Chilean entrepreneur Javier Araya Kopaitic has completed his third startup exit in 15 years with the acquisition of Lilo by Inn-Flow, a North Carolina-based hotel finance and operations platform. The deal closed in fewer than three years after Lilo's founding in 2023. Araya's previous exits include selling fitness startup MuvPass to ClassPass and co-creating Blik, a leading audio and electronics brand in Chile.
Founded by Araya and co-founder Nadine ElAshkar between Santiago and New York, Lilo built AI-powered tools to automate hotel procurement, one of the most manual and fragmented operational areas in U.S. hospitality. The platform reduced procurement time by up to 80% and total supply costs by as much as 7%, according to the original report. Before acquisition, Lilo served more than 400 hotels across the United States and Canada.[()]
The startup attracted backing from Index Ventures, Headline, and Precursor Ventures, along with Twelve Below, Blue Lion, Add Ventures, and Burst Capital. Inn-Flow, founded in 2009, works with over 1,000 hotels in the U.S., employs more than 150 people, and maintains a 98% client retention rate.[()]
Lilo's acquisition by Inn-Flow marks third exit for Chilean founder Javier Araya
Araya developed the concept for Lilo while attending Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he researched B2B purchasing and payment processes. That academic work shaped the technical architecture his team built to address inefficiencies in hotel supply chain management, a sector where manual workflows and vendor fragmentation have historically driven up costs and consumed staff time.
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His previous exits reveal a pattern of building category-specific software and consumer brands with strong product-market fit. MuvPass, a fitness marketplace, sold to ClassPass. Blik became a household name in Chilean consumer electronics. The Lilo transaction reinforces that Latin American founders can compete in demanding North American verticals without relocating their core teams.
Why Santiago's distributed engineering model proves LATAM can build category-leading AI products
Although Lilo operated its headquarters in New York, the company established its engineering nucleus in Santiago, employing a distributed team across Chile, Asia, Europe, and the United States. The 35-person organization will continue operating from Santiago under Inn-Flow's ownership, preserving the technical hub that developed software competitive in the North American hotel market.[()]
This structure offers a blueprint for companies building world-class software teams in Santiago while serving U.S. enterprise clients. Lilo's ability to secure funding from top-tier venture firms and achieve product-market fit with hundreds of hotel clients validates that remote engineering teams in Chile can deliver AI products meeting the performance, reliability, and compliance standards required by the U.S. hospitality market.[()] market. hospitality operators.
Santiago-based engineers built and maintained mission-critical procurement automation systems serving hundreds of enterprise customers. The city's time zone overlap with North America, combined with a mature software engineering talent pool, enables real-time collaboration on complex AI development projects. Companies seeking AI and fintech talent in Latin America increasingly view Santiago as a viable alternative to nearshore hubs in Mexico or Colombia, particularly for roles requiring advanced machine learning capabilities and enterprise software experience.
Inn-Flow's retention of Lilo's Santiago office post-acquisition signals confidence in the team's technical capabilities and strategic value. This contrasts with acquisition patterns where acquirers consolidate operations in a single geography, often leading to talent attrition and knowledge loss.
GENTY's building world-class software teams in Santiago guide offers additional context for employers planning their next hires. GENTY's AI and fintech talent in Latin America guide offers additional context for employers planning their next hires.
What Lilo's exit signals about Chilean tech talent retention and global competitiveness
Araya stated that the acquisition demonstrates a U.S. company sought to integrate Lilo's technology, proving that Latin America can build world-class software to compete in the planet's most demanding market. This framing positions the exit as validation of Chilean technical talent competing on equal footing with U.S.-based startups.
The deal arrives as Chilean startups face pressure to demonstrate that local engineering talent can sustain growth without mass relocation to Silicon Valley or other North American tech centers. Lilo's trajectory suggests that founders can raise institutional capital, scale to hundreds of enterprise clients, and achieve successful exits while keeping core development teams in Santiago.
For employers and workforce planners, the transaction offers evidence that distributed engineering models can survive ownership transitions. Inn-Flow's decision to maintain the Santiago office indicates confidence in the team's ability to continue product development and support a growing customer base. This stability matters for talent retention, as engineers often face uncertainty about job security following acquisitions.
The speed of Lilo's exit, achieved in under three years, reflects investor appetite for AI-driven vertical software targeting large, inefficient markets. Hotel procurement represents billions in annual spending across thousands of independent properties, creating substantial opportunity for automation tools that deliver measurable cost savings and time reductions.
Araya's three exits over 15 years establish him as one of Chile's most successful repeat founders.[()] His track record may encourage other Chilean technical talent to pursue startup paths rather than seeking employment at multinational corporations or relocating abroad.
The Lilo acquisition reinforces that Chilean startups can attract capital from leading global venture firms, scale in competitive North American markets, and achieve exits validating both the business model and the underlying talent strategy. For companies evaluating Latin American engineering hubs, Santiago's combination of technical depth, time zone alignment, and proven ability to support category-leading AI products merits serious consideration in workforce planning and hiring strategies.