Draft:Carlos García Ottati

Carlos García Ottati
Born	1983 Caracas, Venezuela
Education	Universidad Católica Andrés Bello Oxford University
Occupation	Entrepreneur
Title	CEO of Kavak
Website	https://www.kavak.com/

Carlos García Ottati (Caracas, September 6, 1983) is a Venezuelan entrepreneur known for founding and serving as the CEO of Kavak, the first startup to achieve unicorn status in Mexico's history. He is widely regarded as a pivotal figure in Latin American entrepreneurship.

Early Life and Education

Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Carlos García Ottati grew up in a family that frequently relocated for professional reasons, living in approximately 14 cities across his home country during his childhood. He began his entrepreneurial journey at an early age, initially venturing into the restaurant and liquor industries.

In 2010, Carlos pursued an MBA at the University of Oxford in England. During his studies, he interned at Amazon and later worked as a consultant at the prestigious firm McKinsey for two years.

Entrepreneurial career

From an early age, Carlos ventured into the restaurant and liquor business with moderate success in Venezuela. However, after returning from the United Kingdom and his tenure at McKinsey, Carlos focused on boosting the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Latin America. He contributed to building the region's first major marketplace, Linio, where he pioneered the implementation of digital payment methods and logistics for goods transportation. After Linio was sold to Falabella, the well-known "Linio Mafia", formed during his years at the company, disbanded, resulting in the creation of over 300 new startups, including what would become his greatest venture: Kavak.

Kavak

The idea behind Kavak was born out of Carlos's personal experience when he moved from Colombia to Mexico. After being scammed while selling his car and encountering legal issues with a vehicle he purchased, Carlos envisioned a business model that controlled all stages of the car buying and selling process. By purchasing used cars from individuals, reconditioning them in proprietary workshops, selling them, and offering financing and post-sale guarantees, Kavak aimed to eliminate fraud risks and improve accessibility for those unable to afford a new car.

Founded in 2016, Kavak emerged in a Mexican used car market plagued by a 40% fraud rate. Offering secure transactions, the company quickly gained user trust. The model proved highly adaptable to other emerging markets facing similar issues, attracting significant investment from leading venture capital firms such as SoftBank, Greenoaks Capital, and Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, among others, which collectively invested over $1 billion.

In its Series C funding round led by SoftBank, Kavak reached a valuation of $1.15 billion in 2020, becoming Mexico's first unicorn startup. By 2021, after raising $700 million in its Series E round, Kavak's valuation soared to over $8.7 billion, making it Latin America's highest-valuation startup.

Currently, Kavak operates in eight countries worldwide, including Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Oman. It is one of the first Mexican startups to expand into the Middle East and has achieved the largest operational scale of a used car company in emerging markets.

Transformation of the Automotive Industry

As CEO of Kavak, Carlos has driven various technological innovations and advancements in the Latin American automotive industry. He developed an algorithm based on data and artificial intelligence to provide real-time competitive pricing for buying and selling used cars. This technology also optimizes logistics and car reconditioning processes, streamlining operations within the company's workshops.

Carlos further leveraged this technology to create financial solutions tailored to individual payment capacities. By transcending traditional credit bureau criteria, Kavak has financed over 70% of its sales, enabling 40% of customers to purchase their first car. This contrasts sharply with the traditional market, where less than 5% of used car sales receive financing.

The Rise of Latin American Startups

Prior to 2022, the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Latin America only recorded major funding rounds for Brazilian startups, coming from international venture capital funds such as SoftBank and Founders Fund, among others. The rest of the countries in the region seemed to go unnoticed by major foreign investors.

However, Carlos García Ottati managed to capture the attention of the world’s most important venture capital funds, which financed his venture with over $1 billion, making Kavak the highest-valued startup in Latin America in 2021. Nonetheless, that same year saw the emergence of eight new unicorn startups in Mexico, which received funding from funds that also had Kavak in their investment portfolios.

In 2021, according to Endeavor data, Mexican startups raised a historic $3.4 billion, which represented 13.5% of the total foreign direct investment received by Mexico that year. Kavak alone accounted for 30% of the venture capital investment attracted to the country.

The movement of new Latin American entrepreneurs, led by Carlos García Ottati, generated over 25,000 new jobs and transactions exceeding $2 billion in Latin America during 2021, according to Endeavor. For these achievements, García Ottati was recognized by Bloomberg Línea as one of the most influential entrepreneurs in the region, featured in their list of "The 500 People Who Move Latin America" due to his contribution to the rise of the region's entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Other Endeavors

Carlos has expanded his entrepreneurial pursuits by acquiring companies to enhance technology development in Latin America. In 2022, he acquired OPI Analytics, a Mexican data analytics firm specializing in artificial intelligence and predictive algorithms. This acquisition bolstered Kavak's research and development capabilities, fostering further innovations in the automotive sector.

Additionally, Carlos acquired Draiver, a U.S.-based technology company specializing in automotive logistics and transportation software. Through this acquisition, he implemented a transportation network across ten countries in Latin America, North America, and the Middle East. This network uses advanced systems to ensure safe routes for drivers and real-time monitoring to protect both drivers and cargo.

The Venezuelan entrepreneur is also an investor and board member of various Latin American startups. Additionally, he participates as an advisor for Endeavor, the world's largest network of entrepreneurs, where he guides entrepreneurs from different parts of the world on how to create successful ventures in Latin America.