Professional Overview
Andrés Benavides is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Cometa, a Latin American fintech startup established in 2021. Cometa specializes in delivering an operating system and financial infrastructure tailored for private K-12 schools across Latin America, automating and optimizing their administrative, financial, and payment operations. The company aims to enable schools to function with enhanced operational sophistication and financial efficiency.
Current Role and Responsibilities
- Position: CEO at Cometa since June 2022
- Location: Stanford, California, United States
- Key Focus Areas:
- Leading Cometa’s strategic growth and innovation efforts.
- Overseeing the development and scaling of Cometa’s financial and administrative platform for private schools.
- Fostering key partnerships and fundraising initiatives.
Company Milestones & Impact Under Leadership
- Successfully closed a $12 million Series A financing round in November 2024, positioning Cometa for expanded growth and operational scaling.
- Cometa’s platform has demonstrated significant operational impact:
- Automates collection processes and facilitates payments for families of private schools.
- Achieved a 52% reduction in delinquency rates among school payments.
- Improved the uncollectible rate, thereby enhancing schools' financial health.
- The company serves over 30,000 private K-12 schools in the region.
- Co-founders include Gonzalo Gallardo and Mateo Creamer, all Stanford University alumni.
Educational Background
- Attended and graduated from Stanford University Graduate School of Business, completing studies between 2020 and 2022.
- Fluent in English and Spanish, enabling effective communication across diverse markets within Latin America and the U.S.
- Prior education and early career also reflect a foundation influential to his entrepreneurial approach in edtech and fintech sectors.
Career History and Experience
- Andrés Benavides has an entrepreneurial background with previous experiences including:
- Founding Codeable, an earlier education-sector startup.
- Roles in innovative startup environments linked to fintech and education administration.
- Experience as a Division I football player, highlighting early leadership and discipline traits.
- Prior to Cometa, he has contributed to strategy, corporate development, and investor relations in fintech companies.
- Known for a deep understanding of the U.S. innovation ecosystem combined with practical experience navigating the Latin American business landscape.
Leadership Style and Industry Positioning
- Recognized for his ability to build trusted relationships and collaborative networks within the fintech, edtech, and venture capital communities.
- Emphasizes commitment and long-term vision, as reflected in interviews and podcasts where he shares both entrepreneurial insights and pragmatic leadership lessons.
- Actively involved in talent acquisition and fostering a company culture aligned with innovation and regional impact; Cometa is recruiting across multiple roles.
Public Presence and Thought Leadership
- Maintains an active profile on LinkedIn with over 7,000 followers and more than 500 connections.
- Frequently participates in podcasts, panels, and interviews discussing trends in fintech, education technology, and startup scaling in Latin America.
- Notable appearances include the Fundadores podcast (Episode 156) and contributions to discussions on fintech infrastructure, AI security, and market trends.
- Engages with educational organizations and entrepreneurship ecosystems, including a leadership role as President of the Endeavor Peru Board.
Funding and Investor Network
- Cometa’s early-stage funding rounds have garnered investment from prominent venture capital firms such as Kazek and Investo.
- The company’s growth trajectory and funding successes reflect Andrés’ capacity to attract and manage significant investor relationships.
Strategic Insights Relevant to Engagement
- Andrés drives efforts to improve financial infrastructure for private schools, focusing on administrative simplification and payment optimization.
- The platform’s success in reducing payment delinquency and increasing revenue predictability for schools underscores its potential appeal to institutional decision-makers in education finance.
- His background and active role in fintech and edtech position him as a visionary leader with a comprehensive understanding of technology integration in the education sector.
- Given Cometa’s rapid growth, recent funding, and innovation focus, engagement centered on supporting scalable fintech solutions and partnerships aligned with educational institutions’ operational challenges is likely to be relevant.
LinkedIn Profile: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/andresbena](https://www.linkedin.com/in/andresbena)
Company: Cometa | [https://www.getcometa.com](https://www.getcometa.com) (implied)
Location: Stanford, California, USA
Languages: English, Spanish
Industry: Edtech, Fintech, Startup Leadership
