BI Foundation opens the call for the seventh cohort of the High Growth Companies Program - ScaleUp, a training designed to help small and medium-sized companies to increase their sales in a fast, profitable and sustainable way.

It is the first program of its kind in the region with a methodology developed by professors from Harvard and Babson College, the No. 1 university in entrepreneurship worldwide.

ScaleUp has been successfully implemented in 8 countries: United States, Panama, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, Canada, Russia, Denmark and Guatemala.

Since 2019, the program has proven its effectiveness in 80 Guatemalan companies with extraordinary results at the end of the training:

  • 31% average sales growth
  • 4,094 new customers
  • 406 new jobs
  • 395 new or improved products/services
  • US$ 4,703,157 in new loans granted
  • US$ 9,448,415 in new investment

About the program

The Program brings together the best practices and tools that impact the key aspects of growth: customers, people (work teams) and cash.

ScaleUp lasts 5 months and between 15 and 20 companies per cohort or group participate.

ScaleUp differs from other programs in:

  • Experienced facilitators and mentors: Senior corporate executives and entrepreneurs who understand firsthand the challenges to growth.
  • Focus on implementation: Promotes immediate action to accelerate growth from the very first session
  • Cross-learning: In addition to best practices and tools, learning comes from the exchange of experiences with other participants and facilitators, and self-evaluations.

The benefits of participating in ScaleUp are:

  • Growth in sales, customers, installed capacity and cash flow
  • Training of owners and management team on key growth issues
  • Mentoring from highly experienced entrepreneurs
  • Connections with other entrepreneurs and key players in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Companies wishing to participate must meet the following requirements:

  • Companies formally established in Guatemala
  • Sales greater than US$100,000 in the last year
  • At least 3 years old
  • With consolidated work teams (the owner does not fulfill all the strategic roles: Finance, Operations, Sales, etc.).

The investment per company (with partial scholarship) is US$ 3,000.

Some of the testimonials from the entrepreneurs who participated are:

During our participation in ScaleUp we have increased our sales by 15% in the last quarter, we also identified the opportunity to develop new processed products using the mushroom as raw material, we are developing new customers in hotels, restaurants and cafes in the capital, Antigua and Quetzaltenango, we will also develop distributors in Honduras to be in 3 countries in Central America. Estuardo Molina, CEO of Agrícola Grotto, participant of ScaleUp cohort 2.

With ScaleUp I found many areas of opportunity for my company and managed to grow 163% in sales versus the previous year. Evelyn de Batres, CEO of Casa Leipzig, participant of ScaleUp cohort 5.

The results we have had with ScaleUp are: 255 new clients, we opened 4 new jobs, we made 5 strategic alliances and we implemented a new service. Sandra Carrillo, Administrative-Financial Manager of Distribuidora de Construproductos Génesis, participant of ScaleUp cohort 6.

About the call

The deadline to apply for the Seventh ScaleUp Cohort is Monday, February 17, 2025.

Interested entrepreneurs should complete the following form to start the application process:

ScaleUp Program Application Form

For more information about the program, please call 2420-3000 extension 35720 or 4268-7426, or send an email to aldiaz@bi.com.gt.