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  • Leadsales Doubles Clients and Reinvents Sales Through WhatsApp for SMEs

    Leadsales Doubles Clients and Reinvents Sales Through WhatsApp for SMEs

    Leadsales, a rising startup based in Querétaro, Mexico, is making waves by transforming how small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) manage their sales processes through WhatsApp. With a multichannel platform, powerful AI tools, and a strategic partnership with Meta, Leadsales is on a mission to expand across Latin America and the United States.

    CEO Roberto Peñacastro shared the company’s remarkable journey—from its 2020 foundation to being named one of Forbes’ 30 Business Promises of 2024. In just a few years, the company has achieved exponential growth and continues to redefine conversational commerce.

    Unstoppable Growth

    Founded in 2020, Leadsales grew from 1,300 clients in 2023 to more than double that figure just a year later. A key turning point came with a $3.7 million seed round, which fueled its development and positioned Leadsales as the first Meta Business Partner in Latin America focused on SMEs.

    One of its most innovative features is WhatsApp “coexistence,” which allows businesses to use both the mobile app and the API simultaneously—without disrupting operational continuity.

    Tangible Results for Clients

    The company’s multichannel CRM platform has helped customers increase their sales fivefold in just three months. This success stems from Leadsales’ strategic approach to conversational commerce: combining click-to-WhatsApp ads with a response system that improves reply times by up to 300%.

    A Strategic Alliance with Meta

    Leadsales’ measurable impact has led to a strategic collaboration with Meta. Its clients now see up to 4x returns on Facebook ads. In response, Leadsales redesigned its platform to cover the full customer lifecycle—including ad campaign management, all in one place.

    Focused on High-Touch Industries

    Leadsales finds strong traction in industries that depend on human interactions, such as education, automotive, real estate, legal, and financial services. These businesses often require flexible CRM systems, and Leadsales provides a more agile alternative to traditional platforms.

    Challenges That Create Opportunities

    Two major hurdles for SMEs are adopting structured follow-up systems and moving away from informal communication through personal phone numbers. Leadsales addresses both issues with tools that centralize customer interaction, ensure transparency, and enhance client retention.

    Custom Funnels and AI Copilot

    The CRM functions like a professional version of WhatsApp Web. It includes dynamic quick replies, sales funnels, and customer segmentation. Soon, Leadsales will also offer an AI-powered copilot that can summarize conversations, suggest replies, and boost agent productivity.

    Built-In Security

    Security is a core principle at Leadsales. Conversations are protected with end-to-end encryption, and each account’s data remains completely isolated. Custom permissions also allow businesses to restrict access to sensitive information.

    Trends Shaping the Future

    Nearly half of Leadsales’ users prioritize AI-powered lead scoring. There’s also rising demand for behavior-triggered automation, such as cart abandonment reminders. While WhatsApp remains the dominant channel, Leadsales is preparing to add new platforms like TikTok.

    AI Empowers, Not Replaces

    Leadsales sees generative AI as a productivity enhancer, not a replacement. By integrating tools like Amazon Bedrock and SageMaker, the company empowers small teams to perform at the level of large sales departments.

    Omnichannel Strategy with a Local Focus

    While omnichannel engagement is the long-term goal, Leadsales acknowledges that WhatsApp reigns supreme in Latin America. The biggest challenge isn’t technical but cultural: mastering the most-used channel before branching out.

    Next Stop: More Mexico, More USA

    Rather than launching in Brazil, Leadsales has chosen to deepen its presence in Mexico and expand further into the U.S., especially among Latino-owned businesses already using WhatsApp for sales. The company is now targeting a jump from $4 million to $10 million in annual revenue within the next 12 months.


    Leadsales continues to prove that combining localized strategy, advanced technology, and a deep understanding of human-centered sales can unlock massive growth—especially in regions where WhatsApp is more than just a messaging app; it’s a business lifeline.

  • Hula: The Latin American Startup Revolutionizing Payment Reconciliation with AI

    Hula: The Latin American Startup Revolutionizing Payment Reconciliation with AI

    A new fintech startup born in Latin America is taking on one of the most overlooked inefficiencies in modern finance: fragmented, manual, and error-prone reconciliation processes. With a global vision from day one, Hula officially enters the market with a bold mission — to automate digital payment reconciliation using native artificial intelligence (AI), helping finance teams reduce complexity, costs, and losses.

    Fixing the Broken Backbone of Finance

    Founded by fintech entrepreneur Juan Felipe Cadena, Hula is built by a team of engineers and payment specialists with deep industry expertise. Together, they aim to solve a persistent gap in financial operations: the absence of intelligent, scalable tools to reconcile millions of digital transactions across processors, alternative payment methods, and banks.

    Despite the rapid global evolution of financial and payment technologies, reconciliation remains a highly manual and costly process. Finance teams still spend countless hours each day manually cross-checking fragmented data, identifying missing payments, and discovering costly errors too late.

    “Finance and payments teams are still losing hours each day manually reconciling fragmented data, finding missing payments, and detecting errors only after money is lost,” said Juan Felipe Cadena, founder and CEO of Hula. “Hula was born to fix that broken backbone. Our platform is AI-native from day one, fully automated, built to scale, and designed to provide real-time visibility and control.”

