Quito, September 4, 2023

 

IMPAQTO Capital announces an investment in ELSA, a Peruvian startup that leverages technology to enable companies to reduce the incidence of sexual harassment in the workplace. IMPAQTO Capital is investing through a revenue-based loan that complements a financing round that ELSA has raised from angel investors.

 

Sexual assault is a huge problem in Latin America and globally, which is estimated to affect 1 in 3 workers annually. Sexual assault in the workplace is not only a personal and social problem, it also affects organizational reputation, worker productivity, and the work environment. ELSA is a digital solution for companies that provides participative diagnostics and generates plans of action specific to the needs and characteristics of every organization.

 

Marlene Molero, CEO and Co-Founder of ELSA, said “IMPAQTO Capital’s investment is strategic since, beyond the financial support, the IMPAQTO Capital team are investors who share our vision and contribute to pursuing our shared objectives.”

 

ELSA has grown significantly and currently has been used by more than 140 organizations in eight countries, with plans to scale regionally throughout Latin America over the coming years. Over 105,000 workers have benefitted from the use of ELSA, which has driven a 60% reduction in the incidence of sexual harassment among organizations that use the platform.

 

Ivonne Quiñones, CTO and Co-Founder, added “we have a tremendous challenge ahead of us to keep working to reduce sexual harassment in the workplace, in order to eliminate these unacceptable incidents that still occur in our society.”

 

“We have known Marlene and Ivonne for several years, through their participation in the IMPAQTO Lab accelerator, and have been impressed by their vision, talent, and execution capability. We believe they are the right founders to tackle this problem and that ELSA provides a unique, innovative, and impactful solution that can scale to generate a much larger impact in Latin America”, said Justin Schwartz, Managing Partner of IMPAQTO Capital.

 

Michelle Arévalo-Carpenter, General Partner of IMPAQTO Capital, commented, “ELSA represents exactly the type of company we are seeking to support through IMPAQTO Capital. Sexual assault is an enormous challenge in Latin America that disproportionately affects women, and we believe the combination of a deep understanding of the problem and the technology that ELSA is using to address it will positively impact the mental and physical health of thousands of Latin American workers and contribute to closing the gender gaps in the private sector.”

 

The investment will be deployed to support regional expansion and to scale marketing and technology capabilities.