The MIT Technology Review 's annual citation of start-ups "that could revolutionise the world" - of which Mark Zuckerberg was a member in 2007 - recognised three Uruguayans: Alejandro Esperanza(Gurucargo), Lucía Spangenberg(GenLives) and Marcelo Wilkorwsky(Oincs).
Almost 150 innovative candidates under the age of 35 applied for the 2016 edition in Argentina and Uruguay, of which only 10 made it to the list of winners. Their selection was made by an international panel of judges who were experts in the different areas of the projects.
This fifth edition sought to "discover a new generation of talented innovators, researchers and entrepreneurs in areas related to science and technology: biotechnology and medicine, electronic hardware, software, internet, telecommunications, transport, nanotechnology, materials and energy", according to the magazine.
Gurucargo emerged as a way to facilitate and make international trade more transparent. Its founders, Alejandro Esperanza, Andrés Israel, Eric Waizman and Eduardo Di Fabio, noticed that there was a lot of disorganisation in the process of buying and selling logistics services, so they sought to lead an international transformation through technology. They created a platform that allows freight forwarders to bid and compete for better rates. It gives importers and exporters access to them. They launched the product with the support of their angel investor, Martín Naor.
"For the importer it is the only way to know if he is paying the right price for the freight. Today they have no other way to do it. They had to call every broker to ask for rates and rely on that word. Our platform brings all the demand and supply together and makes it transparent," Israel said.
The venture was launched in 2014 and operates in several Latin American countries. Israel said that on their trip to Argentina for the MIT-organised event, they will meet industry leaders and present Gurucargo to funds, investors and press. "The biggest impact will come after the event," he said.
Israel also commented that the MIT distinction accelerated their process of opening up to the Argentinean market, which they planned to reach by the end of this year.
GenLives consists of determining susceptibility to diseases (heart disease, Alzheimer's, cancer, among others) by means of a DNA test and a network of experts, providing a diagnosis to undiagnosed patients and analysing the genetic compatibility of parents for their future children.
Spangenberg said the recognition gave them visibility, something they were not yet focusing on. The GenLives venture emerged in early 2015 and was incubated by Biospinn, created by the Pasteur Institute in 2015 to promote biotech ventures.
"I hope that this will help people to get to know us. I hope that the subject of genomic medicine will become more widely known," said the entrepreneur. She added that this is the first recognition she has received and the first event of this kind that she will be attending, so she does not yet know what she will encounter.
The founder of Oincs, Marcelo Wilkorwsky, considers the recognition as a "gift and mime to the effort and dedication, to stop resting to realise a dream.
Oincs is the application that helps citizens to move safely in their cities, through the collective contribution of users of real-time information on traffic, robberies, crimes, with the aim of achieving a better experience of life in the city.
Wilkorwsky said that although this is a very recent development, he is always prepared for such events. "It's a matter of letting the days go by and continuing to enjoy this recognition," he said.
In addition to being honoured by MIT, in a few days Wirkorwsky will go to the Young Leaders of the Americas programme in the United States. He said he will learn about what is happening in the mecca of entrepreneurship and that this will help him incorporate innovations into his product.
Source: The Observer
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