Simón Borrero

Co-Founder & CEO, Rappi (Angel Investor) at rappi

Reviewed Updated Jun 29, 2026

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Location Bogotá, Colombia
Check Size $5K-$50K
Last Verified Investment Telepatia (Series A) — Jun 18, 2026
Social LinkedIn
Stage Focus
pre-seed seed series-a
Sector Focus
latam fintech payments marketplaces delivery healthtech e-commerce ai

Background

Simón Borrero is a Colombian entrepreneur and the co-founder and CEO of Rappi, the Bogotá-based on-demand delivery and super-app platform that became one of Latin America’s first decacorn-class startups 1 2. He was born in 1984 in Cali, Colombia 3. Borrero earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a minor in Economics from Universidad de los Andes in 2007, and an MBA from EADA Business School in Barcelona 3.

Before Rappi, Borrero founded Imaginamos, a software development services company headquartered in Bogotá 3. In 2013 he co-founded Grability, a white-label grocery e-commerce platform, with Sebastián Mejía 1 3. Grability’s experience with consumer demand for additional services beyond groceries led the team to launch Rappi in 2015 with Borrero, Mejía, and Felipe Villamarín as co-founders 1 2.

Rappi entered Y Combinator’s Winter 2016 batch 4. It raised a Series A from Andreessen Horowitz in April 2016 and additional capital from Sequoia Capital and DST Global later that year 4. In August 2018, Rappi raised $200M in a round that brought it to unicorn status 5. In April 2019, SoftBank Group and the SoftBank Vision Fund formalized a $1 billion investment in Rappi at a pre-money valuation of $2.5B 6. A July 2021 Series F led by T. Rowe Price raised over $500M at a $5.25B valuation 7. As of 2026, Rappi has raised approximately $2.3-2.5B in total 4.

In June 2025, Borrero told Forbes Colombia that Rappi had completed four consecutive quarters of profitability and was contemplating an IPO at the end of 2026 8. Bloomberg Línea separately reported in July 2025 that Rappi had been profitable for four consecutive quarters with positive EBITDA 9.

Borrero has invested personally in early-stage Latin American startups since at least 2022, often alongside Rappi co-founders Sebastián Mejía and Felipe Villamarín — a group ecosystem observers have called the “Rappi Mafia” of operator-investors 10 11.

Stated Thesis

Borrero has not published a formal angel investment thesis. His public commentary about company-building emphasizes operating leverage, capital efficiency, and Latin American market structure rather than a sector-specific lens.

In a June 2025 Forbes Colombia interview about Rappi’s next phase, Borrero said: “Estoy enfocado en Turbo y la turborización de todo” (“I’m focused on Turbo and the ‘turbo-ization’ of everything”), referring to Rappi’s rapid-delivery layer being extended across categories 8. He also stated that Rappi had reached “una fase de escala, en la que está demostrado que el modelo funciona” (“a scale phase where it’s proven the model works”) 8.

At the time SoftBank’s $1B investment was announced in April 2019, Borrero said: “Softbank’s vision of accelerating the technology revolution deeply resonated with our mission of improving how people live through digital payments and a super-app for everything consumers need” 6.

His March 2021 appearance on The Twenty Minute VC was titled “Growth vs Profitability, Capital Efficiency, Raising $1.7Bn as a LATAM Company and Why Uber Eats Did More To Help Than To Hurt Rappi” — topics that broadly map to the operator concerns visible in his angel-investment selection 12.

Inferred Thesis

Based on 7 angel investments with independent press citations, plus the broader portfolio of approximately 23 investments tracked by Signal by NFX 13:

Sector distribution (7 strongly verified angel investments): - Fintech / payments / identity infrastructure: 2 of 7 (29%) — Yuno 14, Truora 15 - Marketplaces: 1 of 7 (14%) — Morado 16 - E-commerce aggregator / brand incubator: 1 of 7 (14%) — Riogrande 17 10 - Energy / cleantech: 1 of 7 (14%) — Bia Energy 11 - On-demand delivery: 1 of 7 (14%) — Chowdeck 18 - AI healthtech: 1 of 7 (14%) — Telepatia 19 20

Several of these companies were founded by former Rappi employees (Yuno, Morado) or operate in the on-demand and marketplace categories Borrero knows from Rappi (Chowdeck, Riogrande).

