GEW Ecuador launched events with Startup Weekend Guayaquil, the first Startup Weekend (SW) celebrated in Ecuador. Guayaquil, arguably, is the city where Ecuadorian entrepreneurial spirits reside and it was evident in the level of local participation with over 150 participants and 16 ideas developed. The event was sold out days before, intensifying the entrepreneurial community with great expectations for what to expect for the rest of the week.
Both international and national participation from varied entrepreneurs included main speakers:
● Eduardo Hernández; co-founder of Easy Taxi, a successful app in Latin America,
● María del Carmen "Maca" Lara; founder of Pulso Social, one of the most important blogs about entrepreneurship in Latin America,
● María Eugenia Ramirez; founder of NoviasEc, the first wedding planner website of Ecuador,
● Azael Torres; founder of Camisetas Bakanes and coordinator of Behance Ecuador, and
● Francisco "Pancho" Limongi; founder of BonsaiDev and Studio Football.
Yesterday Ecuador celebrated women in entrepreneurship with a main event in Guayaquil and three smaller events in the cities of: Quito, Manta and Cuenca. The festivities for this day commenced with a panel discussion from four female entrepreneurs of different generations in what was called Female Entrepreneurship in Motion. The four women included:
● Chantal Fontaine; photographer and expert in entrepreneurial mindset,
● Karina Astudillo; technological entrepreneur with a book about ethical hacking,
● Bertha Serrano; children's clothing designer, and
● Rosanna Queirolo; serial entrepreneur (clothes designer, organic products developer, and women products).
As a way of saying goodbye to SW in the country, a final SW will be celebrated in Quito on Friday November 21 through Sunday November 23, 2014 sponsored by the International Development Bank.
But the party hasn’t stopped! Events are expected to last until Sunday Novermber 30, 2014 from various partners: Entrepreneurs Student Association from Politechnical University of Guayaquil (ESPOL), Entrepreneurship Development Center of University of Cuenca, Entrepreneurs Support Center of Politechnical University of Ecuador (UAPE -EPN), Women Entrepreneurs Fair powered by Mujeres 365 and several others.