SENA — Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje

Funds Colombian entrepreneurship and workforce development through condonable and reimbursable seed capital for founders.

SENA, the Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje, is Colombia's national public training institute under the Ministry of Labor. Through Fondo Emprender it channels entrepreneurship capital rather than classroom training, and the 2026 budget for the fund is more than COP 282,000 million across 12 national calls.

The fund has two routes: Línea Crear, which provides condonable seed capital for first-time founders, and Línea Crecer, which offers reimbursable seed capital for SMEs aged one to five years at 6% annual interest over 23 months. The 2026 call set aside 80% of resources for associative applications, and the active rounds target rural communities, women, youth, indigenous groups, persons with disabilities, victims of conflict, artisans, and other priority populations. The sectors flagged in the record are agritech, foodtech, hardware, and manufacturing.

SENA's edge is breadth and reach: it is built for nationwide intake, with many concurrent convocatorias rather than a single annual competition. Applicants do best when their proposal ties employment creation, formalization, and a viable operating plan to a clearly defined beneficiary group or region.