Successful Tech Hubs:
Santiago de Chile
Located in the Southernmost of
South America and with a population of over 6 million people, Santiago de Chile[1] seems
like a remote place in the world. You would never imagine things are happening
there, but they are. Initiated as a program[2]
sponsored by the government to support entrepreneurship, Start Up Chile started
it’s activities in September 2010. Inspired on the book Start-Up Nation[3] the goal
was to import entrepreneurial talent with global connections to Chile. The participants
should bootstrap in the beginning (execute their project with the minimal
financial resources), in exchange for a 40.000 USD seed capital investment, a
one-year VISA, and shared office space.
The Hub is not only orientated to
IT, but to any type of business project. There are 3 applications processes
each year, and in each application process a 100 start-ups are selected (from
around 1000 applicants from all over the world). The candidates would go
through rounds to qualify to participate in the project. The selected start-ups
would travel to Chile to test their concepts, in rounds that were formed by
groups in 6-months periods. The Social impact of the projects was evaluated,
with the idea to spread wealth in the region. The goal is to attract World-Class
early stage entrepreneurs to start their businesses in Chile. Transforming
Chile into the innovation and entrepreneurial hub of Latin America, improving
the approach Chileans have towards entrepreneurship and supporting the creation
of successful stories, attracting entrepreneurs with global mindsets, showing
them that it is possible to bootstrap a business from Chile.
This is done with the support from
the Ministry of Economy, foundations and all the social and capital networks in
Chile. The entrepreneurs are awarded money and connections. When they leave, they
have local friends so Chile stays connected with them. They start doing
business outside Chile, and take the leap in the global markets. Their connections
make connections, who in turn make further connections. This results in Chile
becoming the innovation and entrepreneurial Hub of Latin America.
Chile, however, is not seen as a
final market since it’s not big enough. What they sell is that Chile is a great
platform to start, to test, and to grow from. The political sphere is stable,
all the legal things actually work, the regulations are friendly… If you set
operations in Chile and grow from Chile, it will be easy for you to grow in the
rest of Latin America or abroad.
The program has had fantastic
success. Start-Ups from 60 nations have applied for the latest round of grants.
Even if the entrepreneurs continue their businesses abroad, jobs are created in
Chile as well. The foreigners are expected to share their know-how by coaching
local entrepreneurs and speaking at events. The success of the ecosystem has
spread enthusiasm for entrepreneurship as well as in the business world. Two
University Incubators (IncubaUC and Chrysalis for the Catholic University of
Chile) have positioned themselves amongst the top 25 in the world.[4]
But the best news is that this is
not the end, but only the beginning. After 5 years of success and having
flattened out, a follow-fund has been launched called “Start-Up Chile SCALE”.[5] As for
all countries in the Latin-American region, it is difficult to secure Venture
Capitalist Funds. Through this fund Start-Up Chile will now offer USD 100.000
in a co-financed grant. This comes to show that, when results are on the table,
money is never an issue. The model has been so successful that it is now being
emulated by Start-Up Brazil. The case of Start Up Chile is a fantastic example
of SUCCESS from the Southern Hemisphere.
Cristian Bøhnsdalen
CMO/CFO and Co-Founder @ITRevolusjonen
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