Startup Hub Caribbean by Facebook and parallel18 wraps up its 1st generation
The closing event for Startup Hub Caribbean, a program by Facebook and Puerto Rican accelerator parallel18, showcased the growth and impact of 10 startups that are helping improve their communities’ access to high-quality education, jobs, and technology.
The Demo Day took place in parallel18’s HQ, in San Juan and was the final phase of a 12-week program where the participating startups received support to scale their businesses and improve their products and services, to better tackle the myriad of fundamental challenges the region faces, as well as scale internationally.
Facebook provided technical support, mentorship, training on the use of the platform’s developers tools, free access to a suite of products and services, and access to dozens of experts within the company. Participants also attended virtual and in-person thematic workshops and mentorship sessions with top-tier experts, investors, and other parallel18 partners.
Startup Hub Caribbean was created with the goal of accelerating innovative Caribbean startups that have a focus on generating value for the region and are working to address some of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, such as gender equality, decent work and economic opportunity, sustainable industry or infrastructure, climate change, and/or peace, justice, and strong institutions.
“This group of Caribbean entrepreneurs is proof that, while each island has unique challenges, there are many that we all share; like those related to the brain drain, economic development, and environmental protection. We are proud of the quality of the work these startups are doing and the commitment they have with their islands and the Caribbean community,” said Sebastian Vidal, executive director of parallel18, a program of the Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust.
“We are proud of supporting Caribbean startups, especially those that are working to transform lives through technology. There’s so much talent in the Caribbean and we are excited to continue our collaboration with parallel18 for future projects,” said Susana Cipriota, head of developer programs for Latin America.
Startup Hub Caribbean Generation 1 companies are:
Jamaica: Queritel, Hacker Hostel
Puerto Rico: Agrobeads, Stageboom y SharpFocusVR
Dominican Republic: Jompeame, EduPass, YoYo, Okus, and TagShelf
