Rebranding a Country: Chilecon Valley
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Five years ago, it would have been really difficult to imagine Chile on the global map of entrepreneurial hubs. Chile, a stable country, had a growing economy exporting copper, fruits, wine, seafood, and other produce. Today, Chile is globally known and recognized for its groundbreaking Start-Up Chile program and is becoming known as the Chilecon Valley. How could a country known for exporting natural resources and produce become a growing global hub for entrepreneurship?
In 2010, the globally recognized acceleration program, Start-Up Chile, was created and sponsored by the Chilean government. The program aims to rebrand Chile placing it on the map of global entrepreneurial hubs by inviting entrepreneurs from around the world to apply to its 6-month acceleration program. Experts in startups from Silicon Valley and a Chilean Innovation board select entrepreneurs who receive up to $40,000 of equity-free seed capital and a temporary 1 year visa to develop their business in Santiago, along with access to the most powerful and influential social and capital networks in the country.
During the pilot year, 22 startups from 12 countries took part in the program with the goals of bringing 300 startups to Chile during the first year of the program, and having 1,000 bootstrappers participate in the program by the end of 2014. The first application process of 2011 brought 87 startups to Chile from over 30 countries, after having received 330 applications and, during the second process that took place during July of 2011, over 650 startups applied.
The program has been a huge hit and has succeeded in publicity. In 2014, the program attracted several thousands of applications from all over the world and even more encouraging is the increase in the number of domestic applicants to the program that indicates that there is a higher number of Chileans who aspire to become entrepreneurs.
Through Start-Up Chile, Chile has succeeded to spark a culture of entrepreneurship and innovation and become internationally recognized as a growing global hub for entrepreneurs as mentioned by Forbes, The Economist, Reuters, Business, TechCrunch, and many more. The program has managed to diversify the country’s economy by moving away from its dependence on natural resources whilst tackling youth unemployment by creating job opportunities.
Chile, a true rebrand success story, will be one of the emerging ecosystems at BDL Accelerate 2015. Learn more here.