Universidad Panamericana

Colegio Vista Hermosa México

IPADE Business School

I founded this this full-service manufacturing freeze-dry facility based in Chile, which is a leader in industrialized high-end lyophilized fruits and natural antioxidant ingredients for the global food and nutraceutical industries. In 2019, SouthAm Freeze Dry partnered with Van Drunen Farms USA.

Based in Chile and established in 2004, SouthAm is a full service manufacturing freeze-dry facility that processes only the highest-quality fruits and vegetables. SouthAm's cutting-edge industrial facility is among the newest in the world and one the few to offer BRC AA, IMO Organic, Kosher, and Non-GMO certifications. We are the leading manufacturers of Freeze Dried Brazilian Açaí from the Amazon and Chilean Maqui Berry from Patagonia. Both Andean super berries with top antioxidant ORAC count.  ISOFRUT is our top selling crunchy fruit snack line; 100% Fruit, Gluten Free, Vegan, Non GMO, Halal and Kosher.

Website
http://www.southam.cl

Specialties: Freeze Dried, Fruits & Vegetables, Açaí, Maqui Berry, Super Foods, Isofrut, Food Storage, Organic Fruit Powders.

SouthAm Freeze Dry S.A.

Founder & Chairman

I serve as chairman of this innovation-driven holding company that invests and retains interests alongside successful Venture Capital, Private Equity funds, and multilateral organizations throughout Latin America and the USA.

Tres Mares SA (Chile)

Chairman

As a visiting scholar and the entrepreneur-in-residence, I had the unique opportunity to mentor students on field about the startup process of building a business.

Miami Dade College

Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Adjunct Professor

I am the Vice-Chairman of Ideame, the Latin American crowdfunding platform that connects creators' ideas with funding from backers who want to collaborate.

Ideame

Vice Chairman

During my tenure as Visiting Scholar, I focused on mentoring students, but I also became the first person to hold the position of Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Florida International University. I helped organize the Americas Venture Capital Conference: An International Summit of Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship. Florida International University's Eugenio Pino and Family Global Entrepreneurship Center.

Florida International University

Entrepreneur in Residence

As Executive Vice Chairman and an investor, I helped YellowPepper acquire deep rails throughout the region as a pioneer of digital banking solutions. I oversaw the company’s full migration from on-premise platform hosting to cloud hosting, which ensured PCI and then SOC II certification. Visa Inc. bought the company in 2019. 

Yellow Pepper is Latin America’s premier pioneer in Mobile Banking and Payments. We provide financial institutions a turnkey Mobile Banking and Payment solution, changing the way payments are made in the region. We offer customized solutions to top financial groups and institutions in the region to enable over 5 million customers to execute over 30 million transactions per month. 

Founded in 2004, the Miami-based company has over 80 employees operating in six countries and is the recipient of the first IFC (World Bank) equity investment in a mobile financial company in Latin America.

YellowPepper Mobile Financial Solutions

As an early investor and ongoing board observer, I provided core support for FibroGen, Inc. San Francisco to become the leading science-based biopharmaceutical company working to discover and develop a pipeline of first-class therapeutics focused on fibrosis and hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) biology and clinical development to advance innovative medicines for the treatment of anemia, fibrotic disease, and cancer.

FibroGen, Inc.

Investor and Board Observer

LATAM Airlines

Member of the Board

During my tenure as a board member, I led the tours division, helped close groundbreaking deals, and created a special fare class within the revenue management system that allowed Lan Chile to maximize revenue.

LAN Peru

Observer to the Board

Throughout my time at Lan Chile, I was involved in the pre-IPO process and communications with the Wall Street investment community and investors worldwide.

Lan-Chile Airlines

 Observer to the Board

During my time with Graber/ Multivox OEM, I supervised just-in-time SKD inventory and manufacturing process of loudspeakers for a Mexican joint venture in Central Mexico with Ford Motor Co. and Jensen, Inc.

Graber/Multivox OEM

Supervisor

As CEO and Publisher, I represented Newsweek Magazine as their commercial representative for LATAM. During my tenure, I also launched the LATAM edition of Entrepreneur Magazine and the in-flight magazines Escala for Aeroméxico and Vuelo for Mexicana airlines, each with an audience of over 1.5 million readers per month.

Boris Hirmas Said