Ana Sandoval
- Latin America
Meet Ana
Ana is a co-founder of Bold, a Colombian fintech that offers financial solutions for entrepreneurs and small businesses. She currently holds the position of Chief Operating Officer (COO) and oversees the Sales, Customer Experience, Customer Success, and Logistics teams. Ana is known for her charismatic leadership style and ambitious goals, which have contributed to the company’s exponential growth while keeping the team motivated and dedicated.
Early Milestones and Business Development
Ana is an economist with an MBA, with over 20 years of experience in product development and design of marketing and sales strategies, mainly in the financial industry and digital payments in Latin America.
During her professional journey, Ana worked as a consultant for the National Planning Department, providing expertise on economic growth and the overall economic situation of the country. Subsequently, she worked 5 years in Bancolombia, the largest bank of Colombia, as sales manager for a portfolio of digital products of the Bank. In 2008 Ana jumped to the entrepreneurial world, by joining PayU, a recently founded Colombian Online Payments company, with the objective to help Colombian companies implement their first online sales strategies. Ana spent over a decade at PayU Latam, where she rose to the position of Commercial Vice President for Latin America. During her time at PayU, Ana led its exponential growth in Colombia, turning it into one of the most successful startups of the country, and contributed significantly to the international growth of the business, expanding the operations to six countries in the region.
In 2019 Ana founded Bold, her current company, along with Jose Fernando Velez (CEO of Bold).
Micro and small businesses are the backbone of the Colombian economy. Bringing them digital solutions can be very impactful to help them grow and generate sustainable jobs and income.
Ana Sandoval
Social Impact
Social impact is a core focus for Bold. The company aims to provide a comprehensive ecosystem of financial solutions to empower entrepreneurs and small businesses, fostering their growth, and thereby stimulating the country’s economy. Bold has already made a positive impact on over 350,000 small merchants through its financial services in Colombia. Additionally, the company has launched a free educational program, benefiting approximately 25,000 individuals, to equip entrepreneurs with knowledge in marketing, finance, and business administration.
Recognition and Awards
In 2020 Ana was selected as an Endeavor Entrepreneur along with Jose Velez, her cofounder at Bold. Endeavor is a global nonprofit organization that pioneered the concept of high-impact entrepreneurship in growth economies. The primary objective of Endeavor is to drive economic growth and job creation by selecting, mentoring, and accelerating the best high-impact entrepreneurs from across the planet. In 2022 Ana received the “Experts in Sales and Business Processes” award granted by Endeavor. This award recognized the work of entrepreneurs who stood out during 2022 for making a difference and becoming a reference for other people. In 2023 Ana and Jose were recognized as Endeavor Outliers. Outliers are Endeavor Entrepreneurs who are currently leading the fastest-growing scale-up companies.
In a Nutshell
- transacted $440,000 million (Colombian peso) in 2022
- stores linked to Bold sold $2.8 billion (Colombian peso)