Hailing from 25 nations, this fourth generation is the first group of startups selected for 2012
SANTIAGO, Chile – May 25th, 2012 After receiving over 656 applications from 53 different countries during the fourth application period that ended on April 3rd, Start-Up Chile announces that 100 startup companies have been selected to be part of the world-recognized acceleration program’s fourth generation.
With arrival dates in either June or July of 2012, the 100 chosen startups (216 entrepreneurs) call more than 25 different countries home and represent a myriad of industries as well as many of the world’s most prestigious educational institutions including Harvard, Duke, Berkeley, and Stanford Universities, as well as the MIT and the London School of Economics, among many others.
The most frequently represented countries are: USA, Chile, Argentina, the United Kingdom, India, Spain, Canada and Uruguay. We are happy to have entrepreneurs coming from countries as diverse as China, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Venezuela.
E-commerce is the most strongly identified industry (20% of the selected), which is then followed by IT & Enterprise Software (16%), Social Media & Social Networks (13%) and Healthcare & Biotechnology (9%). Remaining categories include Education, Energy & Clean Tech, Finance, Media, Mobile & Wireless, Natural Resources, Social Enterprise and Tourism.
Horacio Melo, Start-Up Chile’s Executive Director, says “I can´t wait to meet those behind the 100 projects we just selected. After a year and a half since the program was set up, Start-Up Chile´s impact has grown immensely. The biggest benefit for those coming isn´t the 40k benefits anymore, but the connections provided for them.”
About Start-Up Chile
Start-Up Chile is a program created by the Chilean Government that seeks to attract early-phase, high-potential entrepreneurs to bootstrap their startups using Chile as a platform to go global. The program offers its participants a global network in order to achieve this.
During the six months the participants must establish themselves in Chile, for which they receive a 1-year work visa and USD$40k, which will be given under a reimbursement process. The objective, besides developing their startups, is to create and foster networks with the local entrepreneurship ecosystem.
The end goal is to convert Chile into the innovation and entrepreneurship hub of Latin America and it is believed that that goal can be achieved by connecting entrepreneurs, linking them together with dynamic and diverse networks.
The program, unique in the world, is the ideal opportunity for bootstrappers to receive funding without ceding equity while utilizing one of the strongest Latin American economies as their launching/development platform. Start-Up Chile is a revolutionary initiative that’s paved the way for similar programs like Startup America, Britain, and Greece while having been lauded internationally in publications such as Forbes, The Economist, INC. Magazine, and EXAME, among others.
For more information about the Start-Up Chile experience, please visit www.startupchile.org.