PR to host Techstars Americas Community Summit
From left: Manuel Laboy and Puerto Rico Trade and Export Executive Director Ricardo Llerandi.
Puerto Rico will host the Techstars Community Summit 2017 on Oct. 12-15, an event that is expected to bring together some 180 leading entrepreneurs from more than 15 countries across the Americas.
The event will take place at the Foundación Popular, Engine 4 and Pilot 151, Economic Development and Commerce Secretary Manuel Laboy said during a news conference.
“For us, it is very positive that Techstars selected to Puerto Rico to celebrate the Techstars Americas Summit, especially because this type of event reinforces our efforts to promote Puerto Rico as an ideal place to innovate and develop advanced technology to export,” Laboy said.
“It is an additional push for our efforts to continue positioning the island as a hub of innovation and entrepreneurship and develop a technological enterprise culture among the population,” said Laboy, who added the agency he heads will coordinate the event with the Center for Entrepreneurs.
Nerma Albertorio-Barnés, founder of the Center for Entrepreneurs, said the “event comes at the perfect time. Puerto Rico needs to continue believing that it can succeed despite the economic challenges we are facing.”
Event participants include leaders of accelerators and global entrepreneurship communities, as well as business incubators that collaborate with more than 7,500 entrepreneurs and 1,500 mentors each year.
“They will come to Puerto Rico to share experiences and successful initiatives in their respective regions,” Laboy said, adding one of the topics to be discussed will be innovation projects for economic development and the strengthening of communities to continue evolving.
“They will be discussing the latest in this economic sector, which will lead the economy of the future,” he said.
“It will be a great opportunity to explore ways to accelerate the development of startups in Puerto Rico and promote the benefits of incentive laws such as Law 20 for the export of services and 73 for manufacturing, research and development,” Laboy said, noting the laws should appeal to global entrepreneurs and draw them to establish operations in Puerto Rico.
For his part, Aldo Aguirre, regional director for the Americas region for TechStars said the purpose of this effort is to connect the group’s global community with Puerto Rico entrepreneurs.
“It is our interest that the Techstars Americas Summit takes place on this island because among many attributes, is has very talented and innovative people who have the desire to help businesses grow,” Aguirre said.
“In addition, Puerto Rico is the bridge of the Americas with access to international markets. At Techstars we want each of these entrepreneurs to share experiences and learn what Puerto Rico offers to this community,” he added.
