# Freddy Vega

> Freddy Vega is a Colombian programmer, educator and co-founder and CEO of Platzi. Raised in Bogotá, he learned BASIC on a borrowed calculator, founded the web community Cristalab in 2004 and joined forces with former competitor Christian Van Der Henst. Their courses and broadcasts evolved into Platzi, a Y Combinator Winter 2015 company whose current founder biography on YC reports seven million students. He writes, teaches and advocates for Latin America’s transition toward a knowledge economy.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Platzi
- **Organizations:** Platzi, Cristalab, GitLab Foundation
- **From:** Bogotá, Colombia
- **Nationality:** Colombian
- **Education:** Systems engineering studies; did not graduate, Universidad Piloto de Colombia, University studies; did not graduate, National University of Colombia, Startup accelerator, Winter 2015 batch, Y Combinator, Executive education; program title unspecified, Harvard Business School, Executive education; program title unspecified, INSEAD Singapore, Executive education; program title unspecified, Stanford Graduate School of Business
- **Known for:** Built Cristalab and co-founded Platzi with Christian Van Der Henst., Participated in Y Combinator Winter 2015., MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 Latin America, 2020.

## Career timeline

- **2004** — Founded the Spanish-language web design and development community Cristalab.
- **2010–2013** — Taught in-person courses with Christian Van Der Henst in 20 cities across 12 countries.
- **2011** — Adopted the Mejorando.la name for their teaching and broadcasting venture.
- **2013** — Launched the first online courses in beta in January.
- **2014** — Platzi’s founding year as listed by Y Combinator.
- **2015** — Launched Platzi as the company brand in January and participated in Y Combinator Winter 2015.
- **2017** — Discovered that Platzi had only three months of cash; says cost reductions, layoffs and higher prices restored profitability in roughly six weeks.
- **2020** — Recognized by MIT Technology Review’s Innovators Under 35 Latin America.
- **2021** — Announced a $62 million Series B led by Prosus.
- **2022** — One of five One Young World Entrepreneur of the Year Award winners.
- **2024** — Won the inaugural Latin America Education Medal and was selected as Forbes Colombia Entrepreneur of the Year.
- **2025** — Described Mexico as Platzi’s largest investment priority and discussed expansion of corporate training.
- **2026** — Continued writing and speaking about AI, education and the need for independent thinking.

## Achievements

- Built Cristalab and co-founded Platzi with Christian Van Der Henst.
- Participated in Y Combinator Winter 2015.
- MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 Latin America, 2020.
- One Young World Entrepreneur of the Year Award winner, 2022.
- Inaugural Latin America Education Medal winner, 2024.
- Forbes Colombia Entrepreneur of the Year, 2024.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — Published the October 2 essay “Schools must be like gyms,” advocating supervised learning and stronger foundational skills in an age of AI.
- **2026-06** — Discussed AI, critical thinking and creating useful products in an El Colombiano interview published June 27.
- **2025-11** — Told DPL News that Mexico was Platzi’s strongest investment priority and described the shift toward corporate and government education.

## Links

- Website: https://www.freddyvega.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnfreddyvega/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/freddier
- GitHub: https://github.com/freddier
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@platzi
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freddiervega/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/freddyvega

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/freddy-vega
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-25