The Mexican startup Yumari received an online congratulations from Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard on Tuesday after winning a major prize in the 2024 World Entrepreneurship Cup held in Saudi Arabia.
“A source of pride for our country for its splendid performance,” Ebrard wrote on the social media site X. “Good news to start the week!!!”
Ebrard’s enthusiasm was certainly deserved, as Yumari’s win made it the first Mexican company — and the first Latin American company — ever to win a top prize in the Cup.
After five days of intense competition involving more than 100 startups from 52 countries, Yumari emerged last week as the Cup’s winner of the Early Stage category – a prize given to companies in the early stages of their development — which came with a US $100,000 award.
Yumari’s digital platform connects international buyers to producers and manufacturers in Mexico and the rest of Latin America that can create custom-made products for them. It specializes in handling the entire production process, from selecting factories and conducting audits to quality control and managing exports.
Young Mexican entrepreneur Andrés Díaz Bedolla, who founded Yumari among his many projects, was interviewed by Mexico News Daily CEO Travis Bembenek in July. His “clear objective” with Yumari, the article noted, “is to make sure Mexicans stand to benefit from nearshoring.”
Indeed, the platform aims to leverage Latin America’s competitive advantages, such as quality materials and proximity to major markets, as alternatives to manufacturing in Asia. Emphasizing sustainability and social responsibility, it targets direct-to-consumer (D2C) products such as apparel, textiles and beauty and home goods.
Díaz said the prize money will continue bolstering the startup’s tech team and upping its artificial intelligence. Yumari is using an AI model to support its clients throughout the entire process: development, factory selection, sampling, production and logistics.
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Yumari’s CEO Andrés Diaz Bedolla in October, giving Yumari’s elevator pitch at a similar competition, the 2024 Startup World Cup in San Francisco, where it won in the Mexican Regional category. Click on the image to hear his pitch.
“At Yumari, we are reimagining the future of cross-border trade and manufacturing,” Díaz told the online magazine Entrepreneur en Español. “We are convinced that strengthening global supply chains while supporting regional suppliers can have a massive impact.”
The Entrepreneurship World Cup culminated last week at BIBAN 24, a forum in Saudi Arabia aimed at fostering the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Held in Riyadh, the forum featured 250 speakers, 1,350 exhibitors and over 120,000 attendees.
Top finishers in the competition were selected in categories dependent on the startup’s status: idea stage, early stage, growth stage and innovation track. Yumari was the only winner from Mexico.
The US $200,000 grand prize went to Mismar, a Saudi Arabian company in the growth stage. It won for its “automotive tech and digitized after-sales services that enhance customer experience,” according to Arab Founders, a media platform that covers startups and venture capital in the Arab world.
Overall, more than US $1 million was given out as prizes, Arab Founders noted. Co-organized by the Global Entrepreneurship Network and Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises, BIBAN 24 is one of the world’s largest and most diverse pitch competitions and support programs.
With reports from Entrepreneur en Español, LatamList and ArabFounders.net
MND Perspectives: Will Mexico benefit from nearshoring?
Learn more about the opportunities and potential pitfalls Mexico could encounter as it embraces nearshoring, in the Mexico News Daily podcast, “Will Mexico Benefit from Nearshoring?”
