Learn all about the history of Hotmart, one of the largest online course platforms in the world

April is Hotmart’s anniversary. In 2020, we are celebrating our 9th anniversary as one of the largest companies in the world in our segment, with millions of people doing what they love.

The platform began as a startup in 2011 and brought an innovative solution to a market that was still pretty unknown at the time: creating and selling digital products.

The union of two friends and a passion for entrepreneurship were the starting point for the creation of what is now one of the largest distance teaching platforms in the world, which has over 800 people (the Troopers) working tirelessly every day. 

A company that is proud of its Brazilian roots, but that isn’t afraid to go out and take over the world. Having recently joined forces with Teachable, Hotmart is ready to tackle one of the most competitive markets in the world.

Hotmart goes beyond the tools and solutions it offers, the company grows every day based on its pillars and mantras.

This article wasn’t written only to celebrate Hotmart’s 9th anniversary, but also to show why these years have been a great source of pride for all of those who are part of our universe. 

So, keep reading to learn more about Hotmart!

What is Hotmart?

Hotmart is the largest DE platform in Latin America. Hotmart is headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and has offices around the world, including in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.  The Platform offers complete solutions for Producers, Affiliates and Students. It has over 150 thousand products registered, 7 million students and has made sales in 188 countries.

Our major mission is to help more people make a living by doing what they love and sharing their knowledge.

We do this by offering tools and solutions that contribute to the hosting and distribution of digital products, so that anyone can create and build their own online business.

In short, Hotmart works in the following manner:

1. An individual (Producer) uses their knowledge in a given field, which can be their work or hobby, and creates a digital product to share what they know with the world.
2. Producers rely on several tools to promote their product online and can receive the help of third parties to do so, which are called Affiliates.
3. Students have an exclusive Members Area to access their courses from anywhere and at any time.

Any company or individual, over the age of 18, can sign up and start their digital business, by either creating their own digital product or affiliating with other Producers’ products.

How did it all start?

Officially, Hotmart was launched in 2011 by João Pedro Resende (aka JP) and Mateus Bicalho, who met in college and worked together at MobWorks, a company created in 2004 to develop cell phone apps. 

As you can imagine, moving this idea forward wasn’t easy at the time. But mistakes help build successful journeys.

In 2006, after MobWorks ended its activities, JP and Mateus went their separate ways. 

The idea for a platform to sell digital products came in 2007, when JP created an ebook about paid traffic, but couldn’t find a channel or tool to help him bring this material to potential buyers.

So, if such a channel didn’t exist, why not create one? Once again, the friends came together in 2010, and started programming the Hotmart platform. 

In February of 2011, the company had profited about USD 100.00, enough for both of them to see potential in the business and to dedicate full-time to Hotmart.

From Belo Horizonte to the world!

With the growth in demand for digital products, Hotmart started conquering the Brazilian market. Naturally, the same demand existed abroad and they started to expand to other countries.

This expansion led Hotmart to move its headquarters to the Netherlands and open offices in Colombia, Spain, the United States, and Mexico.

Our pillars

If there is one thing that is taken very seriously in the company, it is our mantras and pillars, which drive our culture every day. 

The pillars help in stimulating creativity, delivering the necessary solutions for the market’s growth and attracting talents that help in our growth. They also emphasize that we can be whoever we want within the company.

Our three pillars are:

Autonomy

Autonomy means that each person who is part of the company has the power to make decisions on how to carry out their work, solve problems and put new ideas into practice, focused on delivering the best possible results.

This doesn’t mean working and having to do everything alone; after all, there is strength in teamwork!

Freedom

Freedom within Hotmart means that our Troopers can choose how to organize their workplace, flexible hours, where meetings are held, where they study, where they take their breaks and how they want to work.

Freedom also means that these choices must be made responsibly; after all, “with great power comes great responsibility.”

Love

Our Love pillar emphasizes not only caring about the company, but also everyone around us, whether it’s our coworkers, customers or suppliers.

It means caring about the details, offering a healthy and good-natured environment for our Troopers, knowing that everyone is well and safe, the “good morning family” in the workplace and the opportunity of personal and professional growth.

It’s something that manifests in the most diverse ways within Hotmart; after all, we impact millions of people every day and understand the responsibility that entails.

How can you learn more with us?

Hotmart is also concerned about conveying our knowledge about the digital market. This is how you can learn more with us:

Free resources page

Resources you can download for free with the best strategies for the creation of a product, setting up marketing strategies, calculating sales, metrics and results analysis. It’s ideal for those who are getting started and wish to understand more about how the digital market works.

Become an online entrepreneur

As you can see, Hotmart’s evolution over the last 9 years has been very important for the growth of the digital market. And it  keeps growing even more!

We work hard every day to deliver important solutions so that Producers and Affiliates can flourish, but also so that more people can learn in a quick, effortless manner.

In our history, the most important person is you. So, if you wish to become an entrepreneur or if you are looking for a course in order to learn a new skill, we are here to deliver the solution.

In fact, make sure you also understand how Hotmart works, its main tools and the meaning of Producer and Affiliate.