Techstars and JP Morgan will provide financing to Latino entrepreneurs in the United States This initiative seeks to invest in more than 400 startups in nine cities in the country, among which Miami stands out, one of those that in recent years has become a bridge between Latino entrepreneurs and the US market.
By Julián Tabares Edited by Eduardo Scheffler Zawadzki
This article was translated from our Spanish edition.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Global accelerator and investment company Techstars announced a new program promoted by leading global financial services firm JP Morgan that will invest more than $80 million and support diverse and underrepresented entrepreneurs in the United States, including Latinos. .
Despite the fact that financing for Latino entrepreneurs in the United States increased from USD 1.7 billion in 2017 to USD 6.8 billion in 2021, it still represents only 2% of the total investment of risk capital in the North American country, according to Crunchbase data.
The initiative seeks to invest in more than 400 startups in nine cities in the country, among which Miami stands out, one of those that in recent years has become a bridge between Latino entrepreneurs and the US market.
WHAT TECHSTARS LOOKS FOR IN LATIN ENTREPRENEURS
The Techstars Miami Powered by JP Morgan seeks startups at any stage and vertical whose primary customer base is in the Americas, from Canada to Argentina, regardless of where their founders live.
With investments in more than 2,900 companies that have a combined market capitalization of approximately $159 billion, Techstars has supported both late-stage startups with millions of dollars in annual revenue and funding, and early-stage startups that they validate the problem without any product on the market.
But what Techstars is ultimately looking for are founders who understand their customers and want to grow their startups faster, as Andrés Barreto, Managing Director of Techstars Miami Powered by JP Morgan explains: "Having a deep understanding of customer pain and an extraordinary ability to execute quickly are the criteria that weigh the most when evaluating the quality of a team. Founders obsessed with their customers' pain are more likely to find it and solve it."
WHAT ENTREPRENEURS CAN FIND IN THE PROGRAM
Techstars Miami will focus on helping founders find Product Market Fit faster, tailoring the program to the most immediate obstacles entrepreneurs encounter to that end.
In addition, the accelerator seeks to help entrepreneurs in three well-defined areas: an efficient fundraising process to close financing rounds in less time; training on hiring and closing the best engineering talent in the Americas; and addressing growth issues to achieve or expand product-to-market fit.
In addition, JP Morgan's partnership with Techstars will offer an integrated set of services to select founders that extends beyond the 13-week program.
The program will select 12 startups and will run in a hybrid format with the first and last weeks in person, and the rest of the program in a remote environment.
(Text originally published in SoyEmprendedor ).
