Tech start-ups are notorious for their high-pressure environments, which can make or break a team. While venture capital flows in easily, many ventures can sink without a trace just as fast, eventually crushed by the stakes set in the industry.
There is, however, one founder who stands out. Chilean entrepreneur Sebastián del Villar is the CTO behind OneApp, an SaaS platform, which has possessed the rare alchemy to rise to acclaim. The AI-enhanced startup uses digitized workflows to serve retail operations, and behind it all, Del Villar’s technical mastery remains. This fact only becomes more impressive when one considers that it was all done without soliciting a single dollar from investors.
Today, OneApp is a proven force for workflow operations, effectively slashing costs and processing millions of dollars of transactions for brands like Cencosud, Cruz Verde, Ripley, and Oxxo. The journey for del Villar, a civil computer engineering graduate from Diego Portales University, begins in an unexpected place. The inception of OneApp didn’t start in Silicon Valley boardrooms, but in the traffic-choked streets of Santiago, Chile.
Early Beginnings
Growing up, del Villar wasn’t one to be discouraged by constraints – and he sought to transcend them. His childhood dreams eventually fueled his passion for software development. On this, del Villar remembers his childhood vividly: “I grew up in Chile, dreaming of innovative technologies that would transform everyday life. As a kid, I envisioned apps like Facebook, WhatsApp, and Tinder—tools that connected people in ways that felt futuristic. Back then, I lacked the resources or knowledge to build software, but ideas would strike me in mundane moments, like being stuck in traffic without a way to stay productive.”
This kind of creativity and imagination inevitably bred innovation in del Villar. While he lacked the right, accessible resources in the pre-smartphone era, he had a vision he was willing to stick to despite all challenges. This entrepreneurial spark in del Villar isn’t fazed by any bottleneck and started early in his career. For instance, in 2007, he founded his first company, Bahamonde & Del Villar Limitada, which focused on digital marketing and technology solutions for brands.
His first venture was the catalyst for his future success. Del Villar shares: “I realized that companies struggled to manage operational processes across multiple locations — a problem that later inspired the creation of OneApp.”
Lessons for Aspiring Founders: Grit Over Capital
Del Villar’s blueprint is simple: lead by example. His example is founded on grit and determination, as he says: “My uniqueness stems from relentless problem-solving: I reject 'impossible' outright. When teams say a retail automation can't be built, I prototype it anyway—often succeeding through AI tweaks or SaaS pivots. It's not just passion; it's an entrepreneurial drive to innovate beyond norms, born from bootstrapping in Latin America's dynamic markets.”
With a relentless pursuit of hard work and new possibilities, del Villar leads a team, prioritizing “pragmatic problem-solving” over perfection. He prefers to “blend in” — making sure he doesn’t become a distant boss, instead staying to encourage ideas for open AI innovations.
As their Latin American ventures accelerate, del Villar is exploring translating their predictive insights into English for US rollouts. This expansion is something he’s looking forward to, sharing: “Building AI-SaaS that eases lives, giving people time back from tedium. As an entrepreneur, growing my companies while mentoring the next wave of founders fuels me—scaling innovations from Latin America to the U.S.”
Del Villar has something special: an eye for true disruption, with a technical skill that’s enhanced by conviction and a dreamer’s refusal to settle. In addition, he has leadership skills unlike any other. Ignacio Lucas Ordoñez, International Sport S.A makes the following analysis: “The impact of his work has been both operational and strategic. With Sebastian’s leadership, The Line Group achieved greater efficiency in retail execution across multiple countries.”
From Garage Code to Enterprise Scale
Despite how the rest of the industry chases venture capital, it was embedded in del Villar’s strategy not to be part of the herd. Instead, he preferred to bootstrap the entire company from the ground up, which wasn’t always well received.
But del Villar takes pride in his decisions and muses: “A specific triumph was bootstrapping my companies for over 10 years without raising capital. In startup circles, people are shocked: ‘You serve over 40 major clients, generate steady revenue, and own 100% equity—all self-funded?’ This "slow-burn" approach built a rock-solid foundation, teaching me resilience and the power of AI-driven efficiency to scale without dilution. It honed my ability to innovate under constraints, directly fueling our expansions into U.S. markets next year.”
Instead of generating capital fast and delivering results at the same speed, del Villar chose to build a bedrock of adaptability and innovation. It allows the entire company to operate with freedom in what they want to innovate, both now and in the future. While he started solo, he’s since built a team founded on a similar ideology. Currently, around 40 people are scattered across different countries working towards the same goals. Seventy companies all over the globe are now using the platform.
Del Villar's ascent was made even more impressive by being a self-funded entrepreneur. To the industry, it signaled his skills and prowess as an SaaS architect. He optimized everything to handle traffic spikes in an attempt to outpace competitors, and his foresight was rewarded after. Every hands-on tweak turned potential crashes into seamless uptime, attracting more and more people to OneApp.
