P18 international acceleration program extends call for Gen. 11
Parallel18, a Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust program, announced the extension of the application round for its international acceleration program, P18, for four more days.
The organization will be accepting applications for its 11th cohort until April 30. Gen. 11 participants will receive $60,000 in funding, and the cohort will consist of up to 25 innovative startups.
On this occasion, the startups will receive $60,000 in funding, which will be split into two parts. The first part will be a $40,000 equity-free grant, and the second part will be a $20,000 investment through a simple agreement for future equity.
During the 20-week program, the selected companies will receive mentoring and growth monitoring. They will also have access to the entire Parallel18 community, which includes program alumni, a vast network of mentors, investors, corporate and business partners, and contacts who work closely with entrepreneurs to address all key aspects of their business needs.
“After working on a special edition of our last generation of entrepreneurs, in which we accepted 10 companies and gave a much larger grant, this year we have decided to offer the opportunity once again to a broader number of innovative startups to be part of our program,” said Héctor Jirau, Parallel18’s executive director.
“This is why we decided to increase the regular funding amount we offer by 50% and make it available to more startups. The world economy continues to change and it’s our responsibility to adjust to these dynamic environments and provide a program that not only supports founders with high-quality business education, but also gives them an economic boost so that they can achieve their goals and be able to grow and scale in other markets,” Jirau said.
The P18 requirements stipulate that companies must be innovative, have three years or less in operations, have generated sales or have a product in the market, “demonstrate traction and growth,” and be a scalable business capable of adapting to other markets.
It is also required that at least two funders should be able to work full time for the company during the program and that the founders be physically in Puerto Rico. Lastly, entrepreneurs must present a plan on how they will take advantage of the entrepreneurial system in Puerto Rico to scale their business.
Since its launch in December 2015, the program has received more than 4,500 applications from more than 60 countries and 256 companies have completed the acceleration program.
