TechBA, the Mexico-Silicon Valley Technology Business Accelerator, held an opening ceremony for ribbon cutting today in its new facility at The Enterprise Network’s Sobrato Center for Innovation in San Jose. The distinguished sponsor was the government of Mexico’s Secretary of the Economy, Fernando Canales. Other dignitaries at the VIP podium included:
- the Honorable Ron Gonzalez, Mayor of San Jose
- Bruno Figueroa, the government of Mexico’s Consul General in San Jose
- Jaime Oaxaca, Chairman of FUMEC (Fundación México-Estados Unidos para la Ciencia, translation: Mexico – United Status Foundation for Science)
- Dr. William Musgrave, CEO of The Enterprise Network (TEN)
- Dr. Jorge Zavala, CEO of TechBA
- Alberto Herrera, CEO of Medida, a TechBA member company
The speakers gave empassioned speeches thanking the government of Mexico for its vision and support of TechBA. TechBA is a first-of-its-kind effort for Mexico in the Silicon Valley. Dr. William Musgrave gave the opening remarks, where he thanked the Sobrato family for their generous donation of The Enterprise Network (TEN) building, which houses TechBA and other TEN entrepreneurial companies. Dr. Musgrave also mentioned that TEN was asked to submit a US$2 million grant application with the U.S. federal government’s small business administration office, and jokingly exhorted their representative in attendance to “please send us the check”. Jaime Oaxaca, FUMEC Chairman, gave an exceptionally compelling speech, saying how he had great credentials because he was born in Texas and knew every bar in Juarez, which got a round of applause and laughter from the guests. All kidding aside, said Mr. Oaxaca, he earned his engineering degree at University of Texas at El Paso and his business degree at Stanford University. Mr. Oaxaca acknowledged Mexico’s Secretary of the Economy, the Honorable Fernando Canales, for his vision and proactive support of FUMEC and TechBA. The Honorable Ron Gonzalez thanked the Mexican government’s selection committee - which included FUMEC, Dr. Jorge Zavala, and several universities - for choosing San Jose and The Enterprise Network. Mayor Gonzalez mentioned it took less than six months from the time the decision was made until the time of TechBA’s inauguration. He further mentioned that when he was first elected mayor of San Jose in 1998, he was the first Mexican-American to hold this office in San Jose. Since that took 150 years, he said, TechBA is setting a new high bar for the success of Mexican – United States business relations and ventures. Secretary Fernando Canales inspired guests with his speech about technology commercialization on both sides of the border. Secretary Canales cited the reasons why the government of Mexico put so much faith and confidence in TechBA's mission, and set high expectations for the successes TechBA's member companies will accomplish in Silicon Valley and the United States.
Following the ribbon cutting ceremony, guests enjoyed a technical exposition of TechBA’s member companies, and a buffet lunch. During the exposition, we had the opportunity to speak briefly with representatives of four TechBA companies. These were:
- Marcus Dantus, CEO of Simitel, which develops and markets IP based software for call centers
- Andreina Siller, CEO of Practum, which develops, trains, and sells project management software for small and large scale enterprises
- Guadalupe Sanchez, CEO of BrainUp Systems, which provides software development and application support services
- Abel Salazar of PESS, which provides power engineering services and solutions
About TechBA: TechBA is the first high-technology business accelerator started by the government of Mexico's Secretary of the Economy and administered by FUMEC, Fundación México-Estados Unidos para la Ciencia (translation: Mexico-United States Foundation for Science) in collaboration with The Enterprise Network (TEN), and assisted by several institutions of higher learning in Mexico such as: Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM), Universidad Panamericana (UP) and Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN). TechBA member companies are among the best and the brightest of Mexico's technologists and entrepreneurs.
About TransformTec: TransformTec, Inc. is a California-based corporation that converts intellectual property into cash by focusing its efforts on developing software, hardware, and systems for the consumer, multimedia, and telecommunications sectors. The company turns ideas into reality by transforming technology concepts into products. Through a visionary business platform incorporating technology auctions and unique product development processes, TransformTec redefines how new product markets are created and entered. For more information, please visit www.TransformTec.com.
1 comment:
Excellent motivation. One of a kind. Great potential.
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