    A Smarter Way to Reconcile Financial Flows

    At the heart of Hula’s solution is a no-code dashboard powered by a real-time reconciliation engine. It matches digital transactions across multiple processors, banks, and alternative payment methods. The system uses AI and customizable rules to detect discrepancies, fraud, delays, or anomalies — sending alerts before they become financial losses.

    Key Benefits:

    • AI-powered automation of the entire reconciliation process
    • Real-time visibility and control via a user-friendly dashboard
    • Fast onboarding and integration with payment providers (within weeks, not months)
    • Up to 90% reduction in operational costs
    • Smart alerts for missing payments, inconsistencies, and risks — preventing losses

    Born in Latin America, Built for the World

    While Hula was founded in Latin America, the challenge it addresses is global. Reconciliation inefficiencies impact finance teams worldwide — from startups to large corporations — especially in industries with high transaction volumes and fragmented payment ecosystems.

    Hula’s infrastructure was designed from the ground up with global scalability in mind. Though its initial focus is on Latin American clients, the company plans to expand into high-growth regions including the United States, Europe, and the Middle East.

    A Team of Experts Who Know the Problem Firsthand

    Hula’s founder, Juan Felipe Cadena, brings over 20 years of experience in payments, fintech, airlines, and e-commerce. Before founding Hula, he led strategic accounts at Yuno, helping global companies optimize complex payment infrastructures. He also held leadership roles at LATAM Airlines and Viva Air, and previously launched startups like LosSegurosBaratos and CargoFly GSA.

    The founding team includes top specialists from leading fintechs and payment companies in Latin America, with deep experience in AI development, payment provider integration, and large-scale financial system operations.

    “Every conversation with financial leaders pointed to the same pain: reconciliation is still a massive headache that no one has truly solved,” Cadena added. “We believe companies shouldn’t lose time and money just to know where their money is. That’s the future we’re building.”

    A Modern Solution to a Global Problem

    In an era where payment flows are increasingly fragmented and operational efficiency is more critical than ever, Hula fills a historic gap in financial infrastructure. With a native AI architecture and automation-first design, the company is delivering a modern solution to a global problem — starting in Latin America, and scaling to the world.

  • Latam-GPT: Latin America’s First AI Language Model Aims to Preserve Cultural and Linguistic Diversity

    Latam-GPT: Latin America’s First AI Language Model Aims to Preserve Cultural and Linguistic Diversity

    In a groundbreaking move, Latin America will unveil Latam-GPT this September—the region’s first artificial intelligence model designed specifically for language processing with a cultural and linguistic lens. The initiative is led by Chile’s Centro Nacional de Inteligencia Artificial (CENIA) and brings together the collaborative effort of over 30 organizations from across Latin America and the Caribbean.

    Unlike traditional AI models, which are often developed in and for the English-speaking world, Latam-GPT is being built with the unique historical, cultural, and linguistic complexities of the region in mind. According to Álvaro Soto, director of CENIA, the model has been trained on approximately 17.5 terabytes of data, much of it sourced from non-internet and region-specific materials, including indigenous languages and local knowledge repositories.


    Bridging the Digital Divide

    The architecture of Latam-GPT reflects a hybrid computing infrastructure, combining local computational power with cloud services to maximize efficiency and reach. This setup not only ensures regional accessibility but also strengthens Latin America’s digital sovereignty—a concept that prioritizes local control over data and technology.

    The Chilean Minister of Science, Aisén Etcheverry, emphasized that the goal is to move beyond consumption and prove that Latin America can also be a developer of advanced technologies. The model is being positioned as an open AI engine, not just a chatbot, which means it can be adapted for various uses like education, public services, justice systems, and more.


    A Model Built for the Region, by the Region

    What sets Latam-GPT apart from other large language models is its deeply regionalized data-gathering approach. Rather than simply scraping the internet, CENIA and its partners sought out institutions, scholars, and communities to contribute meaningful, original content. This includes oral histories, academic texts, local publications, and even community-based knowledge that is often left out of global AI projects.

    Pilot versions of the model have already incorporated Rapanui and Mapudungun, indigenous languages from Chile, as part of a broader effort to protect linguistic diversity. “When our history and worldview are not reflected in digital spaces, pieces of our culture begin to disappear,” said Minister Etcheverry. “AI accelerates this gap, and it must not happen in Latin America and the Caribbean.”


    Regional Cooperation and Future Expansion

    The Latam-GPT project was formally launched in 2023 and has received funding from CENIA, Chile’s Ministry of Science, and the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, among others. Brazil has recently joined the initiative, and discussions are ongoing to include Colombia, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, and Peru.

    The initial version of Latam-GPT will contain 70 billion parameters, making it a competitive model on the global stage. Importantly, it is being designed as a public utility, allowing regional developers, startups, and governments to build localized AI applications tailored to their specific needs.


    Looking Ahead: AI for All

    The mission is clear: democratize access to AI and build a model that mirrors Latin America’s diversity in both form and function. Local municipalities in Chile have already begun experimenting with Latam-GPT-powered solutions. The next phase includes expanding its capabilities beyond text—to include images, numerical data, and potentially even video—in order to create a more holistic representation of Latin American realities.

    As AI technologies reshape the global digital landscape, Latam-GPT stands as a bold statement of regional autonomy and innovation. It represents not just a technological leap, but a cultural safeguard. With this initiative, Latin America is claiming its place in the AI revolution—not as a passive observer, but as a creative force.