Endeavor Global Closes Investment Round with IT Firm Globant

For the first time in its history, the global NGO - through the Endeavor Catalyst Program - invests $2MM in one of their selected High-Impact Entrepreneurs

News provided by

Globant

Feb 01, 2012, 08:00 ET

NEW YORK, Feb. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Endeavor, the word-wide leader in selecting, mentoring and accelerating high-impact entrepreneurs, announced that it has closed an investment round with Globant, a leading producer of innovative software products that appeal to global audiences, as the first investment of Endeavor Catalyst.

Endeavor Catalyst is a revolutionary and high-impact initiative that uses donated capital to allow the organization to co-invest in Endeavor Entrepreneurs in a neutral, unbiased way. The main goal of this program is to use the returns of the investment both to support Endeavor's operations and to be reinvested into Catalyst to provide funding for other Endeavor Entrepreneurs.

The pioneering supporters of Endeavor Catalyst have each pledged $1MM to the investment vehicle, citing it as an innovative new model of philanthropy. The founding members of this Entrepreneurs' Circle include Michael Ahearn, Chairman of True North Venture Partners; Edgar Bronfman, Jr, Former Chairman of Warner Music Group; Michael Cline, Managing Partner of Accretive LLC; Reid Hoffman, Partner of Greylock Partners and Co-Founder of LinkedIn; Arif Naqvi, Founder and Group CEO of Abraaj Capital; Pierre Omidyar, Founding Partner of Omidyar Network, Founder and Chairman of eBay.

"We are thrilled to be part of Globant's story once again. The moment Globant's founders were selected as High-Impact Entrepreneurs in 2005 we were struck by their passion and vision. We knew that they were going to change their society and country. Today, Globant's reach and impact spans the globe, creating more than 2,500 high-quality jobs and working with the world's greatest technology players. I am proud to announce that Globant has received the first investment from Endeavor Catalyst, a passive investment vehicle that uses donors' funds to support Endeavor Entrepreneurs' capital-raising rounds," explained Linda Rottenberg, Endeavor Co-Founder and CEO.

Endeavor is leading the global high-impact movement to catalyze long-term economic growth around the world. With operations in 15 countries throughout Latin America, Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, Endeavor has screened more than 29,000 entrepreneurs and selected 656 individuals leading 413 high-impact companies. These Entrepreneurs have created over 156,000 jobs, generated over $4.5 billion in revenues in 2010 and inspire future generations to innovate and take risks.

"For us, this round means much more than just the $2 million. It is a symbolic act that shows the reinforced trust that Endeavor puts in Globant; trust that was first shown in 2005 when they selected us as Endeavor Entrepreneurs. That was a key milestone in our history, since they enabled us to learn from some of the most talented and experienced professionals in the world", said Martin Migoya, Globant's CEO and Co-Founder. "By renewing its commitment to Globant through the Endeavor Catalyst Program, Endeavor reinforces a great partnership that will help us to take our company to the next level, creating more jobs for talent across the world, more opportunities for our Globers and delivering the best software products for our customers".

Globant is a company comprised by more than 2,500 IT professionals, based in 15 delivery centers across Latin America and US and working for customers like Google, EA, JWT and Linkedin. The Company closed late last year the acquisition of San Francisco -based Nextive, a company specialized in the development of mobile software solutions. This operation allowed them to improve its organization around 8 studios, which in turn is contributing to position the Argentinean Company as leader in their industry.

About Globant

Globant is the Latin American leader in the creation of innovative software products that appeal to global audiences. For us, that means we are the place where the best engineers team up with art design studios and innovation labs to deliver a superb user experience.

In only 9 years, we created a Company that:

- Has more than 2,500 professionals working for companies like LinkedIn, JWT, Zynga, and Google, among several others

- Was selected as Endeavor Entrepreneur (2005)

- Was named among the top 10 product engineering vendor (2011) by Global Services

- Was included in the 2010 Cool Vendor in Business Process Services Report by Gartner

- Was featured as case study of Harvard, MIT, Stanford and others

For more information, visit www .globant .com.

About Endeavor (www.endeavor.org)

Hailed by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman as "the best anti-poverty program of all," Endeavor is leading the global movement to catalyze long-term economic growth by selecting, mentoring, and accelerating the best high-impact entrepreneurs around the world. To date, Endeavor has screened more than 29,000 entrepreneurs and selected 656 individuals leading 413 high-impact companies.

With support from Endeavor's worldwide mentor network, these high-impact entrepreneurs:

- Have created over 156,000 jobs

- Generated over $4.5 billion in revenues in 2010

- Inspire future generations to innovate and take risks

Headquartered in New York City, Endeavor currently operates in 15 countries throughout Latin America, Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. As the high-impact movement expands globally, Endeavor will continue to show that anyone with a big idea can succeed, from Silicon Valley to Latin America, the Middle East, and beyond.

Contact:
Wanda Weigert
Communications Director
[email protected]
+1 877 798 8104

SOURCE Globant