May 7, 2024 – Puerto Rico’s top entrepreneurship organizations and industry leaders will be among the partners supporting founders at GEC+ in San Juan July 15-18, 2024. The event, co-hosted by the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) and the Puerto Rico Convention District Authority (PRCDA), will convene founders and startup champions under the theme of Vision 2035: An Entrepreneurial Future for Latin America + the Caribbean. The event will lay out a new framework, driven by innovative programs and policies, for an economy positioned for exponential growth that aligns with the region’s rich culture and history.
“Puerto Rico is riding a new wave of entrepreneurship with a booming tech scene and a collaborative, accessible ecosystem for founders across industries,” said Jonathan Ortmans, founder and president of GEN. “GEC+ will spotlight the best the region has to offer while bringing Latin American, Caribbean, Latino and Hispanic voices together to collaborate on shared goals and a vision for entrepreneurship that thrives across borders.”
GEC+ comes to Puerto Rico with a 10-year track record of bringing founders at all stages of development and policymakers, investors and support organizations from economies of all sizes together to bring new ideas to life, drive economic growth, and expand human welfare. Most recently, Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC) and GEC+ events were held in Melbourne, Australia and Cape Town, South Africa.
“We welcome the entrepreneurship ecosystem with enthusiasm and great expectations because of the significance this opportunity has for Puerto Rico to build mutually beneficial relationships with entrepreneurs and companies from around the world,” said Mariela Vallines, executive director of the PRCDA, added. “GEC+ opens the doors to great possibilities to showcase our talent and innovation and continue strengthening our socioeconomic development.”
Local partners announced today include:
- Banco Popular, a financial services provider with operations in Puerto Rico, the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America.
- Echar Pa’Lante Multisectoral Alliance, a San Juan-based organization working to design and implement systems to foster entrepreneurship education.
- Invest Puerto Rico, an organization working to elevate Puerto Rico as a world-class business destination.
- Colmena66, a program of the Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust with a mission to help entrepreneurs and merchants in Puerto Rico by providing easy and free access to the resources they need to start or grow their business.
- Parallel18, a program of the Puerto Rico Science, Technology, and Research Trust, a private non-profit organization created with the goal of maximizing Puerto Rico’s participation and creation of jobs in the global knowledge economy.
- Puerto Rico-USA Chamber of Commerce, which promotes and unites Puerto Rico organizations and businesses across the continent.
- Yees!, which fuses educational innovation with world-class tools
to offer founders a unique experience on their path to business success. - The National Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce, dedicated to helping small businesses grow and thrive.
- The Puerto Rico Space Foundation, a non-profit committed to propelling Puerto Rico and the Caribbean into a new era of scientific discovery and technological advancement by leveraging space education and innovation.
Meet all of our partners here. New partners from across the region are added weekly, and more will be announced in the coming weeks.
Interested in helping to shape Vision 2035 and an entrepreneurial future for Latin America, the Caribbean and Latino and Hispanic communities in the United States? Email us at gecplus@genglobal.org for partnership information.
Tickets are on sale at www.gecplus.co/puertorico.