Mexican startups: Here are two contests in which you can raise funds

Contxto – Within 10 days, local governments in two parts of Mexico have presented separate programs to harness startup innovation and the chance for you to raise some funds.

First, there’s Jalisco, which launched Startup Building—a contest to help the state’s budding tech enterprises grow—. The announcement was made on January 21.

Little over a week goes by and on January 29, this time in Mexico City, the local government and the Embassy of Finland presented the Reto CDMX (Mexico City Challenge). For this hackathon, judges are looking for startups and projects that contribute to the circular economy and urban mobility.

Jalisco wants to keep its startup momentum

The Mexican state of Jalisco hosts an important cut of the country’s startups. And consequently, the government declared there’s a lot of enthusiasm for these tech-based businesses.

So in order to keep up the mojo, the Secretariat of Innovation, Science and Technology (SICyT) and Guadalajara’s Autonomous University (UAG) launched Startup Building.

Startups interested in participating in this contest must be from one of the following areas: agro-tech, healthtech, or foodtech.

After applying, 30 entrepreneurs will be chosen to receive insights and coaching in their respective fields from Mexican and international experts.

From that batch, 10 finalists will be selected to participate in specialized classes, consulting and networking with investors. In the final pitching event, judges shall choose one winner who will receive a MXN$50,000 prize (about US$2,600).

Wanna learn more? Check out the full call for applications here.

Mexico City launches hackathon

As our dear Lead Editor, Alex, can attest to, traffic in Mexico City continues to be chaotic. And in all parts of the country and Latin America, sustainability is still an issue.

As a result, the Embassy of Finland in Mexico, Business Finland, and various local government bodies have joined forces to launch Reto CDMX.

This hackathon calls for entrepreneurs, startups, or anyone with an innovative project.

Candidates must submit their proposal into one of two categories:

Stimulating the circular economy, especially for controlling the use of plastic.
Urban mobility solutions centered on the use of electric vehicles.

Candidates will participate in networking and receive coaching. Finalists will participate in a hackathon in late April.

Judges shall pick one winner from each of the categories and they will each receive MXN$100,000 (about US$5,300).

You can sign up here and have until April 3 to do so.

Finish them!

Moving along, it is interesting to consider what led Finland into this whole affair. The country has long had a history of innovation-based diplomacy in developing countries—often spearheaded by the country’s expertise in communications, sustainability, and infrastructure.

However, I’d like to think the ambassador was sitting in her neat car, stuck in traffic. She looked around and then up at the smog and said, “someone should do something about this.”

Related articles: Tech and startups in Mexico!

-ML