Earlier this year, Victor and myself returned from a tech week in the US and asked ourselves why there wasn’t an event in Mexico that brought the whole country’s tech community together to celebrate, share, learn and connect?
Mexico's ecosystem has grown so much over the last several years, but we felt that just talking about it outside of Mexico didn't do justice to everything that was happening. The only way to showcase what was going on in the country was to do the event where everything was happening, in Mexico.
And just like that the idea for Mexico Tech Week was born. We put together the initial framework, decided on the perfect week and thought about the launch strategy. Just like any startup the easy part is the idea, execution is the only thing that matters. And the only way to execute is with the best team. Luckily, we started talking to a few others that were basically already working on the same initiative and with the same vision of creating an event where we could get the whole tech ecosystem together.
Victor Noguera, Archie Cochrane, Alex Santana, Kate Kiewel, Itzel Revuelta, Vincent Speranza and I gave many hours every week over the past three months to make sure this inaugural year was the best possible version of itself, given the short time frame we had to pull it together. The team brought so much energy and enthusiasm that it was inevitable that this positivity would be carried into the week itself.
In true Latin style, the Mexican tech community got right behind the initiative by sponsoring, hosting and generally making the whole week possible. Without our partners, none of this would have been possible.
By the numbers:
We had over 130+ event partners supporting the week in some way.
We had over 80 events throughout the week.
Over 3600+ people registered for in person events throughout the week.
Not bad for our first year… roll on next year!
By the community, for the community
One of the most gratifying pieces of feedback we heard time and time again throughout the week from participants was how grass roots the whole event felt. The week had been started by startup’s for startups. The sheer variety of the type of events put on by startups was awesome to see. From sunrise hikes, morning padel competitions to a pottery making session. There was something for everyone, to compliment the more traditional panel discussions and fire side chats.
Official Nascent VC Kickoff
At the same time, we introduced Nascent to the Mexican ecosystem during the week in the only way that makes any Investment Firm truly official.
We hosted a Startup Pitch Event.
The Nascent Pre Seed Startup Pitch Event
We had over 60 founders apply to pitch their companies at our live event hosted in the BBVA tower in Mexico City. An amazing auditorium space provided by our generous hosts BBVA Spark.
Over 265 people registered to watch the 11 finalists pitch live in front of a stellar bench of Judges, that included:
Stefan Moller, Founder of Klar.mx, Regina Zurutuza, Partner at 500 Global, Maria Fernanda, Principal at ALLVP and our own Archie Cochrane, Partner at Nascent. Many thanks to all of them for contributing on the day!
Thank you to all the founders that applied and those who joined us on the day. It was great to meet so many ambitious entrepreneurs who are building impactful projects that they feel will add value to the world.
Not all good news
At the beginning of the week, the disastrous news of the category five hurricane that had just hit Acapulco started to filter through. The team acted quickly to leverage the tech community to drive donations to organisations that are seeking to provide whatever support they can on the ground. Please give what you can via this donation link. We hope to raise a meaningful amount from the community over the coming days.
We can’t wait for Mexico Tech Week 2024!
We hope to have even more companies participate next year, with an even wider representation from the tech community across Mexico and wider Latin America.
Until next time.
Saludos,
Bernardo
If you are interested in learning more about what we are building at Nascent, we would love to connect!
Please reach out to bernardo@nascent.vc