Spanish financial group BBVA announced the creation of a business unit in Colombia.

Source: Pixabay.com

This division has the name Spark, which is used by the financial giant in other countries as well. The Colombian representative office of the financial group will be engaged in activities related to servicing local entrepreneurs and technology companies.

The first Spark branches appeared in July last year in Spain and Mexico. The purpose of the activity of this structural unit is to stimulate the introduction of innovative technological solutions and to support enterprises that work with advanced technologies, have scalable models, a growth strategy, and a desire to explore new markets.

There are currently more than 1,000 startups in Colombia. Over the past two years, the volume of investments in technology and innovation in this country has tripled.

Spark will provide Colombian customers with a range of products and services adapted to the lifecycle of technology companies. The range of proposals concerns both the initial stages of the existence of startups and the periods of their transformation into large corporations.

Depending on the stage of development, the company can get access to the entire range of BBVA products for business – online banking, payroll, payments, cards, and insurance.

The business unit offers clients, new financing models, such as venture debt. These models help entrepreneurs gain access to bank funds and avoid dilution of their participation in private financing rounds.

Roberto Albaladejo, global head of BBVA Spark, says that the business unit aims to become a universal bank for the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Colombia. He also noted that the priority goal is long-term growth. This goal defines the principles and schemes of support for start-up companies.

As we have reported earlier, BBVA Ports Its Investment Banking Operations to Amazon Web Services.