Startup Failures in Colombia

Micro-insurance for the masses — priced for growth, not survival.

Colombia's BNPL unicorn hit by rising rates and credit losses, cutting deeply to survive

Colombian B2B hardware-store marketplace backed by Andreessen Horowitz, SoftBank, and General Atlantic with $180M raised — executed multiple mass layoff rounds before winding down in 2023.

Colombia's health insurance comparison site strangled by a single exclusivity clause.

Colombia's $800M proptech unicorn collapsed as rising rates froze the housing market it depended on

Colombia's pet care e-commerce startup ran out of capital trying to build vertical integration in a thin-margin category

Supply chain finance for Colombian importers. Trade finance unit economics broke in 2023.

Medellín-based SME fintech lender backed by Omidyar Network and IFC raised $15M across nine years—then shut down in 2023 as Colombian SME default rates and rising Banco de la República rates destroyed lending margins.

Colombian urban freight platform that burned $28M before the VC funding winter forced insolvency.

Colombian mobile wallet and neobank reached 3M registered users before selling to Banco W in a distressed deal in 2023 as the cost of serving unbanked Colombians proved impossible to recover from interchange revenue alone.

Colombian prop-tech that raised $35M from Tiger Global and then watched three markets collapse at once.

Colombia's BNPL unicorn. Rising rates compressed the model.

The Colombian B2B fresh produce platform for restaurants raised 99M dollars and shut operations in October 2023 when ZIRP capital dried up.

Colombia's last-mile delivery pioneer absorbed by a larger logistics group after Rappi and iFood overwhelmed its position

Tyba democratized investing in Colombia, then got absorbed by the bank it was supposed to disrupt.

Affordable health coverage for the uninsured — until the math stopped working.

Colombia's social selling fintech trained 300,000 women to sell financial products — and couldn't turn that into a sustainable business.

Latin America's super-app. Raised $2B. Laid off 6% and restructured.

Colombia's mobile wallet that reached 3M users but couldn't survive Nequi and Daviplata.

Colombia's 33-year-old logistics giant that couldn't pivot fast enough for the e-commerce era.

Precision agriculture for Colombia's poorest farmers failed on both connectivity and willingness to pay.

Employee benefits fintech. Co-founder exit killed the enterprise pipeline.

Colombia's original food delivery pioneer — acquired by Delivery Hero, then quietly shut down in 2022 as Rappi made the platform redundant.

Social commerce for Colombian micro-entrepreneurs. Couldn't reach scale.

Formalizing informal construction labor in Colombia proved a bridge too far.

Colombia's e-commerce fulfillment startup raised $35M to become the LatAm Flexport — and shut down in under two years when the capital never arrived to close its unit-economics gap.

Rappi's grocery arm that built dark stores across Latin America — and shut down when quick-commerce unit economics proved impossible at LatAm price points

Colombia's fashion ecommerce dream dismantled by geography and giants.

Colombian AI analytics startup. Tableau and Power BI commoditized the category.

Online grocery for Colombian suburbs. Couldn't raise beyond Seed.

Telemedicine platform for Colombia. COVID arrived — but so did every other telemedicine startup.

School management SaaS for Colombia. COVID disrupted schools — but not how you think.

Thirty years of Latin American accounting dominance ended by a government e-invoicing mandate.

Colombia's solar startup beaten by Spanish energy giants that already knew the regulator

Colombian digital banking startup that ran out of money before receiving its banking licence.

Colombia wealthtech requiring an 18-month SFC license while Bancolombia Fiduciaria and Tyba (owned by Bancolombia) already served retail investment

Colombia regtech needing 24-month SFC technology certification while Deloitte/KPMG held UIAF AML and DIAN controlled electronic invoicing

Colombia dental health tech blocked by IPS habilitación for teledentistry, INVIMA Class IIa device registration, and Dentalink/Open Dental covering the 500-practice market

The hyperlocal city discovery app that couldn't monetize neighbourhood data

Colombia's green building platform for an industry where sustainability costs more than it saves

Colombian precision farming SaaS ran dry before the crop cycle turned profitable

The Colombian super-app that SoftBank valued at 3.5 billion dollars and that has been burning cash for a decade

Colombia's satellite agri-data startup that couldn't raise enough to launch enough satellites

Colombian fintech for informal micro-merchants raised $35M and shut down when it could not monetize an audience that could barely afford smartphones.

Colombian on-demand beauty services platform that failed to achieve sustainable unit economics in a fragmented market.

Platzi bootcamp arm found ISA-funded intensive courses harder than subscriptions

Colombia construction tech: Autodesk BIM 360 for large developers, CAMACOL Digital for members, and Procore ($3.9B) entering Colombia left only the 70% informal construction sector without a tech budget

The Colombian motorcycle ride-hailing app that built a passionate user base and was killed by the government banning moto-taxis

Colombia HR software second wave competing against Gregg (15K clients), Novasoft (8K), Factorial, Keka, and LATAM HR all in the same SME segment

Colombia's legal automation startup regulated out of business by the bar it was disrupting

Colombia edtech third wave competing against Platzi (4M learners), SENA (2M students), and Coursera in the same Medellín market

Colombia ride-sharing competing against Uber (legal since 2021), InDriver (40%), Cabify (Spain), and Beat (Daimler) in the same Bogotá market

Colombia mental health tech second wave: 4 Colombian funded startups (Sana, Mindsurf, NuMind, MentalHealthCO2) competed for the same consumer and EPS markets

Colombia blue economy tech blocked by DIMAR concessions, AUNAP's SEPEC platform, and Chinese-owned shrimp exporters using parent supply chain tools

Colombia's third real estate portal in a two-portal market

Colombia's enterprise AI startup that IT consultancies outbid on every deal

The Colombian telehealth startup that grew its losses with every patient

LatAm food delivery startup that served Guatemala, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay and Dominican Republic before Rappi and iFood expansion made standalone regional operations unviable.

