For a Uruguayan entrepreneur, landing in Silicon Valley today is a totally different experience from what it might have been ten years ago. So said Martín Alcalá, CEO of Tryolabs, a company that sells artificial intelligence technology and services in that market. He said that towards the end of the first decade of the 2000s, when he first got off the plane looking for growth opportunities, he didn't even know which doors to knock on.
Alcalá was one of the first Uruguayan companies to set up in Silicon Valley and to be accelerated by the 500 Startups programme.
Today there are several Uruguayan technology companies that are installed, export their services or have raised capital in Silicon Valley. And the camaraderie between Uruguayans has become one of the tools to achieve the goals of entrepreneurs who see Silicon Valley as an opportunity to take off.
En el mundo ya no se debate la importancia de estrechar los vínculos con la cuna de las tecnológicas de mayor valor como Apple, Google o Facebook. En Uruguay, fortalecer las relaciones con Silicon Valley «es de interés nacional», apuntó Alcalá, quien también es directivo de la Cámara Uruguaya de Tecnologías de la Información (CUTI). Es que, en un país en donde solo está consolidado el apoyo a los emprendimientos en sus etapas iniciales, el vínculo con Silicon Valley es sinónimo de crecimiento.
Para el coordinador del Centro de Innovación y Emprendimientos (CIE) de la Universidad ORT, Enrique Topolansky, desde Silicon Valley «no tienen especial interés por nadie», ya que lo que buscan es talento en el mundo, sin importar del país que provenga: «tenemos que mostrar que somos mejores».
Since the first official mission to Silicon Valley in 2012, ecosystem actors agree that the 10,000 kilometres that separate Uruguay from the technological mecca seem to have been shortened. Not only as a result of the camaraderie between Uruguayans, but also because initiatives at the level of government and public and private institutions are making a difference in this link.
An example of this was the last official mission to Silicon Valley on 22 October, which included a delegation of 60 people, including institutions, entrepreneurs and authorities, led by the Minister of Industry, Energy and Mining, Carolina Cosse.
This outpost was not only the largest ever to that destination, but also generated greater repercussions for having had an agenda in which the interest in meeting certain business objectives was far greater than that of getting to know and visiting some of the places of reference for the technology industry.
«Desde el origen nos propusimos traernos algo. Habíamos armado las reuniones y actividades buscando cosas para el sector y el país», señaló el presidente de la CUTI, Leonardo Loureiro.
«En este caso lo que no hicimos fue turismo tecnológico. Fuimos a buscar cosas específicas», agregó.
For Loureiro, one can no longer go to Silicon Valley just to learn, but to achieve something concrete.
Ambassadors in partnership
En un mismo bus, la ministra Cosse recorrió junto a unos sesenta emprendedores, empresarios, y autoridades algunas de las principales compañías tecnológicas del mundo que tienen su sede en Silicon Valley. La colaboración, pese a que entre las que viajaron había empresas del mismo rubro, fue un ingrediente clave en la planificación de la agenda. A Facebook, por ejemplo, consiguieron entrar a través de un uruguayo que trabaja en la empresa. «No hay duda de que nuestros principales embajadores son nuestros propios conciudadanos», dijo Loureiro.
Durante el viaje, uno de los emprendedores de la delegación aprovechó para reunirse con distintas aceleradoras y, al volver de cada reunión, tenía 59 consejeros y motivadores. «Nos traía sus cuentos de las reuniones y todo el mundo le daba para adelante, le tiraba ideas. En la siguiente reunión aplicaba lo analizado», contó un integrante de la delegación.
Ese compañerismo es algo que se da naturalmente entre los uruguayos en Silicon Valley. Una de las fundadoras de GPSGay, Magdalena Rodríguez, contó que entre uruguayos se ayudan en todo sentido, ya sea para recomendar un abogado o dar consejos para ahorrar. «De lo que menos podés tener miedo en este mercado es de la competencia», dijo Rodríguez.
Moreover, the Ingenio incubator managed to sign a cooperation agreement with the Plug & Play accelerator with the help of Uruguayan Yael Oppenheimer, and it was through this link that the startup Glamst was able to benefit from its acceleration programme in 2014.
Strengthening the network
One of the achievements most highlighted by the ecosystem actors and those who participated in the mission was the agreement reached with the telecommunications company Cisco. The agreement will allow UTU students to access Networking Academy courses, an IT skills development programme for educational institutions. In addition, contact was strengthened with the organisation Puente Labs - which seeks to build bridges between Latin America and Silicon Valley - with the aim of reaching an agreement from which several of the Uruguayan startups that are trying to work for the United States can benefit, and Minister Cosse, among other things, met with Tesla to analyse the possibilities of bringing the company to Uruguay.
