From the first time I heard of these cats (RASU) I have admired their work and vibe they bring to the Chilean entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Now in their 4th year, RASU Fest returns to promote entrepreneurship in Chile with rockstar speakers and message of “If one can, we all can!”
A quick glance at the speaker lineup shows an all-star cast and a lot of familiar names. While I have not had the pleasure to personally meet Roberto Souviron, I can wholeheartedly say all the companies and people behind them, him included, have pioneered and disrupted the Chilean entrepreneurship, startup and tech spaces in their own right. If you are local, it’s definitely worth hearing what they have to say about what’s next for Chile!
The RASU (Reset and Start Up) Fest returns to give everything they have in the name of Chilean entrepreneurship. Their objective is to democratize value creation from Chile and Latin America and, alongside the speakers who will be presenting, RASU hopes to motivate thousands of young Chileans to select digital entrepreneurship as a professional path and a viable, energizing lifestyle.
Through all the events and activities RASU has hosted in the last years, they have personally reached over 5,000 youth and have collaborated with more than 10 local universities to promote under-30 entrepreneurship. This year, 1,000 people are expected to participate in the festival that will take place at the Teatro Nescafé de las Artes in Providencia, Santiago on October 9th, 2013.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCaiehFKTuA[/youtube]
Founded by Iván Vera, the Chilean innovation and entrepreneurship expert who is the Chief Executive of INNSPIRAL and the former Director of the Club de Innovación, RASU Fest “brings together the greatest entrepreneurial minds and generates ‘life changing experiences’ so that the Chilean youth will know that if one can, we all can,” explains Vera.
The following are among the rockstar and renowned speakers who will take Chile by storm while participating in the event:
- Roberto Souviron, founder of Despegar.com; Preparing to entering their 15th year in business, Despegar is the premier online booking platform and online travel agency for Latin America (targeted at the Spanish and Portuguese speaking markets). In addition to reaching Latin America’s major markets they also have a presence in the U.S. and Spain.
- Juan Pablo Cappello, co-founder of Idea.me, well-known investor and lawyer; Idea.me is Latin America’s kickstarter. We have supported their work from their earliest days and highly endorse the great work and creativity that Juan and his co-founder Tiburcio de la Carcova have done to pioneer and grow crowdfunding in Latin America. Tiburcio is also co-founder of the very hip Santiago MakerSpace (awesome spot for creatives and makers)!
- Ariel Arrieta, founder of the business incubator NXTP Labs;
NXTP Labs was one of the early independent incubators in Chile that used a model similar to what is found in the states (which 2 years ago was virtually unheard of in LatAm). While they were founded in Argentina, they launched while I was living in Chile and very much embraced the Chilean startup community, offering one-on-one sessions with local founders and taking their time to put their hands in the market.
- Diego Saez, co-founder of WeHostels; and I met Diego at the annual bar-b-q and pool party of ArchDaily (Chile’s architectural superheroes). Diego is a huge advocate and mentor for startups in South America not to mention – the nicest guy everrr! He is definitely self-made and so humble given the level of success he has achieved to date after growing up in a very small and rural town in South America. He is doing some awesome and innovative stuff in the hospitality space and we sincerely appreciate him always being a fan and supporter of our work.
- Jean Boudeguer, CEO of Cumplo. Jean is a former Startup Chile Executive Director (#2) and CEO of the organization I most would like to see succeed in Chile – Cumplo. It was the first Peer to Peer lending platform in Chile founded by StartUp Chile visionary Nicholas Shea. After many a conversations with Jean during his StartUp Chile days he might be the first to agree that besides teenage entrepreneurs and the will of the Chilean people, few things truly pull my heart strings! However, I was deeply moved after learning about the struggles Cumplo endured during their launch courtesy of the Chilean banking system. It appears they are growing and hoping the Chilean banking system are seeing the value they are bringing to Chile’s growing entrepreneurial ecosystem.
For more information please visit: RASU
