June is here and so is Gen.8! Find out what else we’ve been up to

April and May were months of reinventing not only the way our program operates, but the way the whole ecosystem works. Thankfully we’re in the hands of bright minds, hustling spirits and innovation-based ideas brought by our team, our startups and the community that surrounds us. That’s how, through it all, we’ve been able to move forward with the changes to our program.

During this time we’ve managed to continue with our usual operations remotely and in preparation for what’s coming now. Furthermore, we were able to wrap up P18Connect’s first Corporation Innovation School and say goodbye to our amazing #P18Alumni from Gen.7.

Furthermore, May marked the beginning of two exciting journeys for parallel18. First, last May 11th we opened applications for pre18! The latter is set to be up for eight weeks thus giving growing ventures time to work on their MVP and be ready for when the program starts in November. You can click here to learn more about the pre-acceleration curriculum.

Second, we kicked off Gen.8! Our first ever fully Puerto Rican batch made of the following companies: Outcome Project, Fitverz, Beauty 911, Raincoat, LabbGo, Barras Jabón Artesanal, Guardian Systems, Homebase, EventRay, STRAIN, The Pop’d Shop, Tasty Smart, and Dealer App Center. And as you’re reading this, the last of this cohort’s initial meetings are being held and the company goals that are to be achieved throughout the program have been outlined by the founders themselves. While, of course, mentor sessions are scheduled and already happening in a virtual manner!

This generation represents many firsts for P18 as it is also the first time we’ve devised a virtually-imparted curriculum. We worked through it with the remaining weeks of our recently wrapped up Gen.7 and it went better than expected. What we’ve realized is that through a digital form we’re able to magnify our reach and bring even more experts from all parts of the world to engage with our startups, which is certainly a big win.

Now with all this catching up, we know it’s going to be a wild ride during the upcoming months, but that’s what we’re here for to continue supporting startups and entrepreneurs through it all. In the meantime, keep up with us as we continue building an innovation-driven community!

The P18 remains working remotely

Our team keeps working hard remotely from home until the local government-issued lockdown instructions are lifted in Puerto Rico and it is safe for us to go back to the office. In the meantime, the whole team will be available for regular office hours and other duties with our alumni through Zoom weekly from Monday to Friday from 9am to 6pm (AST).

If you have any questions, or think you might be able to help the P18 team or our startups during trying times, don’t hesitate to reach out to cobi@parallel18.com.

Highlights in a nutshell

• #P18Founders and siblings Laura Tirado, co-founder of UVA, and Francisco Tirado, cof-ounder of PRoduce!, are betting on the local producers and farmers, as well as in one locally developed delivery app to transform the island’s import-dependent reality. Both #P18Startups have been making headlines for their contribution to food delivery and local products visibility during COVID-19. Forbes magazine has been the latest to highlight their work. Read the article here.
• Puerto Rican companies interested in strengthening their product to reach the market or increase their sales may apply to our pre-accelerator program, pre18, up until July 6th! If you or anyone you know is interested, you can start filling out the application form here.
• Retail tech Gen.1 #P18Alumnus Sales Layer, dedicated to the management of catalogs for electronic sales, has closed a EUR $3.5M investment round. Find out the details here!
• Gen.4 Argentinian #P18Alumnus Woocar has received investment from Globant Ventures, a tech-startup focused accelerator. Moreover, they’ve been included in Telefónica’s B2B sales channel, one of the world’s largest integrated telecommunications enterprises.
• Gen.7 #P18Alumnus LiciMatic has used its technology to launch Grants World! An app that compiles a list of funding opportunities, loans and grants for startups, SMBs, and entrepreneurs. Access it here.
• Gen.7 #P18Alumnus Silabuz has reached more than 4,000 students since the COVID-19 lockdown began on a worldwide skin. Users have joined the platform coming from more than ten different countries. Plus, the startup has officially launched in ten schools in Puerto Rico!
• Gen.7 #P18Alumnus Abaxto is inviting SMB and startups to join network, Kolmado, the largest digital business directory in Latin America for free! For a company to be part of it, they should just fill this form.
• Gen.2 #P18Alumnus investment firm Quiena announced that it began working on an investment of US $2M to add new talent to the company. Meanwhile, they’re launching local investment and cash management products to complement their current global investments offer.
• Gen.1 #P18Alumnus Alias Payments has provided their technology for Puma Energy’s customers to be able to order and pick up products from their gas station’s convenience stores through. Clients can do so through Puma’s FastPay app!

YOU’RE ALL SET! A lot has been happening, 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. PS: Don’t miss brand new episodes of #MentoredByP18 now on our Instagram Live in Spanish.

We’ll see you soon. Stay safe! :)