Following a rigorous process that attracted 117 applications from 25 countries, Parque Arauco announced the five winning startups of the second edition of its open innovation program, Startup Challenge . This initiative seeks to incorporate technological solutions that will impact the operation, sustainability, and customer experience of its shopping centers in Chile, Peru, and Colombia.
Regarding the significance of this milestone, Francisco Letelier Ballocchi , Corporate Manager of Technology and Digital Transformation at Parque Arauco, stated: “ We believe that open innovation is fundamental to achieving our business objectives and enhancing the experience in our shopping centers. This milestone consolidates an effort where we not only explore new technologies , but also validate and scale them upon detecting real value. We are advancing our digital transformation with the conviction that innovation, connected to operational and sustainability challenges, has a real impact on people . ”
Developed in conjunction with INNSPIRAL, a company specializing in corporate innovation, the program was structured around two strategic challenges defined by Parque Arauco:
Phygital Experience , aimed at seamlessly integrating the physical and digital worlds to improve customer relationships, boost loyalty, and generate deep personalization of the customer journey.
Water Efficiency , focused on moving towards a smarter, traceable and sustainable management of water consumption, allowing for the optimization of resource use, reduction of operational costs and strengthening of the environmental performance of assets.
“The quality and diversity of the proposals received reaffirm the value of opening our challenges to the global ecosystem. We are excited to collaborate with these startups to test solutions that have the potential to transform the industry, strengthening our commitment to sustainability, operational efficiency, and an increasingly relevant visitor experience ,” added Letelier.
In this context, Parque Arauco, together with the selected startups , is currently advancing through concrete phases of designing and implementing the solutions. The pilot projects will be run at the company's strategic assets: Delfi and Somos Wallet at Parque La Colina (Colombia), Zensi at Parque Arauco Kennedy (Chile) , Remote Waters at Arauco Maipú (Chile) , and Energy Cloud at Larcomar (Peru) , allowing for testing the solutions and validating their performance in real-world environments.
Winners of the Startup Challenge 2025
Phygital Experience Challenge
Delfi (Argentina): Startup specializing in AI-powered phygital experiences , enabling personalized recommendations, automating commercial content, and improving interaction between brands and consumers in retail environments .
Somos Wallet (Chile): A platform that transforms Apple Wallet and Google Wallet into an active channel for loyalty and communication, allowing the delivery of digital benefits, activation of contextual notifications, and connection of physical experiences with digital activations in real time.
Water Efficiency Challenge
Zensi (Chile): Intelligent water and energy consumption monitoring solution using sensors and real-time analysis platforms, which allows for the detection of anomalies, optimization of resource use, and improved operational control.
Remote Waters (Chile): Technology for the management, treatment and reuse of greywater, aimed at reducing the consumption of drinking water through a circular economy model applied to the operation of shopping centers.
Energy Cloud (Peru): Intelligent resource management platform that centralizes water consumption information, analyzes usage patterns and delivers optimization recommendations, supporting decision-making and sustainability strategies.
“ The Startup Challenge is a good example of how innovation generates real impact when it connects directly with strategic business challenges. Together with Parque Arauco, we developed a structured process that allowed us to access the global entrepreneurial ecosystem and move quickly toward concrete pilot projects. It’s a replicable model that demonstrates how large corporations can effectively connect with startups, and it undoubtedly marks just the beginning of what’s to come,” commented Ricardo Cea, Partner and Senior Project Manager at INNSPIRAL.
The pilot projects will be developed progressively, considering different stages of the pilot methodology – including design, execution and measurement – in coordination with the Parque Arauco teams and the selected startups .