May update: this is what we were up to during April :)

May finally arrived and so the final countdown for Gen.6 starts! This is when the most exciting part of the program happens, meaning #P18DemoDay is just around the corner and pitch practices will be the word of the day at the P18 office. All of this as the startups get ready for their all-star moment!

This cohort’s Demo Day will take place on May 24th in the Metro Theater just across the street from the parallel18’s headquarters. So don’t forget to SAVE THE DATE! However… before we get to that, let’s catch up on the latest highlights, we were all busy bees last month. Keep reading to find out why!

First off, we’re happy to announce pre18, our pre-acceleration program, wrapped up a successful opening call for its Gen.2 last April 15th! The initiative, exclusive for Puerto Rican startups or Puerto Ricans in the diaspora, closed its application process with strong numbers. Now we’re right in the middle of the selection process where up to 40 companies will be selected for a 12-week program run that starts this July! Last year, after 40 companies completed the pre-acceleration process, 19 of them went on to join Generations 5 and 6. We’re eager to see what this year has in store for the second generation.

And as if running one opening call wasn’t thrilling enough, Startup Hub Caribbean: Tech for Impact was also launched with applications closing on April 22nd. So what is this about? Facebook and parallel18 have united their superpowers to work on the program that will support up to 10 technology startups that have outsized social impact potential and are focused on improving the lives of communities across the Caribbean.

Facebook will provide technical support, mentorship, training on the use of their platform’s products and tools, free access to a suite of products and services, and access to dozens of experts within the company. Meanwhile, parallel18 will provide support from our network of mentors, a space for operations during the term, thematic workshops, access to top-tier experts, investors, and other perks.

Keep up with us so you don’t miss what will be going down with such important projects for the Caribbean’s innovation and startup ecosystem, which is growing fast and strong! We’re here all for it and we’ll keep on accepting the challenge of helping a generation of driven entrepreneurs set on making it and standing out in the global scene.

But WAIT, there’s more! Recently #P18Startups stood out at eMerge Americas 2019 as eleven alumni took over the event where US and LATAM’s wide ecosystems come together as collaborative markets. DataWifi, Unicorn Games, Yu-Track, Dokimi, CINCO, Explority, SoyMacho, Go Panza, Vozy and Nineteenth Amendment each had their booth as part of the Startup Showcase. While Gen.3’s company Yaydoo was selected for the Pitch Competition.

Furthermore, some of the companies met with a series of key player organizations from Miami’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, like Ironhack, Miami Beacon Council, The LAB Miami Ventures, Venture Cafe and more. In conclusion, these companies presence in Miami was a success as well as a step forward towards making it to the global scene and we couldn’t be happier. Great job, guys!

And to get a little in tune with the present, last week Abartys Health won the pitch competition — and a US $100K investment — at the Rise of The Rest (ROTR) tour in San Juan, featuring AOL’s founder, Steve Case, along with Chef José Andres. We’re beyond proud of our Gen.2 #P18Startup!

The competition was held for the local startups, where #P18Alumni AgroBeads, BrainHi, BUREA, CINCO and PRoduce! were among five of the eight finalists. What can we say? We’re beyond proud of our companies for standing out and demonstrating Puerto Rico is truly the island of innovation.

For what it’s left, let’s see what else have startups been up to. See you next month or, perhaps, during Gen.6’s grand pitch event!

Startup highlights in a nutshell

• Gen.6 #P18Startup Facturedo just raised an investment round of US $500,000. The round was led by Latinia, a software development company for financial institutions, and followed by several angel investors of the region.
• Gen.6 #P18Startup ElegirSeguro just announced their partnership with Munich Re for regional expansion. Munich Re is one of the insurance industry’s most recognized organizations.
• Gen.1 #P18Startup SunneLab’s product, Sunne Heater, grabbed lots of attention from consumers and sales representatives at the Handyman World Trade Show last month. The product was showcased in Maximo Solar Industries booth at the trade show held at the Puerto Rico Convention Center.
• Gen.3 #P18Startup Claimbot was proud to announce that they have been selected for the 6th Edition of the Plug and Play InsurTech summer batch at Silicon Valley.
• If you missed it! The New York Times picked up the story about how local #P18Startups like Isleñas, Libros787, BrainHi, CleanCult and PRoduce! are building a disaster-proof economy for the island.

THAT’S IT! A lot has been happening, as usual, but this is about it, for now! If you’d like to keep up with us, remember to stay tuned to our social media for further updates as the month passes by or subscribe to our monthly Newsletter. We’ll see you soon! Stay awesome, folks. (: