Two years ago, the world experienced a radical transformation, and Latin America was no exception. We faced the most complex health and humanitarian crisis of the last century, wreaking havoc in all areas of life and creating opportunities for innovation in business models. We drove them to move from a traditional model to digital commerce.

This transformation was imminent and, in many cases, necessary given the instability caused by the pandemic and the urgency to ensure economic recovery, with digital playing a central role in mitigating the impact and supporting the region’s productive ecosystem. “We see that digital transformation is not only desirable, but necessary to increase sales, income and job creation opportunities.” – Anwar Suarez, FUNDES project manager.

According to ECLAC’s 2020 study on the opportunities of digitalization in Latin America, with the introduction of sanitary measures to combat Covid-19, the use of telecommunications networks by the population to solve various problems of daily life has increased by leaps and bounds. This shows that digitalization can unleash the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises with traditional business models.

Against this backdrop, FUNDES Latinoamerica offers game-based digital inclusion solutions through its FUNDES Catalyst business unit. This is the free training platform Pymental, which aims to provide entrepreneurs with the necessary technical knowledge to enter the digital economy and help them make their companies and businesses more competitive and profitable.

Pymental approaches digital skills development in a fun way, thanks to the gamification learning technique used to develop the lessons so that the topics covered are accessible, understandable and applicable. It is presented as a travel game. This journey is planned so that the “digital traveler” spends at least 15 minutes of his day advancing a topic. In this way, he completes his journey to integrate his company into the digital economy without even realizing it.

Like Ana Reyes, user of the platform and owner of Fashion Lady Salon in Mexico City, who says, “I realized I learned something when I finished the game”. Or like Mario Urquiza, a beauty specialist in Guatemala, who says, after trying out the digital calculator that the platform includes, “Pymental makes you see your business differently“.

“Pymental puts MSMEs at the center of the action and accompanies them in their digital transformation with affordable and realistic solutions for their context and needs to achieve profitability and competitiveness in their businesses.” – Anwar Suárez, FUNDES Project Manager. 

Pymental is becoming an alternative to support MSMEs and prepare them for any environmental conditions that threaten their existence, as was during the Covid 19 pandemic. We saw all kinds of companies go bankrupt worldwide. Pymental relies on gamification to accelerate innovative, fun and incentivized training. That’s because Pymental puts the user at the center. He receives rewards that motivate him to keep playing and thus develop his digital skills. 

“This platform focuses on giving users constant feedback through digital badges, incentives, rewards, level-ups, etc., which challenges and motivates them as they know how to progress in each subject. Throughout its development, FUNDES has always had a clear objective: to create unique content that helps MSMEs in their digital transformation and makes them immune to all adversities” – Omar Álvarez, Head of Product at FUNDES Catalyst.

Get to know Pymental and integrate with the digital economy. Position yourself as an ally in the digital transformation of MSMEs. With FUNDES Catalyst and Pymental, we take you by the hand.