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With highly complementary backgrounds, entrepreneur Álvaro Noain Larrinaga and financier-entrepreneur Ignacio Sanz Jardón have teamed up to launch Candelaria, a Chilean SF with the ambition to acquire and operate a mid-sized business, helping it grow through a long-term, hands-on approach. They have raised capital from an outstanding group of investors, including Ambit Partners, Spectra Investments, Vonzeo Capital, Scipio Holding, Newton Equity Partners, Evolutiq, Ibérica Investment Partners, Inseta, Moonbase Capital, BM Holding, Colca Capital, the Ruiz family, Esteban Kallay, Jean-Louis Hierard, Pablo Larraín, and Francisco Javier Illanes.
Álvaro is a serial technology entrepreneur. Over the past 15 years, he has built several companies with a presence in more than 10 countries. His first venture was a restaurant; since then, he has launched Floqq, a marketplace for continuous learning; Bepretty, a SaaS-enabled marketplace platform for the professional beauty sector; Validate Talent AI for HR; Bloom, a technology solutions company; and TINK, a referral automation SaaS platform. Drawing on his experience, he will bring technology and internationalization capabilities to a strong Chilean business.
Ignacio brings 15 years of experience as a financial consultant, helping large and mid-sized companies professionalize their operations. He began his career at KPMG, working across Chile, Kenya, and Madrid in corporate finance and deal advisory. He later joined the energy company AES as a Financial Planning Manager before moving into entrepreneurship, co-founding Validate Talent AI for HR with Álvaro. He has also been a partner at Bloom, founder of Keen Founders, and Group CFO and Board Member of Lasertam, a depilation center chain. He will contribute financial expertise and strategic leadership to scale the acquired business.
Candelaria is focused on acquiring a profitable SME in Chile, typically with €10–50M in revenue and €2–10M in EBITDA, with strong potential to scale through execution, digitalization, and ambition. The SF follows an operator-driven approach rather than a purely financial one. It prioritizes sectors such as B2B SaaS, healthcare, and education/talent, where value can be created through digitalization, management professionalization, and selective buy-and-build strategies. Its goal is to build stronger companies over time, scaling them through disciplined execution, technology, and a structured approach to growth.
