Very shortly after our experiment for Japan, we got some big news from the opposite side of the globe. We had been selected by Start-Up Chile to be among the first group of participants.
It’s a programme created by the Chilean government, to attract early stage, high-potential entrepreneurs to bootstrap their startups in Chile, using it as a platform to go global. The goal being to transform the country to be more entrepreneurial and risk-taking and finally become the definitive innovation hub of Latin America. In exchange for our presence there and involvement with local universities, conferences and more, they provided a 1 year visa and relocation help, office space and financial support.
Team @babelverse has now moved to Santiago as a participant in @StartupChile – expect to see a lot more from us in coming weeks & months!
— Babelverse (@babelverse) July 9, 2011
It was a unique opportunity, so early July, we packed what we could in a couple of bags and flew from Athens, Greece to Santiago de Chile!
There’s so much to tell about our awesome time there, that we’ll have to save it for another post. In the meantime, below are a few photos and tweets…
Along the way, we received press coverage and increased our members from all over the continent, for example here on WebPrendedor or here on FayerWayer, and even ended up being named #2 start-up in Latin America in the PulsoStartup ranking!
Great discussion yesterday with Prof @Wadhwa and now with former Intel CEO Craig Barrett. You'd think I am in Silicon Valley, but its Chile!
— Mayel de Borniol (@mayel2b) August 18, 2011
Was interesting to hear Craig Barrett mention how Moore's law become a self-fulfilling prophecy at Intel. Used it as guideline for research.
— Mayel de Borniol (@mayel2b) August 19, 2011
DePe talk on entrepreneurship (@ Campus San Joaquín – Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile w/ 2 others) http://t.co/Rp8NCIms
— Mayel de Borniol (@mayel2b) October 3, 2011
These unprepared talks are becoming a habit! RT @babelverse Just gave a unexpected 5mn presentation at #startechconf – very good reception
— Mayel de Borniol (@mayel2b) November 4, 2011
Internet Exploder comes back to haunt me sometimes, at least now its confined to a tab on a Mac's browser! pic.twitter.com/UsLk27rC
— Mayel de Borniol (@mayel2b) December 6, 2011
Do you know any code hackers/ninjas/monkeys/squirrels (or you're one yourself) in Chile? come to our 48h hackathon! http://t.co/7vshcneG
— Mayel de Borniol (@mayel2b) November 8, 2011
Babelverse team will be sharing some of our many crazy stories at this 1st event by RealStarters http://t.co/PoMHkgwY
— Babelverse (@babelverse) November 21, 2011
Doing another 24 hour marathon to get a cool service into the hands of as many people as possible. Exciting 🙂 http://t.co/mVj2Dpxl
— Mayel de Borniol (@mayel2b) January 24, 2012
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