Se habla Spanglish, a SXSW panel that you cannot miss

There are more than 55 million Hispanics in the United States and they come from almost every country in Latin America. Raised with strong connection to their heritage, young Latinos are avid tech users willing to do anything to feel closer to their parents' land. This creates an invaluable opportunity for Latin American startups, if they find the right bridge to reach these communities.

And this is where our SXSW17 panel comes in. Se Habla Spanglish, A Bridge For Latino Startups, will focus on the best ways to seize the growth opportunity Latin startups have in the U.S. Using their vast experience, our panelists will provide information on how to tackle the market, but also which industries show more promise and growth, what are U.S. investors looking for in Latin American startups, and places in which you can find the help you need. Let’s meet them:

Nancy Santiago Negrón

While with the Obama Administration, she developed partnerships with local communities and businesses in high-poverty areas to create jobs, increase economic activity, improve educational opportunities, and leverage private investment. Through her work on national initiatives like Promise Zones, Performance Partnership Pilots and, “My Brother’s Keeper,” she partnered with local leaders to make investments that reward hard work and expand opportunity.

This Philadelphia native from Puerto Rican descent, is also an advisor to Parallel18.

Giovanni Rodríguez

He is founder of the Silicon Valley Story Lab, a strategic consulting firm for new technology ventures and the organizations that support them. He is also a member of the leadership team at Fantag, a pioneer in video technology that’s changing the way live events are experienced in the digital/mobile era.

Giovanni has advised The White House, the Democratic National Committee, The Israeli Foreign Ministry, the AARP, Coca-Cola, SAP, Microsoft, Google, VMware, Stanford University, Morehouse College, Singularity University (which he helped to launch in 2009), Parallel18, and dozens of technology startups, from market entry to exit.

Ramphis Castro

Co-founder of ScienceVest (YC F3), a fund and platform for hard-tech and life science companies, and Impact Science Angels, an angel group focused on investing in companies that can impact 1MM+ lives. He is Kauffman Fellow and co-Chair the NYC chapter of the Society. As a Fellow, he focused his research on the funding gaps for radical science companies in the U.S., collecting interviews of over 200 stakeholders across the research & commercialization ecosystem in the U.S.

He also worked extensively on startup ecosystem acceleration & support by deploying programs facilitating experiential education to all stakeholders in a country. He is part of Parallel18’s Selection Board.

Sebastián Vidal

The former Executive Director of Startup Chile now runs Puerto Rican accelerator Parallel18. His extensive experience dealing with startups and entrepreneurs makes him the ideal person to moderate this panel.