About us

Where we came from, where we're going, and what we believe in

OUR PURPOSE

We empower the Latin American middle-class through intentionally designed solutions that give fair access to quality services and better income-generating opportunities. We believe that this is the best way for sustainable economic development — and the most meaningful way to invest our talent and energy.

POLYMATH, DEFINED

pol·y·math  \ˈpä-li-ˌmaTH\  [noun]

— a person of wide-ranging knowledge or learning;

— a ‘Renaissance man’

Why Latin America?

Latin America’s (and the world’s) emerging middle class is growing at a tremendous rate (about 2.5 times the developed world), with newfound prosperity. There are many salient, unmet needs but not the contemporary, complex companies to serve them. Polymath aims to lead this economic awakening. Polymath is based in Bogotá, Colombia. We chose Colombia as a launching point for Latin America because of its macroeconomic stability, geographic centrality, growth trends, access to amazing talent, and increasingly supportive business culture.

OUR HISTORY

From a small, donated office in a university to a multi-country portfolio of companies

In the beginning

In June of 2012, we recruited ten talented (and a little crazy) people for the first Seed project in Medellín. We all lived together in one apartment, and EAFIT University was kind enough to lend us some meeting rooms. In 3 months we designed the two venture concepts Taximo and Aflore. Success!

Growing, growing

In 2013 Polymath moved to Bogotá to set up a group that bands together entrepreneurs, investors, and advisors, under a proprietary world-class methodology and a single goal: to empower Latin America’s middle class.

Where we are today

We are the Venture Studio for Latin America, leaders of entrepreneurship, and pioneers of innovation. We own a unique approach to innovation; we have the methodology and the capabilities to operate, we recruit top entrepreneurial talent with a diverse set of skills and we hold an appetite towards risk that makes us the best partner to build innovation.

What the future holds

We are convinced this is the right time to build; Latin America is leapfrogging from a traditional economy to a digital one, which presents a massive opportunity to build consumer-centric digital solutions that respond to the needs of a traditionally underserved segment. We can do so by partnering with like-minded players with whom to launch the next generation of disruptive companies and continue fostering our ultimate goal.

What culture means to us


We believe in the power of the collective; team is paramount

We build for our users so that we can have real impact

We pursue excellence and truth

We operate with speed and always follow-through

We see opportunities in failure and never stop learning

We solve problems through empathy, creativity, and humility

We relentlessly find, develop, and keep the best talent

We are a community that balances professional intensity with personal support

We laugh hard and we laugh often

What makes us different from incubators
and venture capital firms?

Polymath Ventures is a company builder. Unlike incubators that help entrepreneurs develop their ideas, we create and launch our own businesses 100% in-house, from pre-concept to full-scale operations. We see great value in vertically integrating quality design, team and implementation.

Unlike VC firms who invest institutional capital into hi-potential businesses, Polymath assembles capital from outside investors with shared vision and values. We see great advantages in partnering with investors who provide valuable insight and advice.

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