Forbes Central America includes Francisco Santolo, CEO of Scalabl, in its 2025 edition of Forbes 30 Central America. The recognition highlights his trajectory as a serial entrepreneur, business educator, and creator of the Scalabl methodology, which has trained more than 2500 entrepreneurs in over 50 countries.
Forbes Central America published its Forbes 30 Central America 2025 list, recognizing the most outstanding leaders and entrepreneurs in the region. Among those selected is Francisco Santolo, CEO and founder of Scalabl, a global organization dedicated to executive education in innovation and disruptive entrepreneurship.
Santolo, an economist and MBA with studies at Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Kellogg, Chicago, Singularity University and INSEAD, has built a remarkable trajectory as a serial entrepreneur, having co-founded more than 50 companies and helped create over 500 ventures through the Scalabl methodology.
The inclusion in the Forbes Central America list recognizes not only his work as an entrepreneur but also as an educator and business mentor. Scalabl operates in more than 20 countries with a graduate network exceeding 2500 professionals across 50 countries, offering programs ranging from one-month courses to year-long micromasters.
The Scalabl methodology is distinguished by its focus on entrepreneurship without dependence on venture capital. Santolo promotes bootstrapping and organic growth as viable alternatives to the traditional external financing model, an approach that has demonstrated results in diverse entrepreneurial ecosystems around the world.
This recognition by Forbes Central America adds to a series of distinctions Santolo has received throughout his career: in 2017 he was recognized by Forbes Argentina as the "startup hacker"; in 2020 he was a finalist for best entrepreneur of the year worldwide by the Association of MBAs (AMBA); he has been a keynote speaker at the G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance Summit; and has participated as a speaker in two TEDx talks.
Santolo operates from Panama, where Scalabl has an active presence in the local entrepreneurial ecosystem, including alliances with organizations such as the Paraguayan Entrepreneurs Association (ASEPY) and collaborations with universities and governments throughout the Central American region.
The Forbes 30 Central America 2025 list selected participants based on criteria such as leadership potential, social impact, scalability of initiatives, level of development, and revenue generation. The process included open nominations, validation by the Forbes editorial team, and an independent panel of judges.