Geographic distribution: Predominantly Latin America (Colombia, Mexico, multi-country LatAm). Notably, Chowdeck is Nigerian — Borrero co-invested with Rappi co-founder Juan Pablo Ortega in a delivery startup outside LatAm 18. Telepatia targets Latin America but has stated plans to expand into India, Africa, and Southeast Asia 21.

Stage distribution: Pre-seed through Series A. The largest verified-round position is Telepatia’s $33M Series A in 2026 19; the smallest is Morado’s $5M pre-seed in 2022 16.

Check size: Signal by NFX reports Borrero’s typical check at $25K with a range of $5K-$50K 13, consistent with operator-angel positioning alongside institutional leads.

Co-investor patterns: Borrero frequently appears alongside Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Y Combinator, and other founder-angels in his network. In Telepatia’s Series A he co-invested with a16z (lead), Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar, and Nubank founder David Vélez 19 20. In Yuno he co-invested with a16z, Monashees, Kaszek, Latitud, and individual founders including Maria Echeverri (Muni), Gerry Giacomán Colyer (Clara), and Ricardo Weder (Justo) 14. In Truora he co-invested with Propel Venture Partners, Accel, and angels including Deel CEO Alex Bouaziz, Jeeves founder Dileep Thazhmon, and Latitud co-founder Brian Requarth 15.

Founder profile patterns: A meaningful share of Borrero’s checks go to startups founded by Rappi alumni or by founders he has worked with operationally. Yuno was founded by former Rappi employees 14. This pattern is consistent with Rappi being described by ecosystem observers as one of LatAm’s largest startup incubators by alumni founder count 22.

Sample size caveat: The seven investments above are those for which Borrero’s participation has been confirmed in independent press coverage. Signal by NFX lists 23 investments on record 13, so the press-verified sample represents roughly 30% of the tracked portfolio. The inferred thesis percentages above should be read as directional rather than precise.

Portfolio

Company Year Stage Sector Source
Yuno 2022 Seed Payments / fintech 14
Morado 2022 Pre-Seed Beauty marketplace 16
Truora 2022 Series A Identity / KYC / fintech infra 15
Riogrande 2022 Seed E-commerce aggregator 17 10
Bia Energy 2022 Early-stage Energy / cleantech 11
Liti 2022 Pre-Seed / Seed (per Signal by NFX) 13
Bacu 2023 Seed (per Signal by NFX) 13
Wizzer 2023 Pre-Seed (per Signal by NFX) 13
C4c7us 2024 Seed (per Signal by NFX) 13
Chowdeck 2024-04-30 Seed On-demand delivery (Nigeria) 18
Nauta 2025 Seed (per Signal by NFX) 13
Leona 2025-12 Seed (per Signal by NFX) 13
Telepatia 2026-06-18 Series A AI healthtech 19 20 21

Note: This table lists 13 investments. Signal by NFX reports 23 on record 13, so this represents approximately 57% of the tracked portfolio. Sectors marked “per Signal by NFX” reflect the source’s classification and could not be independently verified to a contemporaneous press source at the time of this write-up.

