The competition, organized by ITBA and MIT Sloan Latin America Office, seeks to promote startups in Latin America and the Caribbean capable of generating impact and develop economic, social, and environmental growth. More than 100.000 US dollars will be given away in prizes for the winning parties.
The Technological Institute of Buenos Aires (ITBA), alongside MIT Sloan Latin America Office, began the third edition of the 100K LATAM contest, which, for the second time in a row, is sponsored by Ternium Argentina.
Divided into three categories, it will award more than 100.000 US dollars in prizes. Registration shall remain open until July 31st and will be available for single people or teams from any Latin American or the Caribbean country to join.
“It is fundamental for Ternium to discuss and spread new ideas. Ideas that bloom in these contests are both surprising and refreshing. This is a moment of total technological revolution, and I congratulate the organizing committee that gives the strength and opportunity for entrepreneurs to participate. I encourage you to present yourselves and disseminate your ideas, taking them to another level of development,” Martín Berardi, Executive President of Ternium Argentina, pointed out.
The contest consists of three categories regarding the maturity of the idea: Pitch, Accelerate, and Launch. A jury of industry´s specialists will evaluate the projects, people related to the entrepreneurial universe as well as academics, who will value the development of innovative entrepreneurship, technological base end/or registered for the economy of the knowledge.
Regarding the timetable, 100K LATAM´s Grand Finale will take place on November 17th,
About the competition, Nicolás Bacqué, General Director of Institutional Development of ITBA, highlighted: “In a context like the one we´re going through, the alliance between MIT and ITBA reflects the commitment of these institutions to motivate and promote entrepreneurship in the region. These projects can impact positively in our society, generating solutions that contribute to different fields and improving the quality of life for the people.”
Ever since last year, besides the prize money, the entrepreneurship that reaches up first place in the Launch category will gain access to MIT´s $100K Entrepreneurship Competition semifinals in Cambridge; additionally, they will be mentored by one of the entrepreneurs. In the 2019 100K LATAM edition, the winner was the Peruvian project Le Qara, moving up to the Grand Finale, lining up with the best eight startups in the world.
Meanwhile, Lee Ullmann, Director of the Latin American Office for MIT Sloan School of Management, explained: “It´s been three years since MIT decided to partake this contest with ITBA. And we think, at this very moment, that 100K LATAM takes on a much more important role. Innovation and entrepreneurship are fundamental to making an impact in the region and the whole wide world.”
Categories
Pitch: The goal is to support ideas or entrepreneurship at an initial phase of development.
1st Prize: USD$5.000
Runner-ups: USD$1.000 (each)
Accelerate: The main goal is to support ideas or entrepreneurship at development or the first sales phase.
1st Prize: USD$20.000
Runner-ups: USD$2.000 (each)
Launch: It seeks to support that entrepreneurship with a larger scale of development.
1st Prize: U$S 55.000
Runner-ups: USD$5.000 (each)