Investment in LiveHappy, A Conservation & Travel Platform

Shawn Christopher Hiner Leamon, CEO and Founder of LaGrande Global, has invested in LiveHappy, a Colombian startup with a focus on nature travel, ecological conservation, and community wellness.

What is LiveHappy?

LiveHappy leverages ecotourism to drive impactful projects in Colombia’s rural areas; these initiatives, in turn, drive conservation, combat natural and criminal dangers, and provide youth in rural communities with opportunities for forging a successful career in tourism.

The organization also provides businesses with technological and training solutions for better implementing their sustainability initiatives.

LiveHappy’s primary initiatives

LiveHappy turns tourism into a way to protect the land, not harm it. They achieve this unique goal through the following core initiatives:

Technology

LiveHappy has developed digital tools that facilitate ecotourism experiences in rural areas and promote community and natural impact projects. Their application allows travelers to instantly book a one-of-a-kind adventure in natural reserves that historically haven’t been easy to access.

Bookable activities include:

  • Hikes
  • Picnics
  • Birdwatching
  • Training runs
  • Botany workshops
  • Waterfall tours
  • Guided meditations
  • Yoga in nature
  • Tours of ancestral routes
  • Horseback riding
  • Planting

LiveHappy’s social media presence raises awareness about Colombian flora and fauna and encourages followers to learn more about their local environment. Their posts also provide tips on how people can positively impact nature with everyday acts like picking up trash, monitoring water usage, and “leaving no trace.”

Local Impact Projects

LiveHappy works directly with communities on land conservation and ecotourism initiatives. The organization helps locals take an active role in reforestation and restoration, ensuring sustainable practices along the way.

LiveHappy has also grown a group of passionate, committed park rangers to help implement this work.

Socio-ecological Tourism

LiveHappy promotes socio-ecological tourism by working with Colombian natural parks and reserves to offer visitors a unique exploration experience in parts of the landscape that are traditionally untraversed. The company’s tech (like their app), helps connect eco-forward travelers with one another and their next adventure in nature.

Transforming communities

LiveHappy leverages ecotourism to help make communities safer from natural disasters and crime. For example, the organization has arranged hundreds of outings in the Las Moyas region, helping turn these historically dangerous slopes into a mountain hiking destination where visitors can walk without fear. Or, in another instance, LiveHappy helped raise money for the prevention of forest fires in Bogota.

Highlight Reel: Some of LiveHappy’s Recent Successess

LiveHappy might “leave no trace” in nature, but they leave a significant impact on the communities and nature reserves they touch. This organization has garnered some impressive metrics in their first years of operation. The organization has:

  • Strengthened more than 5 communities
  • Performed over 15 captation procedures
  • Added more than 30 members to their park ranger network
  • Arranged over 600 ecotourism adventures with 500 participants
  • Launched a successful app
  • Generated over 100 million Colombian pesos for local communities
  • Partnered on initiatives with brands like sporting good experts Merrill and the bank BBVA

Some of LiveHappy’s significant local impact projects include:

  • Sporting initiatives: LiveHappy leverages sporting events to make positive change in communities.
  • “EcoEstaciones”: LiveHappy’s “EcoEstaciones” (Eco-Stations) encourage sustainable ecological practices and economic development initiatives in Colombian community centers.
  • Risk prevention: LiveHappy helps prevent travelers from physical and criminal risk while exploring Colombia’s natural wonders, while also ensuring the protection of natural resources.

Great press

A recent article in Colombian newspaper El Espectador describes LiveHappy as a social startup helping combat some of the most pressing issues facing the country’s rural communities and youth in an innovative and inclusive way.

The piece explains how LiveHappy approaches communities in natural reserves to train them on receiving eco-tourists—forging an interest and route toward professional studies and careers in tourism. This educational focus helps youth avoid involvement in criminal groups by giving them an opportunity to secure satisfying, legal work.

And it’s not just the formal press that speaks highly of LiveHappy. Their application has a five-star review from users in the Apple Store, and their social media accounts are full of congratulatory comments from people who’ve enjoyed a LiveHappy adventure and others expressing interest in attending future ones.

Want to get involved?

Whether you’re an investor looking for an impactful initiative to support or a nature lover seeking your next adventure, you can get involved with LiveHappy by:

Reasons to invest in LiveHappy

Hiner-Leamon invested in LiveHappy because he’s interested in helping strengthen companies with fresh ideas for facing the future’s challenges and forming communities around impactful causes.

An expert in Latin American investments, Hiner-Leamon sees the promise in a region with such a vibrant workforce, extensive natural resources, and ingenious tech, natural, and marketing solutions. LiveHappy checks off every one of these boxes.

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