puerto rico startup showcase release

7/30/2019 Puerto Rico Startup Showcase Release

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Puerto Rico Startups toPresent to New York Investorsat Puerto Rico StartupShowcase

The Founder Institute aims to create jobs in Puerto

Rico by matching the capital resources of the NewYork investment community with the ideas andtalents of local entrepreneurs

Today the Founder Institute (http://fi.co), the worldslargest startup accelerator, is announcing the PuertoRico Startup Showcase, an event to be held in NewYork City where Puerto Rico startups can present toNew York technology investors. To be held on October

15, 2013, the showcase will give island startups theopportunity to raise capital from the same firms thathave funded top internet and mobile companies.

Puerto Ricos startups have created a strong senseof community and collaboration, and are receivingmentorsh ip f rom exper ienced techno logyentrepreneurs. The next step is to create relationshipswith technology investors, and we are delighted to

count on the Founder Institutes network to openthose doors, said Marcos Polanco, co-director ofthe Puerto Rico program.

In just four years of existence, the Silicon Valley-based Founder Institute has launched over 800 newtechnology companies across the globe that have

Founder Institute

Puerto Rico

CONTACT

Ramphis Castro

[email protected]

787.223.4851

@jramphis

Marcos Polanco

[email protected]

787.529.5892

@marcospolanco

http://facebook.com/

FounderInstitutePuertoRico
http://fi.co/http://facebook.com/http://facebook.com/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://fi.co/http://fi.co/


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created over 2,250 new jobs and raised over $70million of capital. In its 2012 edition, the Puerto Ricochapter graduated firms including iGenApps,KeynoteStar, Crowdville and Memory Palace. These

companies are already creating jobs, raising capitaland reaching global markets.

Our program teaches entrepreneurs the bestpractices of Silicon Valley innovation, enabling themto avoid rookie mistakes, work frugally, ,and createvalue quicker, said Adeo Ressi, Founder & CEO ofthe Founder Institute. This is a grassroots model oflocal economic development that is sustainable.

According to a study by the Ewing Marion KauffmanFoundation, startups are responsible for all net jobcreation in the U.S. economy. With the FoundersInstitutes part-time structure, aspiring techentrepreneurs in Puerto Rico can test their businessideas, assumptions, and entrepreneurial resolve withthe Institutes experienced founder and CEO mentors,all without quitting their jobs.

Puerto Rico startups are leveraging the billion peopleon social media and the billion smartphone users toreach global markets from their home island. We donot lack talent...we do lack the financial resources tobuild world-class companies, which motivates ourconnection to New York City, which reached 1.67billion in venture capital investments last year, saidRamphis Castro, co-director of the Puerto Ricoprogram.

Interested applicants are invited to take the freePredictive Admission Test at http://fi.co/join/showcasepr. Those who score highly on the test anddemonstrate the DNA of successful entrepreneurs willqualify for evaluation to present at the Puerto Rico

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Startup Showcase as well as enroll in the 2013Summer Semester of the Founder Institute in PuertoRico.

The Final Application Deadline is on Sunday, June2nd, but applying by May 19th provides eligibility forfull program scholarships, including the FemaleFounder Fellowship.

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About the Founder InstituteThe Founder Institute (http://fi.co) is an early-stagestartup accelerator and global launch network thathelps entrepreneurs create meaningful and enduringtechnology companies. Through a part-time fourmonth program, existing and prospective founderscan launch their dream company with expert training,feedback, and support from experienced startupCEOs - while not being required to quit their day job.Our unique Graduate Liquidity Pool also enablesgraduates and mentors to share in the equity upsideof each graduating class, creating local, teamwork-based ecosystems where new businesses canflourish. In just three years of operation, the FounderInstitute has helped launch over 800 companiesacross 42 cities and five continents - making us theworld's largest startup accelerator. Our goal is to"Globalize Silicon Valley" by launching 1,000meaningful and enduring technology companies peryear in over 75 cities worldwide.

About Marcos Polanco

Mr. Polanco is the Founder of offshore services firm

Clearshore; he started his career in Silicon Valley performing

database research at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories that

resulted in the TimesTen technology later acquired by Oracle.

Mr. Polanco went on to various technical & managerial roles at

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Silicon Valley startups before co-founding Imana, Inc. in 1995

to commercialize social search algorithms he co-invented and

patented. Returning to his hometown, he led the

establishment of an undergraduate software laboratory at

Interamerican University in Puerto Rico which released the

open source SNAP Platform for Java developers.

Subsequently, he joined the Government of Puerto Rico as

Founding Director of its information technology investment

promotion division. In that role, Mr. Polanco negotiated the

launch of Microsoft, Honeywell Aerospace, Lockheed Martin,

and HCL Axon technology centers on the island. Returning to

private industry, he has cultivated the startup community as

co-organizer of Startup Weekends, and co-director of the

Founder Institute. As COO of medical device startup iCare

Medical, he played an integral role in opening the UnitedStates, United Kingdom and Puerto Rico markets for the

company. Mr. Polanco holds a bachelor's degree in Computer

Systems Engineering from Stanford University.

About Ramphis Castro

Licensed professional engineer graduated from the Universityof Puerto Rico at Mayaguez Computer Engineering program.He holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Puerto Rico

School of Law and certificates in entrepreneurship and publicpolicy from MIT and the Harvard Kennedy School,respectively. Worked at Microsoft and Rock SolidTechnologies (two time, Microsoft Global Public Sector Partnerof the Year). Founding partner of Mindchemy, enabling most ofthe relevant tech-entrepreneurship programs in Puerto Rico -Startup Weekend, NEXT, Startup Digest, Hack Puerto Rico,TEDxSanJuan, Founder Institute, among others. Hes apioneer in cross-platform native mobile technology andsuccessful technology investor. Mr. Castro is 30.

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puerto rico startup showcase release

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