Pre18 announces 6th generation of pre-acceleration program
Parallel18, an entrepreneurship program of the Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust, announced the selection of 26 companies for its pre18 pre-acceleration program, which starts in mid-January.
Participants will receive a $25,000 grant, business training and mentoring for 12 weeks to boost their market entry, the nonprofit stated.
The companies represent various industries, including artificial intelligence, consumer goods, foodtech, online auctions, agrotech logistics and supply, health, e-commerce, education, real estate, human resources, business automation and legaltech, among others.
The sixth cohort included: 2040, Abogii, Agro Lab PR, AlphieSoft, Balanceada, Boribids, Homemash, Hospital Administration, IncentivesPRO, Intelicargo, La Quinta Nube, Lavanda Holistic Clinic, Let’s Fuel, Mofongo Jobs, My Cloud Menu PR, Nabori Labs, Navistrak, Next Cycle Foods, Pairon, RentSmart, Terminal 34, Terra Nostra, Tribuna AI, Tugurú, Verte, and WUJU.
Of these, Agro Labs, Balanceada, Intelicargo, Mofongo Jobs, Nabori Labs, Next Cycle Foods, RentSmart, and WUJU recently graduated from Fase1 Intensive, a sister incubation program managed by the Science Trust with Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The startups’ entrepreneurs come from municipalities across Puerto Rico such as Aibonito, Añasco, Barceloneta, Bayamón, Caguas, Carolina, Dorado, Guaynabo, Ponce, San Juan and Toa Baja. Notably, 42% of the companies feature female representation.
Héctor Jirau, executive director of parallel18, expressed enthusiasm about welcoming the companies.
“The educational curriculum they will receive during the 12 weeks of the program will undoubtedly propel them to develop as strong businesses in Puerto Rico,” he said.
“They will be exposed to all the necessary resources to grow and enter the local market, always with the vision of expanding globally,” Jirau added.
During the selection process, an international panel of judges reviewed more than 125 applications, evaluating scalability, traction, innovation and the founder’s commitment to their companies.
To qualify, participants had to meet certain requirements, such as demonstrating the innovativeness of their project, the scalability of their product or service and having a functional “minimum viable product” or prototype, and a market launch plan for the sixth week of the program.