Colombia's crypto exchange shut down by a regulator that still hasn't written the rules

Colombia's satellite startup for a space sector that was 100% government and university

Colombia's second-wave agritech startup competing against Frubana, Agronet, and Fenalco in an already saturated sector

Colombian grocery delivery marketplace absorbed by Rappi after burning through $10M unable to compete with a better-funded rival.

Colombia's HR platform that Worky from Mexico decided was its next market

Colombia's industrial IoT startup that geography made unprofitable outside city limits

Colombia's DeFi protocol that FTX collapsed before it could reach critical mass

Colombia's second healthtech startup blocked by EPS exclusive telemedicine partnerships while MINSALUD habilitación certification was in process

Colombian enterprise NLP acqui-hired after losing the AI positioning battle post-ChatGPT

Colombia supply chain tech for a market where SURA uses SAP, Bavaria uses AB InBev parent, and SME suppliers coordinate via WhatsApp

Medellín fashion tech competing against Shein (20M Colombian users), Mercado Libre Fashion (55%), and Chinese ultra-fast fashion at 1/10 the price of Colombian designers

Colombian digital lender hit by tasa de usura cap and peso devaluation in the same quarter

Colombia smart city competing against Cisco Bogotá contract, IBM Gobierno Abierto, and MinTIC's Accenture/Deloitte consulting with SECOP II requiring 5-year financial statements

Digital supply chain for Colombian coffee and flower smallholders — the unit math never closed

Colombian HR engagement SaaS that could not convert a compelling idea into sustainable revenue.

Colombia fintech third wave: Nubank ($400M commitment), Nequi (10M), Daviplata (8M), Rappi Banking, and Lulo Bank all competing in a 52M population

Colombian Meesho-inspired social commerce platform for women entrepreneurs that raised $10M from Kaszek but could not replicate India's social commerce density in Latin America.

Colombia's programmatic advertising platform that Google and Facebook made irrelevant

Colombian last-mile logistics startup burned through capital before reaching unit economics positive

Colombia's esports platform that copied the playbook without reading the market

Colombia's first taxi-hailing app acquired by Easy Taxi and dismantled in the Uber wars.

Colombia foodtech second wave: Rappi (65%), PedidosYa (25%), iFood ($2.7B) entered Colombia while Siigo and Alegra covered B2B restaurant management

Colombia's coffee traceability startup blocked by the certifiers that controlled the data standards

Colombia's edtech that tried to out-Platzi Platzi in Platzi's own market

Colombia insurtech that spent 18 months getting the Superintendencia Financiera license and then found Sura controlled all the bancassurance channels

Colombia legaltech second attempt confirming top firms use iManage/NetDocuments while Superintendencia de Notariado covers deeds and SME lawyers use WhatsApp

Colombia's second attempt at homegrown ride-hailing that InDriver and Cabify had already settled

Colombia's mental health app in a market where stigma and insurance gaps blocked adoption

Colombian motorcycle ride-hailing app grounded by Bogotá's mototaxi ban enforcement

Colombia's govtech startup that a change of administration cancelled in its most productive year

Colombian iBuyer that couldn't survive rising rates and Opendoor's global retreat

Colombia restaurant tech competing against Siigo (500K company clients), Alegra (80K restaurant clients), Toast, and Rappi Pay — while 90% of restaurants were informal without IT budgets

Crypto-powered remittance startup connecting Colombia and Venezuela that ran out of road.

LatAm payment orchestration startup raised $25M then was commoditized by Stripe and Adyen

Colombia's gig worker insurance startup betrayed by the platforms it depended on

Colombian university alternative that discovered Colombians still need a university diploma

Colombia's ERP startup that Siigo absorbed by releasing a better version for less money

Colombia biopharma that needed 36 months for INVIMA approval while ELaboratorio crowded out private pharma in public procurement

LatAm insurance comparison pioneer absorbed before reaching scale

Addi raised 145 million dollars from Andreessen Horowitz to bring BNPL to Colombian and Brazilian retail — and exited Brazil, cut 25 percent of staff, and wrote down its valuation in 2022 when its credit book could not survive rising rates in markets with already-high consumer default rates.

Andreessen-backed Colombian real estate marketplace that survived Series B only to collapse on rate hikes.

Colombia's travel startup that COVID killed in its best year before its best round

Colombian digital news platform drained by Google and Facebook advertising duopoly

SoftBank-backed B2B wholesale app connecting small retailers to brands raised $60M and shut down as distributech economics proved unworkable.

Colombia's last-mile delivery startup that Colombia's labor code bankrupted

Colombia's second satellite startup stopped by a regulatory framework that didn't exist yet

The Colombian online grocery startup that could not solve the last-mile equation

Colombia agricultural fintech blocked by Banco Agrario's state portfolio, Finagro's $5B+ credit monopoly, and ICA supplier certification requirements

Rocket Internet LatAm ecommerce clone survived a decade only to be quietly killed by its acquirer.