Alexander Torrenegra | |
---|---|
Born | Bogotá, Colombia | July 31, 1978
Nationality | Colombian-American |
Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur Investor Television personality |
Known for | Torre, Voice123, Bunny Studio, Torrenegra Accelerator |
Television | Shark Tank Colombia |
Spouse | Tania Zapata |
Children | 2 |
Honours | MIT's Innovator Under 35 WEF's Young Global Leader |
Website | https://torre.co/torrenegra |
Alexander Torrenegra (born July 31, 1978)[1] is a Colombian-American entrepreneur, inventor, and investor.[2][3] He is the founder and CEO of Torre and has founded multiple companies including Voice123, Bunny Studio,[4] and Tribe.[citation needed] He is also one of the "shark" investors on Sony's reality television series, Shark Tank Colombia. He was featured in MIT's list of Innovators Under 35 in 2012.[4][5]
Torrenegra is a known advocate of remote work. He has worked with remote teams since founding Voice123.[6]
Torrenegra was born in Bogotá, Colombia. He was raised by his mother, Katia, and his maternal grandmother, María Emma Torrenegra.[7]
In 1993, he founded his first company: Apache A-X Cybernetic Enterprises Limited, at the age of 14.[3][8] He attended La Salle University, Colombia, and Florida International University.[4] He graduated from Miami Dade College with a degree in Computer Science and is part of the Stanford University Leadership Program.[9]
In 1998, Torrenegra moved to the United States. He met his wife, Tania Zapata, who was a voice actress, in Miami, Florida.[3] In 2000, they co-founded Torrenegra Labs.[4] Torrenegra and Zapata founded Voice123, which applied the concept of reverse auctions to the voiceover industry, in 2003.[3]
By 2007, the company passed $1 million in sales and had approximately 150,000 voice actors registered and over 75,000 agency clients by 2016.[3] In September 2021, Voice123 was acquired by Backstage and TA Associates.[10][11] In 2008, Torrenegra founded LetMeGo, a company focused on hotels competing for bookings. The company closed in 2011.[8][12]
Torrenegra, Zapata, and Lucho Molina founded Bunny Studio in 2012 with the launch of VoiceBunny, then renamed Bunny Studio, an API for professional human voices.[3]
In 2013, he was part of a delegation of immigrant entrepreneurs that met with President Barack Obama.[13][14] He also works to improve government support for innovation in Colombia.[15][16]
Since 2017, Torrenegra has been in the main cast of Shark Tank Colombia as an investor, only being absent during season 4.[17]
In 2018, he co-founded Tribe, a remote-first video communication platform, and also started Torrenegra Accelerator to help out fellow entrepreneurs.[18]
He founded Torre, an online network for finding work and talent through matching, in 2019, and became its CEO. By 2021, Torre secured a $10 million seed round led by former executives from Apple, Facebook, Uber, and SpaceX.[19]