News / Press Releases

Ponce - With an investment of 1.025 billion dollars, the Pelleven program of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce announced the opening of the pre-application process to promote the development of technology companies and the generation of jobs in the city and the southern region of Puerto Rico.

Pelleven Tech Accelerator Ponce is the first municipal-level "Startups" business accelerator in Puerto Rico and aims to create 20 technology companies in the city. The funds used for this initiative come from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds from the U.S. government and will allow granting 25 thousand dollars to 20 "startups" companies. Interested parties must access the Pelleven link, which will be active starting from August 31.

According to Jean Paul González Santini, Director of the Economic Development Office of Ponce, "the operation of the accelerator has been entrusted to the Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC), based in Washington DC. "LEDC has demonstrated its expertise in managing community development projects, including collaborations with government agencies and private projects in the United States (US). As part of this alliance, they have partnered with Gener8tor, an influential figure in the world of accelerators in the US, with an impressive track record of supporting over 1,000 startups and raising over 1.6 billion dollars in capital," explained González Santini.

"LEDC thanks the Municipality of Ponce for its initiative and for reaffirming the importance of counseling, assistance, and mentoring in the development of new businesses. We are excited to be able to offer our services to the distinguished community and contribute to the development of a thriving startup ecosystem," expressed Emi Reyes, Executive Director of LEDC.

The Pelleven Program is divided into two stages: the Pre-Accelerator (Phase 1) and Co-Rise. In the first stage, selected companies will receive 5 months of intensive training with courses covering key aspects such as business idea and model, finance, operations, programming, and technology.

In the second stage, there are 12 months of acceleration and growth incubation program along with follow-up mentoring from a network of expert entrepreneurs, monthly workshops, six months of free co-working space, and high-speed internet access. In this stage, the 20 startups will each receive a grant of 25,000 dollars.

Carlos Quiroz, Director of Programs for Puerto Rico at LEDC, highlighted the organization's commitment to Puerto Rico's economic development and in this case, to the city of Ponce. "For this initiative driven by the Municipality of Ponce, we created a business incubation and acceleration program for the technology sector. This will provide participants with a competitive advantage in both local and international markets. Through our strategic partnerships, specialized workshops, case studies, networking sessions, enabling a co-working space, and access to various sources of capital," he emphasized.

The launch of Pelleven will take place at BeFest, the largest entrepreneurship event in Puerto Rico, which will be held in the city of Ponce next year. The pre-application for the program will be available from Thursday, August 31, 2023, at the link https://p11map.com/aceleradora-pelleven.

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Contact Ponce: Danny Hernández. /. (787) 717-3831

Contact LEDC: Jaime Segui. /. [email protected]"