In Their Own Words

On the SoftBank partnership: “Softbank’s vision of accelerating the technology revolution deeply resonated with our mission of improving how people live through digital payments and a super-app for everything consumers need.” — Simón Borrero, statement on Rappi’s $1B SoftBank investment, April 2019 6

On the next chapter of growth: “Vamos a comenzar a entregar por medio de Turbo también regalos. Estoy enfocado en Turbo y la turborización de todo.” (“We’re going to start delivering gifts via Turbo too. I’m focused on Turbo and the ‘turbo-ization’ of everything.”) — Simón Borrero, Forbes Colombia interview, June 12, 2025 8

On Rappi’s business model: “Ya llegamos a una fase de escala, en la que está demostrado que el modelo funciona.” (“We’ve reached a scale phase where it’s proven the model works.”) — Simón Borrero, Forbes Colombia interview, June 12, 2025 8

On IPO timing: “Contemplando hacerlo a finales de 2026 … De pronto antes del IPO se hará alguna un pre-IPO round.” (“Contemplating doing it at the end of 2026 … Possibly there will be a pre-IPO round before the IPO.”) — Simón Borrero, Forbes Colombia interview, June 12, 2025 8

What Founders Say

No independently sourced founder testimonials specific to Simón Borrero’s role as an angel investor were found during this research pass. Press coverage of his angel investments (Yuno, Morado, Truora, Riogrande, Chowdeck, Telepatia) names him as a participating angel but does not include direct quotes from the recipient founders about working with him personally. This section should be revisited when such quotes become available.

Connections

  • Co-Founder & CEO, Rappi — alongside Sebastián Mejía and Felipe Villamarín (founded 2015, Bogotá) 1 2
  • Frequent co-investor with Rappi co-founders Sebastián Mejía and Felipe Villamarín — the three regularly enter rounds together as angels in Rappi-alumni startups 11
  • Co-invested with David Vélez (Nubank founder) and Shyam Sankar (Palantir CTO) in Telepatia’s Series A, June 2026 19 20
  • Co-invested with Juan Pablo Ortega (Rappi co-founder) in Chowdeck’s seed round, April 2024 18
  • Co-investor patterns: a16z, Y Combinator, Kaszek, Monashees, Latitud — repeated across Yuno, Morado, Telepatia rounds 14 16 19
  • Bloomberg “50 Most Influential” (January 2019) 2
  • “Empresario del Año” (Entrepreneur of the Year) award from Colombia’s President, February 2019 2

Sources

  1. Rest of World, “Simon Borrero — Founder at Rappi” profile, accessed June 2026. https://restofworld.org/profile/simon-borrero/↩↩↩↩

  2. Wikipedia, “Rappi,” accessed June 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rappi↩↩↩↩↩

  3. The Org, “Simón Borrero — Co-Founder & CEO at Rappi,” accessed June 2026. https://theorg.com/org/rappi/org-chart/simon-borrero↩↩↩↩

  4. Tracxn, “Rappi — 2026 Company Profile, Team, Funding & Competitors,” accessed June 2026. https://tracxn.com/d/companies/rappi/__tWn9mHhdWuzLjWojKaUiQtjaZwEBUSHqbDpwfVw42Dw↩↩↩

  5. TechCrunch, “Rappi raises $200M as Latin American tech investment reaches new highs,” August 31, 2018. https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/31/rappi-raises-200m-as-latin-american-tech-investment-reaches-new-highs/↩

  6. Contxto, “Rappi formalizes US$1 billion SoftBank investment,” May 1, 2019. https://contxto.com/en/colombia/rappi-formalizes-us1-billion-softbank-investment/↩↩↩

  7. TechCrunch, “Colombian on-demand delivery startup Rappi raises ‘over’ $500M at a $5.25B valuation,” July 19, 2021. https://techcrunch.com/2021/07/19/colombian-on-demand-delivery-startup-rappi-raises-over-500m-at-a-5-25b-valuation/↩

  8. Forbes Colombia, “Simón Borrero dice que Rappi planea la ‘turborización de todo’ y una posible salida a bolsa en 2026,” June 12, 2025. https://forbes.co/2025/06/12/editors-picks/simon-borrero-dice-que-rappi-planea-la-turborizacion-de-todo-y-una-posible-salida-a-bolsa-en-202↩↩↩↩↩↩

