All posts tagged accelerator

  • Bridge from Colombia to Silicon Valley open for 4 years

    Adeo Ressi BogotaIt’s been a couple of weeks since Adeo was in town (Bogotá, Colombia). For me, it was great to have him back in Colombia and for others who had not met him before, it was quite an experience.  Adeo has created a number of companies (most recently, The Funded and the Founder Institute) and brings with him quite a bit of Silicon Valley, which, I believe, is good for founders in Latin America to experience.

    As I have written previously, the Founder Institute has been an excellent vehicle to coalesce the amazingly talented entrepreneurs in Colombia who have already had successes (and failures) as mentors and complement these with international mentors as well as local entrepreneurs.  In a country where much government money is being expended to create new accelerators, I’m proud of the fact that, though it had previously received backing from the city of Medellin (e.g., Ruta N), it continues to run in Bogotá and graduate new founders and companies funded principally by a small course fee paid by each participant.

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  • The New Colombia

    New Colombia

    There’s a post I’ve wanted to write for some time (actually a lot of posts), but the day-to-day hustle has succeeded in keeping me from writing (how’s that for a lame excuse?).  It has to do with what I see happening in a number of Latin American countries (e.g., Brazil, Mexico, etc.), but have direct experience with here in Colombia. Basically, the Colombia I’m experiencing at this moment is quite different from the Colombia of only five years ago.  One of these differences, which is very trivial to some, is the fact that this past Sunday I had a plethora of choices of where to watch the Super Bowl compared to several years ago (that’s how justify attaching such a far out picture to this post).

    I recall the frustration I felt several years ago trying to find a place to watch the Super Bowl (the what?).  Nine out of ten people I would ask had no idea what this was.  Granted, this is quite an ethnocentric view of the world on my part given the comparative popularity of soccer and cricket in the world.  Nonetheless, it speaks to something that I’ve been noticing more and more: this and other countries like it are accelerating their connection to the world.

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  • An “accelerator” for Latin American angel investors

    Latam Incubated OneIf you attend any conference on Latin American startups or startup investing, you indubitably will here someone talk about the lack of local angel investing in early stage startups.  Such an utterance will usually get a lot of heads nodding in acceptance of this problem.  What’s not usual is to encounter new options created to solve this problem, but I’d say that is what SSX, an early stage company stock exchange, which is also part of the Dutch Caribbean Securities Exchange, has done with Latam Incubated One.  This new offering allows potential angels to invest the amount of money they wish (starting at $2) in a liquid vehicle (traded shares) that will provide much more learning than they’d get trying to choose one startup investment for themselves.

    On the learning front, angel investors wishing to get started in startup investing can make one investment in Latam Incubated One and distribute their exposure across several investments.  Latam Incubated One will invest (from $50k on up) alongside some of the top accelerators in Latin America which include Wayra, 500 Startups in Mexico, 21212 in Brazil and NXTP in Argentina.  The investments will be made in startups that graduate from one of these accelerators’ programs.  Additionally, investment decisions will be made by investment committees with regional advisors of which I am one.

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  • Adeo Ressi conversará con emprendedores de Medellín

    Adeo RessiEl martes 9 de abril, Adeo Ressi hablará con emprendedores de Medellin desde Silicon Valley por transmisión remota, evento que se realizará en El Espacio. También contaremos con la presencia y una conferencia por parte de uno de los mentores con mejores calificaciones: Serge Kruppa. Despues de la presentación de Serge, él y Conrad Egusa, otro de los mejores calificados mentores de Founder Institute Medellin, escuchará sus “pitches” de un minuto para proveer su retroalimentación en vivo. Registrese ya para el evento haciendo clic acá.

    El crecimiento del Founder Institute durante los ultimo tres años ha sido abrumador con muchas lecciones aprendidas sobre lo que funciona en mas de 40 ciudades por todo el mundo.  Hace 3 años que llegó el Founder Institute a Colombia y este año será el segundo año que estará operando en la ciudad de Medellín, recientemente nombrada la ciudad mas innovadora del globo.  De nuevo, el instituto se está aliando con Ruta N, el cual recientemente habló sobre sus resultados durante el ultimo año incluyendo el impacto de los graduados del Founder Institute.

    Por el crecimiento del Institute y el trabajo que esto implica, es claro que esto ha limitado mas las posibilidades para contar con la presencia (remota o fisica) de Adeo.  Sin embargo, desde que vino a Colombia hace dos años se ha enamorado del país (también cambió su dominio de founderinstitute.com a fi.CO).  Tiene especial interes en Medellín y por esto es importante aprovechar esta oportunidad para escuchar y conversar con él.  Traigan sus preguntas mas dificiles para este reconocido experto en temas de emprendimiento.  Registrase para el evento haciendo clic acá. Aproveche también las pocas semanas que quedan para aplicar a Founder Institute Medellin 2013 sin costo haciendo clic acá.