products for your car. Imagine a kind of Waze with small rewards. In Chile it is already in use with companies like Sura and Cencosud.

Groupraise

“Eating you can change the world”: that should be the slogan of Groupraise. The app allows you to put on events in restaurants – whether for your friends, business or foundation – and then donates 20 percent of the group’s bill to the foundation of your choice. It is basically a more honest and technologically advanced version of the “would you like to donate a peso to a foundation?” of the big supermarkets. With its base in Chile and its market in the United States, they move millions of dollars each month to foundations.