Parallel18 offers a unique opportunity for Puerto Ricans in the diaspora: the chance to come back

Everyday, many Puerto Ricans make the hard choice of leaving the Island. Many of them to study or to find better job opportunities. Some of them even start their own companies in the mainland, influenced by the startup fever that has hit the United States in the last decade.

However, last year Parallel18 started offering a chance that many Puerto Ricans in the diaspora saw as a golden opportunity: a $40K equity free grant, co-working space, and the chance to grow a startup from their island.

Alana Matos, co-founder of Anyone’s Learning Experience and Gen2 alum, was part of those boricuas who saw the San Juan accelerator as the push she needed to come back and grow her company from home.

What made you leave?

I left originally to go to college. My brother and sister were in Boston for work. They had move to work in their respective jobs, my sister is still there, and I went to Boston because I wanted to be close to my siblings. I went to Northeastern for school.

What made me decide to live in Boston was that when I graduated it was easier for me to get a job in Boston than coming back, so I decided to stay there straight from after school.

Did you ever want to come back?

I did not see myself coming back because I did not believe I had enough reasons and things to do here for work or school, I wanted to to a Master’s Degree and I didn’t think I would be able to find the things I needed here to be able to come back and stay and live a sustainable lifestyle or anything I wanted to do. Even though I came back and I missed it so much, like many of us do when we are somewhere as cold as Boston, I didn’t see myself coming back originally.

You’re actually leading a movement in Puerto Rico, the opportunities to be in an ecosystem as soon as you say yes to the program, you’re in this network of people and having the opportunity to be a leader in a movement that is starting in a country that needs it.

How Parallel18 made it possible for you to come back?

I didn’t think I was going to come back until the Summer. It just so happens that I started a startup last year and we ended up applying to a bunch of programs in different areas of the United States. We selected this one because first off, I was coming home, which is something that I didn’t think I would have the opportunity to do while getting paid, and because Parallel18 offers you $40K, you have the opportunity to come back with money to sustain yourself [and your business.]

The other programs we got accepted into were really far away, or they gave us money but not co-working space, but having space here to work out of everyday was really beneficial. So having somewhere basically to come home, which was the Parallel18 office, and then being able to work with the $40K that they give us it was a no brainer, of course we were going to come back. I remember when we learned that we got in I started to cry because I already had this life in Boston, but I also started to cry because I never thought I was going to come back home, so I felt overwhelmed by the opportunity.

Do you think Parallel18 is a good opportunity for Puerto Ricans who want to come back to the Island?

Yes, ABSOLUTELY! 100% percent! I think that if you’re someone who is starting something you would find that this program is perfect. I was scared because I work with universities and I thought that I wasn’t going to be able to do business with universities quickly enough, but when you really analyze the ecosystem in Puerto Rico, the market is so small and dense that you end up moving things faster than in the United States.

The support system you get here and the opportunity to meet people from all over the world. Living in Puerto Rico now being in this program has being such a different experience, I love it so much more than when I was in High School when I lived here. And my business went from 0 to 100% in just 14 weeks that we’ve been here. I mean, we grew so much and I know we grew so much more here than what we would have in any other program that we were considering.

I also started to cry because I never thought I was going to come back home, so I felt overwhelmed by the opportunity.

What do you think are the P18 benefits that are most attractive to Puerto Ricans living in the diaspora?

I think that one of the things people coming back to the Island worry about is kind of that thing of starting over in Puerto Rico. You have your family here, but you still have to solve “Where am I going to work? What am I going to do?” As soon you have access to people you might not have been able to meet or work with before. As soon as you’re part of the cohort this is your network of people. As soon as I got to PR, I’m a woman in tech and I spoke at events and have been invited to many different things in Puerto Rico and because it’s so much smaller you end up enjoying it a lot more. Sometimes in the United States when you have a startup you get lost in the noise because everyone has a startup.

Here, because it’s a new thing people end up wanting to know you and wanting ti give you so many more opportunities than if you lived in the United States. It is something that is growing here now, and it’s new and we’re starting it you’re actually leading a movement in Puerto Rico, the opportunities to be in an ecosystem as soon as you say yes to the program, you’re in this network of people and having the opportunity to be a leader in a movement that is starting in a country that needs it. It gives you the chance to do something for your country to make it grow and that makes it very rewarding.

If you’re a Puerto Rican in the diaspora and have a startup that needs to grow, apply to Parallel18 today.