MassChallenge collaborates with Facebook for upcoming Mexico City accelerator

Contxto – T-minus three days until the application cycle for Facebook Accelerator CDMX 2019 ends.

If you’re a startup in Mexico, developing technological innovations, this means that you still have time to apply to this (free) eight-week accelerator. By the end, participants will obtain new tools and mentorship provided by Facebook for some effective scaling.

“Facebook is working hard on building communities that foster entrepreneurship,” said Alejandro Esteban, Project Manager for Startup Success at MassChallenge Mexico. “One of the many purposes of this program is to leverage Facebook’s experience as a social media platform and all of its business products.”

According to a recent email correspondence with Esteban, the event has two objectives. While the first is to assist startups in scaling via Facebook products and mentorship. These range from artificial intelligence to digital marketing tools.

Moreover, Facebook Accelerator CDMX 2019 intends to generate new community collaborations. To achieve this, there will be plenty of Developers Circles, mentoring nights, in addition to meet and greets.

Free acceleration program

MassChallenge (MC) collaborated with social media enterprise Facebook to design this in-depth event. Similar to other programs that we’ve covered at Contxto, the Facebook Accelerator strives to assist startups in elevating their tech products or services to another level.

Much of this will be accomplished by the tools and services that Facebook provides to entrepreneurs. 

To reiterate from past coverage, MC is a soft-landing program from Boston, Massachusetts in the United States. Ever since 2009, it has been working with startups from Israel, Switzerland, as well as Mexico.

Application cycle

If you want to benefit from Facebook Accelerator 2019, you have until October 3. Evaluation and selection will go from September 28 to October 18, with acceptance notifications coming out by October 25.

Between eight and 10 startups will be chosen, according to Esteban.

Soon after, the program will begin on November 8 in Mexico City with the closing ceremony planned for February 5. Just in time for the holidays, startups will have some much-deserved time off between December 14 and January 5, with programming restarting on January 6. 

Benefits 

There’s plenty to look forward to at Facebook Accelerator 2019. Besides biweekly one-on-one mentoring from Facebook, there will also be various workshops to assist groups in measuring, implementing and growing their business models.

Moreover, there will be complementary Facebook tools, tech support, office space provided by MassChallenge Mexico, not to mention KPI (key performance indicator) check-ins. This way, every participant will know if they’re on track to accomplishing their goals throughout the eight-week program. 

Last but not least, startups will partake in the Pitch Day accompanied by potential investors for the grand finale. All the while, they’re going to have unhampered access to a worldwide community of entrepreneurs from Facebook 40 tech hubs.

During this time, Nicolás Araujo Müller will also be the “Entrepreneur in Residence” for Facebook Accelerator 2019. In 2017, Forbes selected the co-founder of Nebulo and Bandit as one of the 30 most influential entrepreneurs. Moreover, he’s also an investor and advisor at Co Builder Hub. 

According to Esteban, the role of the Entrepreneur in Residence is to provide valuable feedback to startups from the perspective of a serial entrepreneur. experienced. More importantly, it is somebody who has founded tech-based startups and familiar with the challenges that companies face in terms of accelerating.

Requisites

Prospective startups need to fulfill a few requirements to be eligible. Right off the bat, it must have a tech-emphasis with products ready to launch, according to the event website. At the same rate, they need to have proven traction with at least US$100,000 in sales or VC funding. 

Other important elements involve B2B or B2SMBs arrangements, an in-house tech team, as well as founders or C-level executives being available for the program’s entirety. Oh, they must also operate in Mexico and intend to incorporate Facebook products in hopes of scaling their businesses.

-JA