Luis Loaiza, CEO and co-founder of Jelou, has been pursuing the same obsession for almost 20 years: real-time communication. What started as a school chatbot in Mirk is today a company that has processed more than US$120 million in transactions within WhatsApp and operates in 13 countries.
The vision that no one understood four years ago
Luis didn’t find a problem by accident. From the age of 13 he decided that he wanted to live in the conversational world. It went through chatbots, multiplayer games and multiplatform messaging apps. He finally came to Jelou with a clear conviction: the future of business moves within a chat.
While others were building websites and applications, he imagined something different. I wanted anyone to be able to create an app within WhatsApp. That dream took shape in Jelou and today is realized in Brain.
The challenges of building something global from Ecuador
At 39 years old, Luis admits that the road has been hard. Compete globally, face financial regulations and lead teams distributed throughout Latin America. Many times he makes decisions alone, but he never abandons his purpose.
Its co-founder, Alberto Vera, has been its counterpart. Sometimes they disagree, but they always move in the same direction. For the heaviest emotional burdens, Luis has the support of his wife, who reminds him that he always finds solutions.
His advice to other entrepreneurs is direct: don’t fall in love with the solution, but with the problem. Technology changes. Today’s artificial intelligence may be tomorrow’s quantum computing. Whoever builds on the underlying problem always manages to adapt.
Mexico, Brazil and next steps
Luis leads Jelou’s entry into the Mexican market. It seeks to understand the competition, create strategic alliances and distribute technology through local partners. Brazil is also on the radar, although with a more cautious strategy. A decade ago, the first logistics Uber in South America was built there. For him, luck is created.
In the future, Jelou aims for a global community of builders. They will be able to create applications within WhatsApp and other channels. An artificial intelligence will understand the context regardless of whether the conversation started by voice, chat or any other medium.
