Before February flies, don’t miss P18’s latest updates!

Word has it that January was too long. But it seems like February has come and almost gone in the blink of an eye. During this month we saw the closing of our Gen.8 application period and will see which companies will make it to the next round of judging. After that, it’s all hands are on deck in preparations for the Investor Immersion Week, pitch practices, and, the most awaited event of them all, #P18DemoDay!

With that said, we can’t go on without acknowledging how last month was a challenging one for Puerto Rico. And while we have to keep operating to continue bringing growth opportunities to all of our startups, our thoughts are still with those in need. It is precisely in moments like this that we reassure the need to foster an innovation mentality, which oftentimes is the first-response to hardship. We’ve seen it with companies like #P18Alumni Uva or #P18Startup BoxPower, some of the many startups that have used their products and services to bring aid to the areas that were affected the most.

We can only move forward from here. That’s the direction we’ve taken as during 2020’s first two months positive things have also happened within the P18 community. In January we held our very first P18Ventures Summit. Furthermore, we hosted a group from Harvard Business School and Cornell University, with whom we discussed the program’s results and mission.

In February we kicked off a new season of #MentoredByP18 featuring not only experienced individuals from our pool of mentors, but also our very own team members. Furthermore, amongst all the amazing local initiatives that got to pitch for US $1M at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Investment Connection Pitch Program event in San Juan was parallel18 represented by our Director of Operations, Lucas Arzola.

All of this, as everything we else we do at parallel18, is a joint effort to create a space where underrepresented entrepreneurs get access to a broad network of business connections and tools that allow them to take their companies to the next level and, in turn, give back their communities as well as ours. This year is promising and we hope you stay right here for it with us.

For what it’s left, let’s see what else has happened. See you next month or, perhaps, during Gen.8’s grand pitch event!

Highlights in a nutshell

• Dolmarie Mendez, a co-founder of Gen.2 #P18Alumni Abartys Health, was the face on the fifth annual Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative report’s front page. To learn more about it, click here.
• During the first week of February, we hosted Slack’s Global Head of Digital Marketing, Holly Chen and growth expert Juan Felipe Campos. Two top mentors who got to spend the week with Gen.7 #P18Startups while tackling how to approach growth and its different strategies.

• Our first ever P18Ventures Summit was held last month with the visit of #P18Alumni in our follow-up fund portfolio. The schedule continued with visiting investors Joshua Armah, Angel Saad Gomez, Leonardo Wehe, Antonio Osio, Jacques-Phillippe Piverger, Mercedes Bent, and Jesus Flores Rangel. The group held mentoring and investment evaluation 1-on-1 meetings with the current cohort and P18Ventures alumni.
• This January we were happy to host Hispanics in Philanthropy’s executive group! During the visit, Gen.4 #P18Alumni BrainHi and Gen.7 #P18Startup TAIS had their pitch time.
• Gen.2 #P18Alumni BrandsOf and Gen.7 #P18Startup Abexus joined forces in order to use AI as the medium to study the consumption trends of the Puerto Rican diaspora. Check out the report here.

• Gen.7 #P18Startup BoxPower has been up and fronts the relief efforts after the tremors that shook Puerto Rico and caused a major blackout last month. Their efforts have been featured in The Business Journal. Read the piece here.

YOU’RE ALL SET! 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. (:

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