PAIR takes first place at Startup Biobío 2026
Four months of learning, a final in Concepción and the next step: the United States.
In May we began our participation in Startup Biobío 2026, an entrepreneurship programme driven by Endeavor that brings together start-ups from the region and accompanies them through a process of training, mentoring and evaluation.
What started as an application became four months of work that made us rethink several parts of PAIR. The level of the programme and of the people taking part exceeded our expectations from the start: it was not only about acquiring tools, but about learning to look at the company from perspectives we often did not have inside the team.
The academies at Casa W were especially important in that process. The internationalisation and soft-landing work made us think about PAIR outside Chile: how to present the company in other markets, what to prepare before arriving and how to turn an intention to internationalise into a concrete plan.
Added to this were the boards and mentoring sessions of Incuba UdeC, where we had to put the company to the test from another angle. Talking numbers, business model, customers and strategy with people outside the team forced us to question assumptions and make decisions. An important part of how PAIR presents itself, how it structures its proposal and who it aims its product at was born in those conversations.
After four months, we reached the final in Concepción.
On 2 September, PAIR took first place at Startup Biobío 2026.
The recognition comes with an opportunity that excites us in particular: an internationalisation trip to New York and Miami in October. Twelve days to present PAIR, get to know new markets and continue the work we have done over the past year with a view to expanding beyond Chile.
The prize matters, but for us it represents more than a trip. It is confirmation that a company that started by working on a concrete problem in the field can draw interest beyond its home market.
And, above all, it is the result of a process in which PAIR did not end up being the same company that started in May.
We arrived at Startup Biobío with a product under construction. We left with a company better prepared to take it to the world.