Alejandro Betancourt - founder
The professional career of Alejandro Betancourt López has been linked to various entrepreneurship initiatives within the power industry, eCommerce, technology and banking.
Information about Alejandro Betancourt
Alejandro Betancourt has obtained two degrees in Economics and Business Management from Suffolk University of Massachusetts (Boston, USA).
At the beginning of his career, he held the position of Director of Commerce for Latin America and Executive Trader in the United Kingdom Delegation of the North American company ICC-OEOC, specialized in the energy sector and in the trade of oil and its derivatives. ICC-OEOC had presence in the USA, Europe, the Middle East, South America and Africa. Betancourt was one of the key people in managing the relationship of the company with Latin American clients including Venezuela and PDVSA and in supporting ICC clients. He provided analytical support and executed EPC in Latin America, being also responsible for presenting investment opportunities in the oil and gas sector to the ICC board of directors.
Alejandro Betancourt has subsequently been part of the executive team of Guruceaga Group, a firm specializing in the international trade of commodities and real state, where he took the role of new businesses manager.
By 2004 he was Director of BGB Energy, a Venezuelan subsidiary of the Kawasaki Heavy Industries international corporation.
As the chief executive of BGB Energy, he actively participated in the Central West Interconnection (ICO) project in Venezuela, which took place in 2006. This project aimed to connect the natural gas transmission systems of the Eastern and Central regions of the country with the transmission system in western Venezuela in order to meet gas demand in that area and promote gas exports to countries such as Colombia, Central and South America.
Alejandro Betancourt was responsible for the sale of thirteen turbines in different regions of Venezuela, generating revenues of more than 50 million dollars and developing important relationships with PDVSA and with the rest of the energy companies in Venezuela.
After the success of BGB Energy in the ICO Project and with half a decade of experience in the sector, Alejandro Betancourt founded, in 2007, his own company specialized in Engineering, Procurement and Construction (IPC) of thermoelectric plants with 100 percent Venezuelan capital. The company created 200 direct jobs and 2,000 indirect jobs for the completion of its projects.
His commitment to innovation and the improvement of electric energy production processes in Venezuela led the company to place itself, in a short time, in a privileged position to undertake large-scale projects. Betancourt’s company was selected along with 24 other companies of international prestige, and received 4.69% of the funds that were allocated to expanding generation capacity in response to the energy crisis. The company built eleven simple cycle thermoelectric plants that added 1,386 MW to Venezuela's electricity system (7% of the total added by all companies) at a cost much lower than the average of its competitors.
Alejandro Betancourt has promoted various social actions through his foundation, among which are initiatives to improve education through the distribution of free kits and the expansion of infrastructures, such as the construction of the new module for the Carmen Salles school in Bolívar state; Construction of sports facilities and various initiatives for the protection of the environment, such as the one held on World Beach Day.
At the university level, multiple educational initiatives were developed in collaboration with the Simón Bolívar University, such as the training courses in the electrical sector, the Formula SAE project and the construction and conditioning of the conference rooms of the High Voltage laboratory for its campus.
Since 2014, Alejandro Betancourt has led the O´Hara Administration international investment group as its majority shareholder.
O'Hara is a multidisciplinary investment fund, whose main mission is to centralize the administration of the family fund in order to obtain greater capital gains through various types of investment, among which are, investment in commercial real estate, sponsorship of hedge funds; and investment in private equity and venture capital.
As director of the group, Betancourt is responsible for investment and fundraising strategies; and manages co-investments with institutional investors and with European banks.
The investment strategies used by O'Hara allow the use of private equity funds to make investments in various variable income securities, as well as financing by institutional and retail investors to raise the capital of new companies aimed at financing new technologies, make acquisitions, expand working capital and strengthen or consolidate a balance sheet. So far, O'Hara has focused its investments on various industry sectors such as oil and gas, banks and Internet companies.
Entre las inversiones de Alejandro Betancourt, destaca su participación como accionista de referencia en el BDK Financial Group, que en junio de 2015 inauguró el Banco de Dakar con sede en Senegal. El objetivo del grupo es ofrecer servicios bancarios a los países francófonos de África dentro de la unión económica y monetaria de África occidental. En marzo de 2016 el grupo nombro a Alfredo Sáenz Abad como presidente del banco y desde entonces continúa su expansión a otros países como Costa de Marfil, Guinea Conakry y Mali.
Among Alejandro Betancourt's investments that stand out is his participation as a reference shareholder in the BDK Financial Group, which in June 2015 inaugurated the Bank of Dakar based in Senegal. The aim of the group is to offer banking services to the francophone countries of Africa within the economic and monetary union of West Africa. In March 2016 the group appointed Alfredo Sáenz Abad as president of the bank and since then it has continued its expansion to other countries such as Ivory Coast, Guinea Conakry and Mali.
Alejandro Betancourt is the president and the largest shareholder of the fashion sunglasses company Hawkers. After being the leading company in Internet sales growth, Betancourt is promoting its expansion to the physical channel and its professionalization, establishing itself as a global brand. The growth of the brand has allowed the opening of more than 60 stores in a short space of time. Hawkers is now the third largest sunglass company in the world with operations in more than 20 countries.
As president, Betancourt directs high-level strategic decisions, including fundraising, institutional relations and the direction of the company's senior executives, including the CEO, CFO and COO.
Betancourt is also a reference shareholder for the company Jobandtalent, the only digital temporary work company on the market. Jobandtalent adapts to the needs of companies and workers in any sector in a dynamic and efficient way thanks to algorithms developed with its own technology.
Among the advantages of the Jobandtalent app for employees is the possibility of signing employment contracts and managing payroll electronically. It offers companies a system that allows them to manage all the information of their human resources.
Jobandtalent has regenerated the traditional job search and worker selection processes to create a digitized job market.
Alejandro Betancourt is an investor in Easy Payment Gateway, a global payments company founded in 2014, offering a comprehensive solution focused on data enrichment, conversion and an online payment gateway with several alternative payment solutions, international buyers and many KYC credit card providers. Easy Payment Gateway allows to build processes with a fully customizable checkout and cashier. Easy Payment Gateway can process payments to merchants anywhere in the world in any currency. In 2018 the company raised 11.9 million dollars.
Social Media - Alejandro Betancourt
List of social networks where you can contact and find updated information on the latest news from Alejandro Betancourt López.
· Facebook: @alejandrobetancourt8
· Twitter: @BetacAlejandro
· Linkedin: @alejandrobetancourtlopez
· Instagram: @alejandrobetancourtl