Open Innovation in Chile
Logistic and Retail 2.0 opportunities with COPEC for New Zealand companies
November, 17th • 8.15am NZT • online • free
Imagine Group is an important accelerator in Chile and they have partnered with and WIND Garage, COPEC’s innovation hub to identify providers/companies that offer products and services that can help solve a set of identified challenges for COPEC service stations:
- Logistics and Distribution – Service network and future infrastructure.
- Retail 2.0 – Enhance the omnichannel purchase experience.
- Lifestyle – New interaction models with people and their environment
COPEC is the largest petrol station retailer in Chile, with 700 service stations, 415 convenience stores and a strong presence across Latin America.
In this webinar, Francisca will go through all the details of this unique opportunity presented to NZTE in Chile.
Join Director of Business and Operations of Imagine Group, Francisca Rojas, to hear about a tangible business opportunity for New Zealand Tech, Manufacturing and F&B sector companies.
Have you been trying to find a way to accelerate your entry into the Chilean market but were not quite sure how you would do it?! This is your chance to hear about a real business opportunity to take part in an Open Innovation process for one of LATAM’s most important companies.
WHY IS THIS WEBINAR IMPORTANT TO YOU AND YOUR BUSINESS?
As Chilean businesses and sectors strive to adapt to ever-changing market conditions, they seek innovative solutions and technology that solve operational needs/challenges.
New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) in Santiago has observed a surge in open innovation calls in Chile, and these are happening across different sectors, including mining, retail, forestry, horticulture, and health tech and use different business models, including the supplier/partnership model.
How is this different from general business opportunities?
Open innovation calls run very quickly.
Many open innovation challenges search for companies to become potential suppliers (be they start-ups or scale-ups), since this model is easy and fast to implement and doesn't involve complex negotiations or relationship building between the parties.
This model usually starts with a proof of concept or pilot (no more than 2-3 months) with the selected companies, and based on the results, the parties can agree to scale it and the company becomes a formal supplier or even invests in it.
The beauty of this model is that it can offer New Zealand companies, like yours, a chance to obtain new clients in a “fast tracked” way. We have seen this sort of process succeed for other customers in our current portfolio and lead to commercial results.
The process will be run fully in English, so you will not have a language barrier.
How is NZTE involved?
NZTE’s Santiago team has been supporting several customers through those open innovations processes in the market, and we have had four successful cases in the last year.
So, we have actual experience supporting our customers on those open innovation calls.
We published a story on this on myNZTE – you can read more about this trend here: myNZTE | Unlock opportunities with Chile’s innovation hubs and accelerators.
NZTE’s Santiago team has commissioned a report about Open Innovation and Corporate Venturing in Chile that includes a checklist of the considerations that NZTE customers should contemplate in each of the stages, from applying to the process until being selected.
Speakers
Francisca Rojas
Director of Business and Operations @Imagine Group With over 6 years experience in entrepreneurship and innovation, Francisca has been working in business incubators, supporting startups, consulting in innovation and transformation for public and private entities and corporate venturing models. Since 2016 she began her work at IncubaUC, as an entrepreneurship broker, advising startups on commercial, financial and strategic matters. In 2016 he assumed the position of General Manager of IncubaUC, being responsible for the integral management of the company, the redesign of the incubation and acceleration programs , and the development of new businesses for corporations. In 2019 she became Deputy Director of Entrepreneurship in the UC Innovation Center until January 2021when she joined Imagine Group. Francisca is a Commercial Engineer with a Master in Marketing and a Master in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Additionally, she has international specializations in Entrepreneurship Development and Management and startup validation and Venture Capital.
Sara Reyes
Trade Commissioner for Chile, Peru and Bolivia Sara is NZTE's Trade Commissioner based in Santiago, Chile, where she leads the team helping New Zealand business access the Chile, Peru and Bolivia markets. Central to this is developing and maintaining a network of business and government relationships in the region relevant to NZTE's clients' trade and investment interests. Sara holds a commerce degree and a Master's in international business from the University of Auckland.
About WIND Garage and COPEC:
WIND Garage is Copec’s innovation and new business hub.It is part of the Copec innovation ecosystem, a space where creativity and experimentation are not only allowed, but are at the base of its conception. Through collaborative, agile work focused on concrete benefits for people, we seek to implement innovative, comprehensive and high-impact solutions.
The Copec Group is a leading group with presence in seven countries with their head office in Chile. Through businesses in the forestry, energy and fishing industries, and other investments including most notably the mining industry, COPEC seeks to promote the development of Chile and the countries where they do business. One of COPEC core business is the distribution of petrol in Chile with 700 service stations and 415 convenience stores in the country. The number of COPEC convenience stores has grown exponentially and they are fostering innovation in terms of customer experience in their convenience stores. COPEC’s innovation hub, WIND Garage has launched this open innovation call for the Chilean market.
About Imagine Group
Imagine Group is a leading accelerator entity in the market, and they have partnered up with COPEC to run this process.