Issue link: http://endeavor.uberflip.com/i/414924
ENDEAVOR MAIN OFFICE Montevideo (2000) CAROLINA BAÑALES AND AGUSTINA SARTORI were selected as Endeavor Entrepreneurs after participating in "Más Emprendedoras," a three-year Endeavor and MIF/IADB project that aims to increase the com petitiveness of women-owned busi- nesses in Uruguay. Carolina and Agustina founded GlamST, an online community that allows women to try on makeup virtu ally and share their "looks" with friends and bloggers. Endeavor Uruguay supports 39 entrepreneurs leading 23 companies. MARÍA NOEL ACHE (AIVA) and Silvina Leibenberg (Lolita) were featured on CNN en Español for their work as successful female entrepreneurs. PEDIDOSYA , an online food delivery platform, was acquired by DeliveryHero, a Germany-based company with a similar business model. FOCUS Michel Cohen & Silvina Leibenberg COMPANY Lolita — Lu by Lolita INDUSTRY Retail YEAR SELECTED 2002 EMPLOYEES AT SELECTION 170 EMPLOYEES 2014 570 LOLITA DESIGNS AND SELLS ladies' fashion collections. Michel and Silvina have transformed this small family business into a global company. In 2001, Lolita started its original expansion under a franchise system. Today, Lolita has 85 stores in 16 countries. Michel and Silvina recently signed a Master Franchise Agreement with one of the leading retailers in the GCC, launching the company's Middle East expansion with a storefront in Dubai. Lolita will also open stores in Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic this year, and has signed agreements to run franchises of four European fashion retailers in Uruguay. Endeavor has accompanied Lolita throughout its international expan- sion process. Endeavor connected Michel and Silvina with MBA students from MIT who helped the company define and implement a profes- sional franchise system. They also attended ECLA —a program created by Columbia Business School for entrepreneurs from Latin America. In 2014, Michel and Silvina were selected to participate in EY's pro- gram "Ready, Set, Grow," which provides entrepreneurs with strate- gic guidance from top EY advisors. 57 NETWORK