Cristian Castros new savings startup, after the completion of the pioneering Izit
Their new project is an innovative initiative that mixes the worlds of savings and social in a single point and offer, as it seeks to help people maintain their social life away from home without hurting their pocketbook.
After the closure of Izit in Chile during 2023, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, Cristian Castro, former Chief Marketing Officer of the pioneering startup in georeferenced marketing, returns to the world of entrepreneurship with the Pinta Libre application.
Their new project is an innovative initiative that mixes the worlds of savings and social in a single point and offer, as it seeks to help people maintain their social life away from home without hurting their pocketbook.
This, because before the COVID-19 pandemic and inflation became present in our lives, it was quite common for people to go after their work days in search of distraction, either to meet with friends, university classmates or from the same workplace, to bars and restaurants.
Follow us on: 
However, in the face of these two facts: the pandemic and rising costs, social life outside the home has suffered. It is in this context that Pinta Libre wants to make a difference, helping people to continue enjoying something so necessary to reduce stress and mental health: social interaction, without affecting the pocketbook. “As the social media trend says: It’s not therapy, but it helps me take care of my mental health,” Castro says
How? Through a membership system. This is how the Pinta Libre App allows you to have as a benefit, products at no cost associated with consumption in any of the participating establishments. “Basically, every time you go to eat something at some of the partner locations, you will receive a drink at no cost,” explains the CEO of Pinta Libre, Cristián Castro.
“This is the way”: The entrepreneurial path
This is how this Publicist by profession has had a vast career, with a stint at Chilectra as Head of Innovation and Marketing Specialist (2008-2009); Metro De Santiago as Project Manager Innovation & Project Manager Publicity between 2013 and 2014; moving from the corporate and service world, to the entrepreneurial ecosystem, when he became the CMO of Izit between 2014 and 2020.
However, after his departure from the startup, Castro returned to the business world to serve as CMO of Foodfast (2020-2021), a company that operates in Dark Kitchen format; and later between July 2021 and August 2023, he was Innovation Manager at EQUANS Chile.
That was the path, again it took him to the startup world, to today he is the CEO of Pinta Libre.
“Izit was an incredible experience that left us with many learnings, which we want to take advantage of with Pinta Libre to create an app that is useful and beneficial for people,” he says.
“In this new stage in Chile, we want to revolutionize the way we consume outside the home; With an innovative, different proposal focused on the user being able to enjoy high-value benefits in their favorite places every time they visit them. Our goal is to have more than 100 stores available and 5,000 subscribers by December 31, 2024”
Not a minor challenge
Today, he has taken on a new challenge: Pinta Libre. And of course, it is no small challenge, since as he explains, this application landed in Chile from Argentina in the summer of 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic transformed our lives, having to lower its curtains with less than two months of operation in the country.
This is how it is today Cristian Castro or “Not the Singer”, As he is known in the entrepreneurial world, leads Pinta Libre in Chile And he assures that those who use the application “will be able to continue sharing experiences with their families, friends, partners and acquaintances, around a delicious meal and something to drink without being underfunded. It’s part of the trend of spending to save.”
This, because according to the creators of Pinta Libre, it is possible to save more than 30% on an outing using the application.
How is this possible? Pinta Libre works with a membership model, paying $4,990 per month; and for those who go through this process they will have access to discounts and benefits in different gastronomic, entertainment and cultural establishments.
A promising future
Pinta Libre – which was launched in white march mode at the beginning of 2024 – already has plans to expand to other regions of the country, hand in hand with increasing its savings portfolio; while looking at other Latin American countries in the medium term.
Among the establishments associated with Pinta Libre are KrossBar, La Cervecería, El Honesto Mike, Uncle Fletch, Barbazul, Barbazul Beach Gaeden, Bar Kleine Kneipe and soon to be added, Barbanegra and Mamut.
The Pinta Libre App is available for both iOS and Android systems; And for the subscription you can use both credit and debit cards.
With Pinta Libre, Cristian Castro seeks to consolidate himself as a benchmark in the Chilean entrepreneurial ecosystem. Their experience, their capacity for innovation and their vision of the future are key ingredients for this new startup to have a successful path.