Freeing Up to Build

UTEC Ventures now has new programs and a regional approach to building startups and the Latin America startup community.  Diverse investors, local funds, Peruvian investors, and the government are now funding the effort and startups, on top of investment grants from the government, which allows participating startups in the accelerator programs to receive equity-free financing.  With a broad mandate to build Peruvian startups, UTEC Ventures works with pre-revenue, mostly software-based startups in different markets, including fintech, foodtech, agritech, edtech, and more.

An accelerator is a small startup ecosystem.  UTEC Ventures has grown its impact beyond acceleration, creating a new angel network in Lima, Peru, and also working to grow the local, national, and international startup community for Latin America founders.  One out-of-the-box method UTEC Ventures used to connect internationally was creating the Peru Ventures Capital Series for which attendance grew each of the first 3 years to 1000 attendees total by the end of year 3.  In Latin America, UTEC Ventures is well-networked with the other top programs, including 500 Startups Mexico, Start-Up Chile, and RockStart in Columbia.

University Focus Still Fundamental

As part of a university, UTEC Ventures takes responsibility for building the on-campus startup community. Students are supported because they believe in the possibility of tomorrow and that anything can be cultivated.  Researchers and professors are helpful to the student ventures in building capacity and scaling basic technologies to commercial technologies that students can commercialize.  Matching researchers and professors to the students helps manage the risk orientation of all parties of the university startup community.

Measuring Success is a Short, Mid, and Long-Term Process

UTEC Ventures believes that success is measured best by founder satisfaction. That’s one reason that Net Promoter Score is one of the key metrics used.  Since starting, UTEC Ventures reached an NPS of over 90% from participating founders post-program.  Almost every founder recommends UTEC Ventures to others.  In the long run, UTEC Ventures will seek to measure network growth and strength, as well as trailing measures of startup success.  In the interim, UTEC plans to follow leading indicators of startup success, such as investment, sales, valuation, and employment — especially new job opportunities in Latin America created by their new tech companies.

From UTEC to MIT: Thinking Bigger than an Accelerator

When UTEC Ventures created the Peru Venture Capital Conference, it set in motion even more investment in Peru.  Techstars is coming to Peru along with big investors like Softbank and even multinational corporate innovators.  By raising the bar for the community, UTEC Ventures raised the bar for founders and their startups, motivating them to create great things while learning from the top minds in the world.  These expectations are paying off, as evidenced by the fact that a UTEC startup was selected by MIT as one of the top four inclusive innovation companies in the world.

A team from a small town in Peru came to UTEC, found much-needed support, learned from top minds via the Capital Conference, and took that experience to win recognition from an international contest organized by MIT.  This story highlights the power of the approach at UTEC and shows how acceleration can lead to bigger opportunities.  UTEC Ventures is always experimenting, leading, and thinking beyond the accelerator. The organization is now serving in leadership at the Peruvian Seed Capital and Venture Capital Association, supporting government initiatives for economic development, building a program for female founders, and opening programs for all types of businesses during the Pandemic.

Going Big in Tough Times

The pandemic created tough times for all, but instead of retreating, UTEC Ventures decided to implement its biggest program ever by helping one hundred startups in one month and doubling its technology startup accelerator to include 19 startups.  By switching from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset, UTEC helped the regional ecosystem in a big way during a down time.

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