Para Alcalá, los resultados de la misión «superaron ampliamente las expectativas». Por su parte, Loureiro añadió que se planea realizar este tipo de misiones anualmente, con el objetivo de que el vínculo con Silicon Valley sea «real y concreto».
«Hemos generado toda una relación del ecosistema uruguayo con el de Silicon Valley. Lo que estamos tratando es que esa red sea mucho más densa», subrayó.
Otro de los integrantes de la comitiva, el presidente del LATU, Fernando Fontán, apuntó que el viaje sirvió para conocer de primera mano cómo funciona la vinculación entre emprendedores y el entramado económico que favorece al emprendedurismo, es decir, las empresas que conectan con ellos y que, según el funcionario, tienen «una lógica de innovación abierta». Para Fontán, a su vez, ayudó a validar la línea de trabajo que se han pautado y a entender el imperativo de incorporar el concepto de disrupción digital en todos los sectores. «Estamos en un muy buen momento para reflexionar sobre estar cosas y la misión fue un excelente insumo para esa reflexión», puntualizó.
Other initiatives
For the first time, the Silicon Valley acceleration model came to Uruguay through the National Research and Innovation Agency, ANDE, LATU and Uruguay XXI. For six weeks and ending last Monday 27th, the 500 Startups programme based in Silicon Valley intensively accelerated 21 Uruguayan startups, also being the first time that so many local startups were able to connect simultaneously with experts from this innovation factory.
Bringing an accelerator programme like 500 Startups to Uruguay was an idea that the National Agency for Research and Innovation (ANII) had had for some years.
«Las startups uruguayas necesitan, por un lado, redes y networking, y por otro lado habilidades para entrar al mercado global», señaló el presidente de ANII, Fernando Brum. Fue así que buscaron aceleradoras en Silicon Valley que pudieran cumplir ese rol, contactaron a tres y recibieron una respuesta positiva por parte de 500 Startups.
The programme operates in several parts of the world. However, Uruguay was the first Latin American country to receive it. According to Brum, the programme has several aspects. It not only favours the selected companies, but also serves as training for the entire ecosystem, as there were instances to bring together other startups and local investors. The results and impact of the programme will now be evaluated and it will be decided whether it is possible to replicate the experience.
The director of Ingenio, Rafael García, said that the programme could be considered for continuity in the coming years or, ideally, for permanent installation.
For his part, the CEO of Sinergia, Martín Larre, commented that they constantly try to maintain a link with Silicon Valley. He said that they work with the same methodologies as those used in Silicon Valley and that, in addition, they are planning for the first time a trip with the incubatees for the second half of 2018, for which they are already working together with a travel agency.
Can Maldonado be the Silicon Valley of South America?
Maldonado has the characteristics to be the Silicon Valley of South America," said the secretary general of the Maldonado Municipality, Diego Echeverría, in an interview with FM Gente radio station. The official, who was part of the trade mission to Silicon Valley, explained to Café & Negocios that Maldonado has geographical, human - with the youngest population in the country -, academic and economic characteristics that make it friendly to generate an entrepreneurial ecosystem of technological relevance. "There are foreign residents and Uruguayans who work abroad, we have very good connectivity and great entrepreneurs from the world of technology who live here most of the year," he said. He added that there is a "very favourable" university ecosystem and that entrepreneurship and training in technological careers are encouraged: "We have a fundamental factor for this, which is human resources".
He said that the profile of people working in these types of companies seeks the tranquillity, security and urban conditions of Maldonado, with a large number of empty properties all year round. "The actors with whom we have exchanged opinions are convinced that we have the characteristics to be a friendly ecosystem for technology companies. We believe it has to be part of a state policy. This is the first step to start consolidating this concept," he added.
But there are those who believe that the conditions are not in place for either Punta del Este or Uruguay to replicate a Silicon Valley. This is the case of the director of ORT's CIE, Enrique Topolansky, who said that while "it is nice to pursue utopias", it is necessary to do a lot of homework to make it happen. "Homework in everything that has to do with generating research capacities, links with industry, development of artificial intelligence, all issues that have to do with regulations. This means that Uruguay is a long way from having a Silicon Valley," he said. He said that, in any case, Montevideo would be the place, as it is where they have been working for a long time. The director of Ingenio, Rafael García, agreed with Topolansky: "Replicating Silicon Valley in any place that is not Silicon Valley seems a bit adventurous to me. There are some ideas that you can copy, others that you can adapt and others that will never be the same.
The CEO of Sinergia, Martín Larre, pointed out that Uruguay has the potential to generate a globally relevant technological pole, but that it cannot be replicated, but rather adapted.
For ANII president Fernando Brum, this is because Silicon Valley has a history and process behind it that makes it unrepeatable. "To say "let's repeat this" is not a good idea. There are horrible experiences in that sense," he added.
Source: The Observer
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