SAN FRANCISCO—San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee announced on Tuesday, September 9 the launch of the LatinSF economic development initiative at Silicon Valley Day in Mexico City in connection to his official trade mission to Latin America.
During his two-day visit in Mexico City, Mayor Lee met with business leaders and government officials promoting SF as the place for new businesses to be. While there, he was able to develop a partnership with Startup Mexico, a government-backed entrepreneurial campus and incubation/acceleration program for Latin American technology firms. That will assist the consistent flow of companies from the region to the SF area.
“LatinSF is an excellent partner for Startup Mexico and we are looking forward to working with them to assist Latin American technology companies to access the amazing opportunities that San Francisco has to offer innovative entrepreneurs,” said Startup Mexico Director Marcus Dantus.
According to a press release from the Mayor’s website, LatinSF is an economic development program to promote business and trade between SF and Latin America by bringing Latin American companies to the SF region and helping SF businesses branch out to the Latin American markets.
The LatinSF initiative was developed through as a public-private partnership between the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workshop Development (OEWD) and the San Francisco Center for Economic Development (SFCED).
“We can never take our economic recovery and expansion for granted and LatinSF is another way in which we are diversifying our economy, attracting new companies and jobs to our City and creating opportunities for San Francisco-based businesses around the world,” said Mayor Lee. “San Francisco has much to offer companies from Latin America, including a highly educated workforce, access to the largest venture capital community in the United States, and international connectivity to China, Asia and beyond. With the launch of LatinSF and the continued success of ChinaSF, San Francisco has secured its reputation as a global gateway.”
LatinSF will highlight the City of San Francisco as the place for Latin America start-ups to tackle U.S. and global markets, with opportunities in technology, life sciences, cleantech and professional services sectors for SF businesses launching in the Latin America region.
“Following the success of ChinaSF, the San Francisco Center for Economic Development is proud to once again partner with the City of San Francisco to run the new LatinSF initiative,” said San Francisco Center for Economic Development (SFCED) Executive Director Dennis Conaghan. “The demand for assistance for Latin American companies has been steadily growing, and we believe that the timing is perfect to reach out to the region. San Francisco has a global brand as a city that welcomes innovative entrepreneurs and we look forward to extending that welcome to Latin American companies.”
LatinSF will support the expanding Latin American technology eco-system in the region by partnering with organizations like Latino Startup Alliance, the Chile-California Council and Bay Brazil, a networking organization that has about 4,000 local members.
“We are very excited about partnering with LatinSF on events and incoming trade missions,” said Bay Brazil Director Margarise Correa. “Brazilians have a great interest in the San Francisco market, and LatinSF is well placed to capitalize on that.”
Some Latin American technology companies have already launched in SF like Globant, which has about 100 people in the SF region it employs. LatinSF has gained support from the Mita Institute and Tech Accelerator (MITA), a business accelerator, venture fund and tech forum that is focused on building the innovation economy in Mexico, and Aero Mexico as some of its early sponsors.
“We are excited to partner with LatinSF to build deeper synergies between the innovation economies of San Francisco and Mexico,” said MITA General Partner and Fund Manager Robin Reyes. “We believe San Francisco offers a singular ecosystem of needed mentorship, capital and business development opportunities to Mexico’s growing number of tech companies. As a dominant connector in linking these two regions, we are proud to be a supporter of LatinSF.”
To learn more information about LatinSF visit: http://sfced.org/latinsf/.
By LaDale Andeson
