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Entrepreneurs from Latin America and the Caribbean to showcase their projects in Silicon Valley

Demand Solutions, to take place June 22 as part of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, will highlight innovations aimed at improving the quality of life in Latin America and the Caribbean

Eight cutting-edge entrepreneurs from Latin America and the Caribbean will showcase innovations aimed at improving the quality of life in the region at Demand Solutions: Ideas for Improving Lives, an event taking place June 22 as part of the Obama Administration’s Global Entrepreneurship Summit at Stanford University.

They will be joined by investors, policymakers and start-up incubators who together are driving innovation and social entrepreneurship in the region. The day-long event is being organized by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Blum Center for Developing Economies at the University of California at Berkeley, and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

The featured entrepreneurs include:

Emiliano Kargieman, a major player in the Argentinian tech ecosystem and a serial entrepreneur, founded Satellogic a network of mass-produced, nano-satellites, providing high-resolution data of expansive areas at a low cost.

Carlos Pereira, a computer analyst from Brazil who created Livox, a tablet app that allows people with disabilities to communicate, promoting social inclusion;

Victoria Alonsoperez, an Uruguayan engineer and co-founder of IEETECH, which developed the Chipsafer platform, which can track cattle remotely and autonomously;

Guillermo Castelli, an Argentine engineer and founder of QuadMinds, which offers IT services and solutions for smart cities, recycling, and efficient fleet management;

Mariana Gonzalez, co-founder of ILUMÉXICO, a social enterprise that provides solar home systems to off-grid communities in Mexico;

Agustín López Márquez, of Venezuela, co-founder of SQZ Biotech, a start-up out of MIT that developed the innovative CellSqueze technology now being used to develop cancer immunotherapies. He recently joined Shire Pharmaceuticals as head of the newly created Commercial Innovation team;

Gordon Swaby of Jamaica, founder and CEO of EduFocal Ltd., an e-learning web application for test preparation by elementary and secondary level students;

Fermin Reygadas of Mexico, executive director of Cántaro Azul, which develops and brings to scale safe water solutions, ranging from a collaboration-based water service in indigenous regions to a social franchise that empowers women entrepreneurs to establish a business delivering water at a fair price in their communities.

Other confirmed speakers include IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno; Dr. Laura Tyson, Director of the Institute for Business & Social Impact at Berkeley Haas and former Chair of the US President's Council of Economic Advisers; SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet; Victor W. Hwang, Vice President of Entrepreneurship of the Kauffman Foundation; and Rocio Fonseca, Executive Director of Startup Chile.

WHAT: Demand Solutions: Ideas for Improving Lives

WHEN: June 22, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Doors open at 8 a.m.

WHERE: Stanford University (Paul Brest Hall), Palo Alto, CA

HOW: Click here to register; Members of the news media who would like more information or interviews should contact demandsolutions@iadb.org.

NOTE: The event will be broadcast in English and Spanish via Livestream:

English:
www.livestream.com/idbevents3

Spanish:
www.livestream.com/idbevents4

About the IDB

The Inter-American Development Bank is devoted to improving lives. Established in 1959, the IDB is a leading source oflong-term financing for economic, social and institutional development in Latin America and the Caribbean. The IDB also conducts cutting-edge research and provides policy advice, technical assistance and training to public and private sector clients throughout the region.

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