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Get $40k grant for your startup. Live in Chile for 6 months.

startupchile.org

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Re: Get $40k grant for your startup. Live in Chile for 6 months.

#4

Post by iamelgringo »

I met one of the associate directors of Startup Chile last night at a Hackers & Founders event. These people are amazing. They are trying to revamp their economy by changing the culture, and to do that, they want to import startup culture. So, their government has set aside $100M over the next four years to get 1,000 startups to come to Chile for six months and work.

But even more than that, their vision is much larger. They want the program to become a success, so that other, less developed countries start similar programs. Their goal is to try and convince 10 other governments of developing countries to embark on similar projects.

They are trying to hack their economy. And... it's working.

I was shocked to heard that their applicant pool wasn't that large.

Also, they are willing to take people at the idea stage.

So, if you want to build your startup, and take part in one of the best economic hacks I've heard of in years... apply.

Re: Get $40k grant for your startup. Live in Chile for 6 months.

#5

Post by HistoryInAction »

angusgr wrote: post #2

This seems an exceptionally interesting & exciting idea. Is this the first time something like this has been run institutionally in an emerging economy or developing nation?

Nope. I'm coordinating political advocacy for the Startup Visa here in the US, and one of our volunteers came up with this list of research on international efforts: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Rbs3flXfGSfkVH41L3-oiIJP...

StartupChile is almost certainly the savviest and most effective effort out there, both in results and their marketing of themselves, but there are many other international pushes to promote entrepreneurship.

Re: Get $40k grant for your startup. Live in Chile for 6 months.

#6

Post by andrewcooke »

i live in chile, although i work for us companies. when this was announced i was pretty sceptical, but it does seem to be making a significant difference to the local culture. there is a lot more "buzz" - many more meetings, job offers, companies appearing. there's even a conference being organised - http://www.startechconf.com

Re: Get $40k grant for your startup. Live in Chile for 6 months.

#7

Post by smogzer »

iamelgringo wrote: post #4

I met one of the associate directors of Startup Chile last night at a Hackers & Founders event. These people are amazing. They are trying to revamp their economy by changing the culture, and to do that, they want to import startup culture. So, their government has set aside $100M over the next four years to get 1,000 startups to come to Chile for six months and work. But even more than that, their vision is much larg…

Free lunch ? Or do they want equity ? Can't leave Chile for X years ? Must have headquarters there ?

Re: Get $40k grant for your startup. Live in Chile for 6 months.

#8

Post by robfitz »

mlok wrote: post #3

Related : http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2497037 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2240081 ...and since searchyc is now dead (RIP), there is this : http://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/submissions&q=chi...

SearchYC is dead because there's now a search field at the bottom of every page.

Re: Get $40k grant for your startup. Live in Chile for 6 months.

#9

Post by andrewcooke »

smogzer wrote: post #7
iamelgringo wrote: post #4

I met one of the associate directors of Startup Chile last night at a Hackers & Founders event. These people are amazing. They are trying to revamp their economy by changing the culture, and to do that, they want to import startup culture. So, their government has set aside $100M over the next four years to get 1,000 startups to come to Chile for six months and work. But even more than that, their vision is much larg…

Free lunch ? Or do they want equity ? Can't leave Chile for X years ? Must have headquarters there ?

there's more discussion at http://www.quora.com/Startups-in-Chile/Would-you-develop-you... but in short there aren't that many catches - certainly no equity (i would guess that people here in chile realise 40k really isn't that much in american terms; the payoff is in the numbers and the culture, not taking a stake in your particular business)

[edit: also, getting a visa here is not hard. you don't need to win that grant to come here. i arrived on a tourist visa (3 months, renewable to 6), got a job offer, and within a week of the offer had permission to work. and none of that was illegal. do bring some kind of certificate indicating your level of education, though(!)]

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