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42 startups chosen for Parallel18’s 7th int’l cohort

International startup accelerator parallel18 has selected 42 startups for its seventh international cohort that starts Nov. 6th.

The startups are bringing innovative solutions in industries such as education, fintech, biotechnology, SaaS, energy, environment, cleantech, computer software, food technology, advertising, tourism, fitness, e-commerce, agriculture and media.

The selected companies come from 10 different countries of which Puerto Rico leads the group with 14 startups, and eight of them just completed the accelerator’s preparatory program, pre18.

The cohort also includes startups from the United States (7), Chile (4), Peru (3), Argentina (3), Mexico (3), Colombia (3), United Kingdom (2), Dominican Republic (2) and, Ecuador (1).

At least one founder of each company will participate in person during the 20-week business acceleration curriculum that is offered at the offices of P18 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. P18 is one of the 16 key programs of the Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust.

“After a very competitive and rigorous process, I can say I’m very excited for this generation because it marks some firsts for us,” said Parallel18’s Executive Director, Sebastián Vidal.

“Here we’ve seen the direct results of engaging more aggressively with the Caribbean’s entrepreneurial ecosystem through our Startup Hub program in partnership with Facebook. The collaboration has reflected itself on a major participation of the region’s startups in the application process, as it is the first time we feature startups from the Dominican Republic,” he said.

“It’s also the first time ever in the program’s history that we select more than our usual maximum of 40 companies. This generation we will have 42 startups, which include our first Ecuadorian company,” he added. “At the end, it was really hard for the judges to pick only 40 and that’s why we ended up selecting more startups than usual.”

“That can give you an idea of the quality we got in terms of the companies that applied. Now we’re more than eager to kick-off the program so we can get to where we want these companies to go from here and on,” said Vidal, also pointing out the fact that this cohort features more Peruvian companies than they’ve had in former generations.

“With Parallel18 we have been able to delineate and define the strategic areas of the economy in which entrepreneurs want to create companies; the solutions to important needs that have become innovative services and the business ideas that have become successful and growing companies,” said Lucy Crepo, CEO of the Puerto Rico Science, Technology & Research Trust.

“Our mission to serve as facilitators to create new companies every year is served with this program. It’s always a fascinating revelation to meet every new generation that starts at Parallel18,” she said.

A team of international judges evaluated more than 499 applications sent through the YouNoodle platform, in search of the most innovative companies to be part of the program.

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This story was written by our staff based on a press release.
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