The Georgia Institute of Technology’s Enterprise Innovation Institute opened its first comprehensive innovation hub in South America — the Medellín Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center.
The launch, on March 24, followed several years of the Enterprise Innovation Institute’s collaborative work in Latin America, including in Colombia. Efforts there have brought together private industry, higher education, and economic development organizations to help grow economies.
The new center is the fourth for Georgia Tech, which also has innovation centers in Panama, Singapore, and China.
“Medellín holds much promise and great potential as an incubator for business expertise,” Juli Golemi, director of EI2 Global, said of the city’s selection. “I’m excited to see how this center helps boost economic development in the area.”
Startups — especially ones that are scaling rapidly — will have the potential to generate faster job growth and economic development for Medellín and its entire region. Georgia Tech and its partners are working at the center to identify and mitigate the most immediate constraining factors that limit the innovation ecosystem.
“Among the first activities of the Medellín Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center are to work collaboratively and hands-on on the most immediate key factors identified by Georgia Tech and its partners to help the ecosystem grow and prosper,” said Viviana Montenegro, program manager with EI2 Global. “It is very rewarding to see the local commitment and support for this initiative.”
The center will coordinate regular events, deliver courses, provide training programs to address gaps and boost the city’s talent opportunities, and bring together resources to support the Medellín entrepreneurship community. As a part of Georgia Tech, the center will connect the Medellín community to the Institute’s vast resources including world-class research, state-of-the-art facilities, internationally recognized experts, and top student talent.
This initiative is supported by corporate and university partners Bancolombia, Celsia, Globant, Crystal, Sura, Comfama, Conconcreto, ProAntioquia, Microsoft, TCC, Cámara de Comercio de Medellín para Antioquia, Alianza Team, Iluma, Universidad CES, Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Universidad EIA, and Universidad EAFIT.
“The center’s vision is to build strong and lasting multilateral collaborations across sectors, including nonprofit organizations, universities, startups, and corporations,” said David Bridges, Enterprise Innovation Institute vice president. “Together, these groups will bring greater awareness of entrepreneurs and innovators as an integral part of Medellín’s economy.”