In 2005, Raúl Rivera created ForoInnovación with a group of Chilean universities, think tanks, trade and business associations. ForoInnovación is a non-profit "action tank" aimed at creating in Chile a more entrepreneurial and innovative society. Most ForoInnovación projects are joint public-private efforts and involve a number of services for entrepreneurs, such as assistance on idea generation, networking, mentoring, diagnosis of business risks, advice on developing a back-up plan, and helping failed entrepreneurs get back on their feet. It also supports programs to enhance innovation and growth in Chile on a macro level, helping, for instance, to position Chile as a nearshore hub for global service exports. One of its main initiatives is ‘Avonni’, the main national innovation award that recognizes the innovative capability of Chilean entrepreneurs. In 2010, over 500 projects applied for this award. Another major initiative is ‘Innovacien’, a network of innovative schools, which are piloting Information Technology upported approaches to learning.

Founded in 1976, Fundación Chile is a non-profit organization founded by the Chilean government and the ITT Corporation (the predecessor of AT&T) of the United States with the objective of transferring state-of-the-art technology, management techniques and human skills to natural resource-intensive sectors, in alliance with local and global knowledge networks. Fundación Chile creates new companies and joint ventures, carries out R&D, adapts foreign technology for product and process innovation for client companies in the public and private sectors, and fosters the creation of consortia for the diffusion of technology to small and medium enterprises. Fundación Chile has created 76 companies that in total have contributed more than US$2 billion to the country’s economy. Examples include the creation of pioneering salmon farms; provision of technological services; abalone and turbot farming; development of the hi-tech concept of vacuum-packed meat and other innovations; quality control and certification of fruit for export; introduction of new berry species and varieties in Chile; associative development in the forestry industry, which led to the implementation of new forestry management models; high-quality wine production; and furniture for export. In recent years Fundación Chile has been increasingly active in the field of biotechnology (forestry genetics and DNA vaccines for aquaculture, among others), financial engineering and information (venture capital), and management. Its activities in the areas of skill upgrading focus on lifelong learning, distance education, the use of technology in education, and business education.

Falabella is a leading Chilean retailer of apparel, accessories and household products. The company also distributes a diverse set of products (e.g., groceries, perishables and non-food items such as apparel, electronics, homeware, furniture and toys) through hyper and supermarkets, manufactures textiles and fabrics, and through the Falabella Bank offers financial services (e.g., issuance of credit cards, insurance brokerage, bank and travel agency). Falabella pioneered the integration between the bank and the hyper and supermarkets was in the retail sector in Latin America. The company had revenues of US$6.9 billion in 2009. Its real estate division develops and manages the supermarkets, hypermarkets and shopping centres, and is also responsible for securing land and buildings for new stores. A broad product portfolio protects the company from demand fluctuations in certain product categories. Currently, Falabella operates in Chile, Argentina, Colombia and Peru, with 73 department stores, 101 specialty stores, 43 supermarkets, 13 malls, 43 million credit card accounts and 67 million employers. Its leading market position in many of its business areas increases its bargaining power to achieve economies of scale and provides significant levels of brand awareness. The combination of retailing power and financial services enables the company to capture more value and remain innovative in both industries, offering products to both middle and working-class customers in Latin America. In 2010, the financial magazine “Euromoney” named Falabella the best-managed company in Chile. It was also awarded a prize for the ‘Highest Standard of Corporate Governance’ in Chile. In 2011, Falabella plans to open 40 stores in four Latin American countries.

Founded by Andrés Navarro in Santiago de Chile in 1974 as a venture capital investment between his family and one of the biggest Chilean oil corporations, Copec, SONDA has pioneered the provision of Information Technology services, systems integration and software development in the region. In 1984, SONDA began expanding internationally, establishing a subsidiary in Peru, and later in Argentina, Ecuador, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Colombia, Brazil and Mexico. SONDA is a public company where Navarro´s family holds 55% of the stock, with more than 5,000 clients, 250,000 users and 400,000 items of IT equipment under contract. In 2009 its total revenue was US$703 million. Developing and delivering solutions and services both for government and private sector clients in a wide range of areas, the firm has contributed to the modernization of diverse government agencies and helped companies to become more competitive. SONDA has created several innovative solutions that have had a major impact on the quality of life of citizens, such as a new identity system for Chileans, an electronic voucher system for health care services, an automated control system for traffic in big cities, and an electronic payment and clearing system for the new public transportation system in Santiago de Chile. In 2007, SONDA acquired the Brazilian Information Technology company Procwork, thereby becoming one of the main IT service providers in Brazil and one of the largest SAP integrators in Latin America.

Founded in 1994, Elemental S.A is a Chilean for-profit company with a social orientation, and a partnership with Copec (a Chilean oil company) and the Universidad Católica. It implements urban development projects such as infrastructure, public space and housing projects, with the objective of improving the quality of life of the poor. Having built over 1,000 units and designed another 2,000, Elemental is currently working on several large-scale projects, including public markets, social housing and public buildings. With a team of 15 people, including architects, engineers and builders, the company develops projects with the participation of the community. The goal is that social housing projects will gain in value over time. Their motto is ‘safe, economic and fast incremental self-construction’. The cost of each unit is about US$7,500 for a 40m² half house, and they provide the structure and materials for constructing the second half by the owner. Their aim is to build ‘inclusive’ cities and projects have been launched in Brazil, Mexico, Portugal, China and the US. Elemental has won several awards, most recently the 2010 Brit Insurance Design Awards in the architecture category.

The world’s fifth largest copper mine, Los Pelambres was founded in the 1920s by William Braden. In the 1990s it became Antofagasta Holdings, which belongs to the Luksic family. This private Chilean company with 700 employees is dedicated to the production of copper and molybdenum. Located at 3,600m altitude in the Andes, the mine produces 339,000 tons of copper concentrate a year, with Asia and Europe as significant export markets. Its conveyor belt is the longest and the most efficient of its type in the world, with reserves of 2.2 Bt of fine copper. In 2008, total sales were US$2.17 billion. In 2002, Fundación Minera los Pelambres was founded as an entity that focuses on three areas: education, productivity and irrigation systems. With help of different public and private institutions it has developed technical education and training programs for people from rural areas, activities to promote entrepreneurship, and specific projects to improve irrigation for farmers, which at the same time help to improve productivity. For this work Minera los Pelambres has received different awards in Chile such as ‘Premio Gestión Social y Responsabilidad Social’ by Semanario Tiempo and ‘Premio Universidad Tecnológica INACAP’ for human capital development in Choapa province. Investors and operators alike pay close attention to efficiency, reducing carbon-dioxide output significantly and using electricity efficiently. For this achievement the company was awarded the National Prize for Power Efficiency by the Chilean Ministry of Economics.

Established in 2003, Recycla Chile is the first and only electronic waste recycling company in Chile. It incorporates innovation with management strategies based on social, economic and environmental sustainability. Recycla Chile’s recycling process disarms electronic appliances by extracting and separating the raw materials to be transformed and reused. The remaining scraps are treated using specialized machines. At the same time, the entity provides environmental sustainability consultancy services in Chile and other Latin American countries. The company employs men and women with a criminal record and/or former prisoners. The goal is to offer them jobs to prevent them becoming repeat offenders. In 2008, Recycla Chile was internationally recognized with the ‘Energy Globe Award’ and the ‘Dubai International Award for Best Practices’. In 2009, the World Economic Forum selected Fernando Nilo, Recycla Chile founder and chief financial officer, as a ‘Tech Pioneer’.