Betting on Local Tech Talent – Talently's Mission to Upskill Tech Professionals

Talently is a startup that tackles all aspects of job readiness through an integrated approach that makes it easier for tech professionals to access better opportunities by having a well-rounded skill set.

They had the idea and the drive but Domenica and Roxana, co-founders of Talently, knew they also needed support to get their solution off the ground:

“We were looking for knowledge in education, discipline in building a startup—we knew little about growth and product. We were stuck there”.

In March of 2019, Swiss EP introduced Talently to UTEC Ventures, a leading accelerator in Peru. Domenica and Roxana applied to UV’s upcoming Acceleration Program which coincidentally was focused on Edtech. In May 2019, they began the 3-month long program which led to meeting their current CTO and polishing their virtual program for “job-readiness in just 2 months”. Their new offering had two main components: 1) revamping participants’ skills and 2) helping them navigate the job application process to ensure better results.

In September 2019, shortly after finishing UV’s program, they prepared diligently and applied to 500 Startups’ LATAM Accelerator.

The preparation paid off, and shortly thereafter, out of a total of 1,700 applicants from across the region, Talently was chosen to be a part of the 11th batch of 500 Latam Startups. The team flew to Mexico City for the 4-month program during which they were able to fine-tune their value proposition of providing their clients' community-driven preparation and connections to US/Latam tech companies. During this time, they onboarded a new co-founder to complement the venture on the technical side, Cristian Vega.

In early 2020, the Talently team was consistently reaching its growth goals, and even when the pandemic hit, was able to adapt quickly and, in their own words, “lead with optimism and perseverance".

At that time, Talently still offered the same program, but as they continued to grow, so did their need to develop their own product and proprietary technology built by their co-founder and CTO, Cristian Vega. Talently now runs a scalable platform integrating a Learning Management System that accompanies talent at each stage of the selection process and connects them with tracking tools for their job search (a job-hunt Customer Relationship Management solution). This new offering has delivered results for users, averaging 3 months for a successful job search.

So far, the startup has grown its revenues by more than +35% from March 2020 to November 2020 with activities in Peru, Mexico, Chile, and Colombia.

Talently just closed its Seed investment round led by Alaya Capital and including other investors from the USA, Argentina, and Peru.

Continuing the relationship with Swiss EP, Doménica participated in a Swiss EP webinar in October 2020 where she pitched her business and received advice from a panel of Peruvian diaspora.

"2020 has been a difficult year for many. COVID-19 has thrown the labor market into a state of chaos and uncertainty, which has accelerated our growth, but above all, our ability to play a critical role in getting people back to work as soon as possible, in the best jobs possible".

Domenica's work with her team at Talently is only beginning.