Aruba is having its first ever tech conference, ATECH*, taking place in the capital Oranjestad on August 28th and 29th, 2015. The organizers have confirmed the first 10 special presenters including:
– Angel investor Kelly Hoey, named by Business Insider to be one of the “100 Most Influential Tech Women On Twitter”
– Charles Bonello, co-founder and managing director of New York’s flagship technology accelerator Grand Central Tech
– Nathalie Lussier, digital strategist and founder of AmbitionAlly,
– Oscar Kneppers, founder of Rockstart in Amsterdam, who recently started Rockstart in Singapore.
The conference aims to bring together talented tech entrepreneurs from Europe, North America, Latin America and the Caribbean and is part of a broader mission to develop Aruba as a viable and attractive place to build the world’s top tech companies. Additionally, startups who are selected to pitch at the ATECH* Conference will receive free travel to Aruba for up to two co-founders, free lodging for three nights, and a chance to win US$20,000 for their venture.
We at SiliconCaribe.com love hearing about events that are helping to make the Caribbean Startup Ecosystem even more vibrant. We spoke with the conference founder and CEO of The Liv Group Varelie Croes.
SC: Outside of this conference is there an emerging tech/entrepreneurial community in Aruba or the ABC islands?
VC: The startup ecosystem in Aruba and ABC islands, is an embryonic phase. Colab is the largest and most active community in Aruba. Colab recently opened “workspace”, a flexible co-working office space for local and traveling/regional entrepreneurs, in the district of Dakota (which is in the outskirts of the capital, Oranjestad but moments from the major attractions and the airport) in the hopes of revitalizing the town by attracting young companies and a fresh scene.
Curacao has Startup Curacao that is also growing and recently opened a co-working space for entrepreneurs. Since we launched ATECH* we are witnessing a snowball effect and more and more startups being formed and ideas being developed at Hackathons and through collaborative efforts between creatives and business professionals. This is a unique development for Aruba in particular, an island that historically depends on Tourism as its main economic pillar.
SC: Why did the LIV Group choose Aruba to have their conference what is the rational and connection?
VC: The Liv Group is headquartered in NYC, where I live, but I’m an Aruban native, hence the connection. That being said, the choice for setting up an accelerator in Aruba was a strategic one after closely studying the key startup ecosystems and hubs throughout the US and beyond. Having the conference in Aruba makes sense because Aruba as a (Dutch) country is positioning itself as a strategic hub between South America and Europe and is also very focused on making the island THE main hub in the Caribbean for startups. Further, Aruba has ideal flight connections with some key startups hubs like, Bogota, Amsterdam, New York, Miami and Boston. So it also make sense geographically.
The race to become THE hub for Caribbean Startups just got more heated, with Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados and Dominican Republic has gotten a head start by way of tech/Entrepreneurial community growth, events, Government driven initiatives. Now Aruba is in the mix, we’ll be watching and chronicling the journey as usual, so time will tell all. The ultimate winner we believe will be the Caribbean Tech Entrepreneur.
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