AI as the Secret Weapon in Retail's Arsenal
However, OneApp wouldn’t be anywhere without del Villar’s AI expertise. With the constant drudgery of rote retail tasks, del Villar knows how much success proper efficiency can unlock with the right automations. Over time, with the help of AI and his development knowledge, he deploys machine learning to its full potential, using it to manage store operations and bridge the gap between planning and execution in physical stores.
Del Villar recognizes what he does with razor-sharp focus, only intending for every effort to become even better. He says: “With AI and automation tools, I can prototype solutions in one or two hours that would have taken weeks just a few years ago. If a process in my company or a client feels inefficient, I automate it on the spot—saving hours of manual work and scaling operations seamlessly.” As a result, operations become much more efficient, enabling the detection of problematic sales patterns and the automation of reports and alerts as quickly as possible.
This kind of innovation excites del Villar, as he sees it as a challenge that can only improve his craft. As he automates various tasks across his companies and agencies, he also works to integrate AI across different areas of operations, including real-time analytics.
Every AI tool that del Villar makes liberates teams from hours of work and enables companies to operate at speeds never before imagined. Del Villar shares: “My AI-SaaS solutions liberate clients from repetitive tasks, reclaiming hours for strategic growth. For OneUp users, automations cut reporting time from days to minutes, boosting revenue via AI-driven insights—our materials detail multimillion-dollar efficiencies in inventory and compliance.”
Meanwhile, despite the leadership he can execute, he establishes himself as an important team player. X from Ripley explains: “Sebastian’s role was critical because he provided the digital infrastructure that transformed how Ripley manages store-level execution. What sets him apart is his long-term commitment to understanding retail operations in Latin America and his ability to deliver agile, tailored solutions to meet evolving market needs.
Diverse Roles and Responsibilities
It’s no surprise that del Villar has reached this point of success. Even before he graduated from Diego Portales University with a degree in civil computer engineering, he dove into his first company. Three years before he graduated, he was well into founding Bahamondes y del Villar Ltd. As the CTO, he worked on multiple projects and collaborated with several agencies on marketing campaigns. His efforts led them to work with giants such as Skechers, Nestlé, Falabella, Samsung, real estate companies, and other brands across various fields.
Soon enough, he proved himself a successful entrepreneur, founding Desarrollos Andain Ltd alongside two other co-founders- the first iteration of OneApp. From its humble beginnings, the app is now usedby over 60 companies in 6 Latin American countries, including Cencosud, Ripley, Oxxo, Farmacias Cruz Verde, and Tricot.
As the new CTO of OneApp, he focuses on thedevelopment, delivery, and sale of SaaS solutions, as well as supporting other companies in Latin America. His efforts serve ecommerce, a hub for bills and recharges, and marketplace integrators. Aside from being a CTO, he now serves as a General Manager of SC SOFT USA, primarily positioning the products of other companies in Chile and looking for clients to sell developments.
His knowledge of SaaS software and solutions, cloud development, and system optimization, combined with his leadership and project management, makes del Villar a powerhouse in the field of innovation. He’s making sure his skills are put to good use, too, sharing: “I want to automate the 'boring" in offices—reports, compliance checks—so pros focus on innovation. Long-term, mentor bootstrapped entrepreneurs in AI-SaaS, sharing self-taught lessons to accelerate their e-commerce ventures without the isolation I faced.”
Beyond his business ventures, del Villar has served as a judge for various start-up pitches, evaluating over 1,000 applicants. For his companies, he received three Corfo grants. At the same time, he mentored dozens of IT firms, pushing to optimize SaaS services for free, building reliable ecosystems for many teams.
His success is acknowledged by many, among them Robert Konow, Senior Manager of Machine Learning at Pinterest. He assesses del Villar: “Mr. Del Villar combines hands-on engineering expertise with the rare ability to architect systems that align with business goals, scale across markets, and endure. Few professionals I have encountered can match his impact in transforming how major enterprises in Latin America operate through technology.”
Tania Ares, from Skechers, agrees, observing: “What distinguishes Mr. Del Villar from others is his combination of technical expertise, entrepreneurial vision, and ability to execute tailored solutions for Skechers in Chile. He has been a trusted partner to Skechers for over a decade, continually providing innovative solutions that bridge global strategies with local execution.” Whether del Villar’s venture is local or international, it’s guaranteed to succeed.
AI and the Future
Del Villar imagines a future of efficiency. For example, headquarters in their clients’ companies are starting to test AI to evaluate store photos for compliance. Daily reports can be personalized into insights using machine learning. When AI is used for anomaly detection, they are spotted in transactions more quickly than manual labor ever could. These innovations are things that del Villar takes pride in, as he shares: “These reduce client time by 70-90% on repetitive tasks, letting teams focus on growth. As a founder, I've positioned us as AI leaders, aligning with U.S. priorities for innovation.”
In del Villar’s world, nothing in the industry could ever be disjointed or slow — not with the right strategies on his side. When discussing his accomplishments, one doesn’t have to wonder how del Villar reached this point without a single VC dollar. When someone is as dedicated to innovation and efficiency as he is, everything else falls into place for success. With del Villar’s new and existing ventures, he is definitely an entrepreneurial trailblazer to watch out for.
