Miami Dade College Announces Open Call for Most Innovative Startups in Latin America, the Caribbean and South Florida   

Miami Dade College and IDB seek startups in Latin America, the Caribbean and, especially, in Miami!

Miami, April 25, 2017Miami Dade College (MDC) in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is launching an open call to select the most innovative startups in the creative and cultural industries – what the IDB refers to as the Orange Economy – from Latin America, the Caribbean, and South Florida.  The deadline to apply is approaching, Thursday, May 4, at 5:59 p.m.

Demand Solutions Miami will take place at MDC’s Wolfson Campus, in downtown Miami, this fall where the 12 best startups from Latin America and the Caribbean and the five most innovative startups from Greater Miami will be presented. Participating ventures need to have an innovative product or solution to improve lives in the following categories:

DESIGN WITH SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: urban, interior and industrial design. Graphic arts, illustration and toys. Wearable technology, accessibility and cultural identity expression. Co-creation between craftsmen and designers.

SUSTAINABLE FASHION: intelligent clothes, organic clothes, and accessories.

MULTIMEDIA TO SAVE THE WORLD: videogames, support media for digital content, virtual reality, 3D printing and interactive audiovisual content.

GASTRONOMY AS AN AGENT OF TRANSFORMATION: recovery of ancestral and native recipes. Fusion cuisine, environmentally minded restaurants and chefs.

STEREOTYPE-FREE MUSIC: cultural and ancestral preservation. Music as an education and language preservation tool.

This open call will award prizes to startups that have an innovative product or solution (not just an idea) that has already been launched, or a minimum viable product (MVP) with existing users. Participating entrepreneurs must be over 18 years of age and be either founders or cofounders of startups with a minimum of one year and maximum of three years of operation and implementation/commercialization of their product or service.

One of the founders or cofounders of each of the selected startups will have the chance to present his or her solution before a jury of industry specialists and potential investors during the Demand Solutions Miami in Oct. 2017.

Winning startups from Latin America and the Caribbean will receive a subsidy covering their participation in Demand Solutions Miami. As part of their award, winners will attend a series of invitation-only events, workshops and lectures, as well as have the chance to network with peers and experts from creative and cultural industries.

To apply, visit http://convocatorias.iadb.org/en/demandsolutions-miami/home.

For more information, please contact demandsolutions@iadb.org

About Miami Dade College

Miami Dade College (MDC) is the higher education institution with the largest undergraduate enrollment in the America, with more than 165,000 students. It is also the nation’s top producer of Associate in Arts and Science degrees and awards more degrees to minorities than any other college or university in the country. The college’s eight campuses and outreach center offer more than 300 distinct degree pathways including several baccalaureate degrees in education, public safety, supervision and management, nursing, physician assistant studies, film, engineering, biological sciences, and others. In fact, its academic and workforce training programs are national models of excellence. MDC is also renowned for its rich cultural programming. It is home of the Miami Book Fair, Miami International Film Festival, the MDC Live Arts Performing Arts Series, the National Historic Landmark Miami Freedom Tower, a major sculpture park and large art gallery and theater systems. MDC has admitted more than 2,000,000 students and counting, since it opened its doors in 1960. For more information please visit www.mdc.edu.

About the IDB

The Inter-American Development Bank is devoted to improving lives. Established in 1959, the IDB is a leading source of long-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.