The fourth edition of LAB4+, the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Forum of the Pacific Alliance, generated business agreements and investments for 26 million dollars.  

The Pacific Alliance is consolidating through specific policies that have great impact on innovation and entrepreneurship. A clear example is LAB4+ 2016, which was developed in Lima, and included business rounds, specialized workshops and technological investment rounds.

70 technology exporters and 50 innovation buyers joined the business round. 24 startups and 53 investors took part of the technology investment round, called “Demo Day”, and the round for social startups, called “Social Demo Day” had 12 social startups and 16 investors. 100 commercial appointments were made in Demo Day and Social Demo Day.

The event was attended by 5,000 people, including 60 entrepreneurial capital investors, 750 entrepreneurs and businessmen or corporation representatives, 50 government representative delegates and public authorities, 20 development banks, 20 innovation centres and 50 incubators or university entrepreneurship centres.

This innovative Forum had six key spaces where experiences were shared, business arranged and, the innovation ecosystems of the four country members of the Pacific Alliance, connected.

There were 10 lectures, 6 thematic panels, 12 inspiring presentations called “Lab Talks”, a business round, a technology investments round, a social startups round, and 8 workshops on high technology.

The Forum started with a conference by the Israeli keynote speaker Uri Levine, creator of Waze, a community based traffic and navigation app developed to reduce the amount of time drivers waste due to traffic. The app is currently used by 250 million people around the world.

Under the topic Digital Startups on a Global Scale, Levine, captivated the audience narrating his success story from its origin to its development.

The panel about Innovative Cities displayed cases such as: Ruta N in Medellin, Colombia; Ecobarrio, in Singapore; and the Fertile Region Project in several towns in the north of Chile. Clearly, technological innovation can be linked to social startups to generate added value among citizens.

Other panels addressed the following topics: Social Innovation from the Corporation; Social Innovation in Business and Societies; Pacific Alliance Innovation; Promoting the Entrepreneurship Ecosystem in Latin America and Investing in Startups. The participation of experts, professionals from specialized university centres and representatives of technological innovation companies from the four member countries of the Pacific Alliance, enriched the debate.

During the second day of the Forum, two keynote conferences stood out. One, by Adam Gutstein, vice president of PwC, who talked about Growth, Strategy and Successful Execution; and the other by Carlos Osorio, representative of the MIT Sloan School of Management, professor and director of the Master on Innovation Program, who talked about Learning from the Best Teams of Innovation in the World.

Lab Talks were particularly moving. 12 innovative entrepreneurs from different fields of expertise shared their experiences in brief, inspiring presentations on topics such as the Challenges of the Internet in Latin America, or Ending the Problem of Water. Furthermore, 600 participants attended 8 intensive workshops on social innovation, technology and investment.

According to the World Bank, the Pacific Alliance’s high technology exports has brought revenues for USD 51,000 million, which represents an annual growth of 4.9% between 2005 and 2014. This figure represents 75% of exports of Latin America and the Caribbean. It is important to point out the dynamism of Peruvian and Colombian foreign sales, which grew 10% and 7.8% respectively.

The first version of LAB4+ was developed in Santiago de Chile on December 6^th 2013, and was addressed to information technology startups.

The second edition took place in Cali, Colombia, on October 29^th and 30^th 2014, and focused on manufacture and technological services sectors, generating businesses for USD 8.4 million.

The third forum was developed in Pueblo, Mexico, on October 5^th and 6^th 2015, focused on creative, design and technological services industries, reaching commercial transactions for USD 12 million. In this year’s edition, USD 26 million where attained. Next year’s edition will be developed in Chile and it will certainly exceed this year’s figures.

Clearly, the Pacific Alliance has become the most dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystem in the region. Undoubtedly, the integration with other entrepreneurial ecosystems can enhance the development of Latin America.