  9. Bloomberg Línea, “Simón Borrero” tag page (Bloomberg Línea coverage), accessed June 2026. https://www.bloomberglinea.com/tags/simon-borrero/↩

  10. Bloomberg Línea, “Seasoned Entrepreneurs Emerge As Angel Investors for Latin American Startups,” accessed June 2026. https://www.bloomberglinea.com/english/seasoned-entrepreneurs-emerge-as-angel-investors-for-latin-american-startups/↩↩↩

  11. Bloomberg Línea, “El triunfo de la Rappi Mafia y sus enormes rondas pre semilla,” August 27, 2022. https://www.bloomberglinea.com/2022/08/27/el-triunfo-de-la-rappi-mafia-y-sus-enormes-rondas-pre-semilla-lo-mejor-de-la-semana-tech/↩↩↩↩

  12. The Twenty Minute VC (20VC), “Rappi Founder Simón Borrero on Growth vs Profitability, Capital Efficiency, Raising $1.7Bn as a LATAM Company and Why Uber Eats Did More To Help Than To Hurt Rappi,” March 2021. https://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/simon-borrero↩

  13. Signal by NFX, “Simon Borrero’s Investing Profile — Angel,” accessed June 2026. https://signal.nfx.com/investors/simon-borrero↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  14. TechCrunch, “With founders hailing from Colombian unicorn Rappi, payments startup Yuno raises $10M from a16z and LatAm VCs,” March 10, 2022. https://techcrunch.com/2022/03/10/with-founders-hailing-from-colombian-unicorn-rappi-startup-yuno-raises-10m-from-a16z-and-latam-vcs/↩↩↩↩↩

  15. TechCrunch, “VCs, unicorn founders pump $15M into Truora, a Colombian startup that helps companies onboard users via WhatsApp,” April 8, 2022. https://techcrunch.com/2022/04/08/vcs-unicorn-founders-pump-15m-into-truora-a-colombian-startup-that-helps-companies-onboard-users-via-whatsapp/↩↩↩

  16. TechCrunch, “Morado, a two-month-old Colombian marketplace for the beauty industry, raises $5M in pre-seed funding from the likes of Tiger Global and a16z,” April 20, 2022. https://techcrunch.com/2022/04/20/morado-a-two-month-old-colombian-marketplace-for-the-beauty-industry-raises-5m-in-pre-seed-funding-from-the-likes-of-tiger-global-and-a16z/↩↩↩↩

  17. Contxto, “Riogrande Raises Round Led by Y Combinator and Wollef to Boost E-commerce for Brands,” accessed June 2026. https://contxto.com/en/venture-capital/riogrande-raises-round-led-by-y-combinator-and-wollef-to-boost-e-commerce-for-brands/↩↩

  18. Techpoint Africa, “Chowdeck gets $2.5 million in seed funding,” April 30, 2024. https://techpoint.africa/2024/04/30/chowdeck-seed-funding/↩↩↩↩

  19. LatamList, “Telepatia raises $33M Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz,” June 18, 2026. https://latamlist.com/telepatia-raises-33m-series-a-led-by-andreessen-horowitz/↩↩↩↩↩↩

  20. StartupHub.ai, “Telepatia Secures $33M Series A,” June 2026. https://www.startuphub.ai/ai-news/investors-news/2026/telepatia-secures-33m-series-a↩↩↩↩

  21. The Next Web, “A Colombian AI startup wants to assist half of Latin America’s doctors. Andreessen Horowitz just backed it,” June 2026. https://thenextweb.com/news/telepatia-ai-healthcare-latin-america-33m-a16z↩↩

  22. The Org, “How Rappi Became One of LatAm’s Biggest Startup Incubators,” February 15, 2023. https://theorg.com/iterate/how-rappi-became-one-of-latams-biggest-startup-incubators↩