Popular, Guayacán team up for Scale-Up entrepreneurship program
Popular and Grupo Guayacán are teaming up to provide specialized support that will accelerate the development of businesses facing rapid growth or that find themselves at a turning point, through the Popular Guayacán Scale-Up Program.
The initiative will support 40 businesses that are beyond their start-up phase and which will receive training and coaching focused on strategic growth with a bias towards action and implementation.
The 40 companies participating in the program are: 5 Star Frappe Gourmet, AccountBerry, Agro Tropical, Agropek, ALQMY, Amasar, Asset Shelf, AWA, Barquito de Papel, Buen Provecho Nutrition Services, Cátala Eye Care, Citadoc, Cool Hope Creamery, Distribuidora 5 Sentidos, DSPR Team, El Nido, Empresas PPC, Evocare, Fishi, Global Import Shop, Grown Ups, Hazel Bar, Isla Solar, JR Chrome Parts, Löfte Natural Care, Mampostea’o, Mezy, Molcajete Foods, Moralito, Outcome Project, Patria Tours, Pintá, PRITCO, p.rrology, Quibble, TeeChealo, Terra Nostra, TerraNova Urbana, The Pickup Place, and Tropical Vices.
This program is available to businesses that participated in Guayacán’s EnterPRize business competition or the StartUp Popular program, or that have a business relationship with Banco Popular and are already transitioning into the next stage, company officials said.
“Popular has been an important strategic partner for Guayacán since our founding 26 years ago. We’re very proud to be taking our collaboration to the next level through the Scale-Up program,” said Laura Cantero, executive director of Guayacán.
“We developed the program together to address a gap within the local entrepreneurial ecosystem. As we received feedback from the entrepreneurs we serve, we realized that very few programs and initiatives address businesses that aren’t start-ups anymore and are transitioning into their next stage of growth,” she said.
“Scale-Up seeks to provide a series of programmatic interventions that include interactive workshops, one-on-one sessions, technical assistance, and access to service providers that address owners’ needs at this particular stage,” Cantero noted.
These interventions will be focused on the topics of business strategy and growth, branding and sales, and finances, based on cost analysis to help entrepreneurs determine the most appropriate courses of action.
The workshops and activities will span approximately seven weeks and have been designed to meet the specific needs of each business. As a result, the participants were divided into four cohorts, to be scheduled on different dates.
The first cohort began in June 2022, and the program will last until February 2023.
The Scale-Up program aligns itself with other efforts jointly promoted by Guayacán and Popular in support of emerging entrepreneurs.
“At Popular, we are confident that Puerto Rico has the resources and human capital needed to boost our economic development. It is programs like these that help strengthen small businesses and consequently contribute to Puerto Rico’s economic and social growth,” said Ignacio Álvarez, CEO of Popular Inc.
“This new collaboration with Grupo Guayacán aims to address the specific needs of businesses that have been operating for over three years, to ensure their growth and sustainability in the market,” Álvarez said.
“We’re very excited about the Popular Guayacán Scale-Up Program and we’re certain of how beneficial it will be for these entrepreneurs in the short, medium, and long term,” he added.
