(Press Release) Colombia Reports has raised funding from GITP Ventures, a venture capital firm headquartered in Medellin, that will help our website realize a number of plans that are in the pipeline.
The funding round is led by prominent investor Michael Puscar, the founder and President of GITP Ventures. Puscar is a hi-tech veteran and successful angel investor who most recently sold his company, Yuxi Pacific, to private equity firm Blue Loop Capital. Three of GITP’s investments, most recently Plum Analytics, had successful exits in recent months.
With this investment, Colombia Reports is now able to increase its editorial staff and push many of its development projects forward. These include our new mobile website, and features including a classified section and job board.
“Having operated and invested in multiple businesses in Colombia, Colombia Reports is a key resource I turn to throughout the week. When the team contacted me about their plans to extend Colombia Reports beyond the existing publication and into a platform that scales internationally, I felt this was a great opportunity,” Puscar – who I will refer to as Michael — explained in an email ahead of this article.
In our decision to raise funding, it was important that we found not only a person of means, but also a person with character, and a passion for Colombia and publishing. Michael far exceeded our expectations as he also adds elementary know-how regarding the processing of large bulks of data which has become increasingly important in journalism.
Michael is one of the most successful international entrepreneurs living in Medellin. He had earlier founded and led Yuxi Pacific to become a 100+ person company before being acquired by a private equity firm. There are very few individuals located in Latin America who have the experience building an organization of that scale, and we believe he will be an invaluable resource to the Colombia Reports’ team and look forward to his insight and guidance.
Even more than his success, Michael is devoted to Colombia, and the efforts of his non-profit organization have greatly benefited the country and the city of Medellin.v
Founder Adriaan Alsema, the Colombia Reports team, and I are thrilled to be working with him.
Today, Colombia Reports is frequently cited by publications including the BBC, The New York Times, and other leading newspapers. Colombia Reports is the only recommend English publication that BBC lists in its Colombia section, and since the launch of the publication the site has peaked at 500,000 monthly page views.
We believe the investment from GITP Ventures will greatly accelerate our growth and impact on Colombia, and further the mission of Adriaan, who exactly six years ago set out to create one of the first English news publications of Colombia.