San Antonio—VelocityTX has selected eight startups from South America to join its Global Accelerator Program, which offers three months of training and information on building a business in the U.S.
The program requires the companies to open a satellite office in San Antonio. VelocityTX picked the eight startups from 300 candidates with the help of groups from three different countries: Outsource Brazil, Austral Incuba in Chile, and Parque Tec in Costa Rica.
VelocityTX received a $50,000 grant earlier this year from the Small Business Network of the Americas to work with companies in South America. The organization got its start about a year ago in an effort to bring more resources—programs like the accelerator and better access to funding, for example—to emerging technology and life sciences startups in San Antonio. The nonprofit was founded by Texas Research & Technology Foundation, a bioscience and tech economic development group.
The Global Accelerator Program intends to help the startups establish a presence in North America, in part by making a U.S. headquarters in San Antonio that VelocityTX hopes will become permanent after the three-month program. The eight startups work in areas such as content marketing, augmented reality, and screenings for conditions including Alzheimer’s, according to VelocityTX. The organization hasn’t determined yet how many employees each startup will bring to San Antonio.
Here’s a little info on the startups:
—Neurognos uses machine learning in early screening and diagnostic tests that aim to recognize patterns associated with Alzheimer’s disease by targeting certain circulating biomarkers. It is from Chile, and worked with Austral Incuba, a Chilean incubator that was one of the first groups Velocity TX partnered with on its international accelerator program.
—Wow Emotions is a digital media and animation company whose products use augmented reality technology. The startup says it’s seeking to add customers in the education and health sectors. The company’s tech allows for advertising and information collection within virtual reality. The company works in Guatemala, Panama, and Chile, and came from Costa Rican accelerator Parque Tec.
—Quantik is an on-demand video platform for Latin American viewers that carries original content, from comedy series to documentaries. Quantik also worked with Parque Tec.
—TicoFut makes an online soccer trivia platform and also came from Parque Tec.
—Four other startups are joining from Outsource Brazil, an accelerator and boot camp, though VelocityTX didn’t have descriptions of what work they do yet because they were only selected Monday, according to a spokesperson. They are Audima, Magtab, Docpad, and Smart Vibe.
