Goodbye and Hello..
It has been several weeks since I wanted to share an important milestone with you, my trusted network. At the end of 2018, PLUG Cambridge the coworking space I co-founded, was acquired by an international coworking operator named Rent24. The sale was a bitter sweet moment for me. PLUG Cambridge was my first experience as a full time entrepreneur. I had started PLUG Cambridge with a vision of creating a landing space where immigrant entrepreneurs would "plug" to the amazing local tech ecosystem. I was thankful to the team at Plug Brazil and my brother who gave me the opportunity to open a branch of PLUG Brazil in Cambridge and we were off to the races. The learning curve was steep and I have many war stories to prove it! However, after only 3 years of operation, we had organized over 40 events, and hosted over 1,000 members of the global tech ecosystem. This traction would eventually lead to the exit.
Beyond the business side, it was through this experience that I learned the importance of a supportive community.
I also learned of the heavy load and stress being an entrepreneur can put on your family, friends and emotional health. I can never thank my wife, child and family enough. There is no doubt I could not have done this alone. I also wanted to thank the partners, members, friends that helped me directly and indirectly in this journey. Gustavo, Binojh, Santiago, Luis, Peter, Aisha, Peter, D. Batulis, Greg, Lorena and many many more..Thank you. I prepared this short video for you
WHATS NEXT FOR ME...
INNOVATION BRIDGE BOSTON - LATAM
Anybody who knows me for the last several years knows that I have been trying to create an #innovation #bridge between the amazing Boston ecosystem and the world. I've been specifically focused on Latin America and of course #Mexico. I am happy to share that after 2 years of pitching our idea, thanks to @INADEM we raised the funding needed ($250K) to run the first cohort of the innovation bridge program between Mexico and Boston.
Through our company, @AccelHUB, together with @Greg G. & Lilia Y., we'll be supporting the softlanding of 8 high performing mexican startups looking to scale up in the US. To recruit the best startups we'll be partnering with MassChallenge Mexico. This is a dream come true for me!
THE AG TECH FUTURE..
Finally, arising from an invitation from @ANavolatoVoy and @Humberto Ramirez to the state of Sinaloa, I decided to co-found Kestrel Agritech with @Vishal Sunil. Kestrel is building an AI based software that will help identify pests on crops using images captured from low flying drones. We were fortunate to be selected as a top startup by the MassChallenge Boston program and we continue to make progress in securing product market fit and raising a seed round to accelerate our product development. I believe our company can fundamentally change the way we mange pests on farms. #thefutureishere
If you have gotten this far, thank you for reading! Please do let me know if I can help you achieve your goals..and if you want to be involved in the innovation bridge Mex-Bos or solving one of the largest challenges in agriculture, please reach out.
PLUG Cambridge was just the beginning of this journey. Thank you!
Chief of Staff, VP
6 年Exciting news, Oliver! Congrats!
Vice President, SOX Controls Officer
6 年Very cool, thank you for sharing.? Best of luck!
Co-Founder & COO at Alimentos Funcionales | LGI Foods | Nopamex | Nopales | FAO-ICARDA CactusNet Youth Coordinator | Entrepreneur | Nopal Products?? ? Currently Exporting Nopal Powder & Snacks to North America
6 年?Muchas felicidades y mucha suerte en lo que viene para ti!
CEO and Founder at CO4 Investment Group
6 年Muchisimas felicidades Oliver!
Corporativo | Comercial | Cumplimiento Normativo | Legal Project Practitioner
6 年muchos éxitos en tus planes futuros.