In recent years the Caribbean has seen an influx of promising start-ups leveraging technology to provide practical solutions in a range of industries, from tourism and transportation to healthcare and finance.
In the midst of a global pandemic, the region best known as a vacation haven is being repositioned as the world’s newest tech hub, and global investors are sitting up and taking notice.
Recently, regional accelerator program, TBR LAB, hosted its inaugural Demo Day, providing 27 Caribbean entrepreneurs with the opportunity to pitch their companies to potential investors from North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa and the Caribbean. Collectively the firms represented over US$250 million in investment capital, making the virtual event the first of its kind in the region.
According to TBR LAB’s Director of Accelerator Programs, Eric Sonnier, Demo Day provided a platform for Caribbean entrepreneurs to show the world the potential that exists within the region.
“We all now recognise that great start-ups can be built anywhere, and we’re proving that the Caribbean is no different – founders just needed a platform to showcase their innovative ideas. As someone who has seen start-up ecosystems across the US.
“I recognise a huge opportunity for early-stage investors in the Caribbean that can lead to high returns and significant impact,” says Sonnier, who himself is an alum of several top ranking accelerator programs, including Silicon Valley-based Y Combinator, which has been credited with accelerating over 3,000 companies, including Airbnb, Dropbox and Coinbase.
TBR LAB has emerged as a US$4 million partnership between Tech Beach Retreat, IDB Lab and world-class accelerator programme, the DMZ at Ryerson University, in order to facilitate similar, sustainable growth throughout the Caribbean’s tech ecosystem. Demo Day served as a key milestone in achieving this objective.
Caribbean Transit Solutions Limited, a digital platform that provides timely and accurate public transit information to commuters in Barbados, was among the start-ups that pitched. Founder Khalil Bryan was grateful for the experience and sees it as a positive sign of change for the region.
“Tech Beach curated a number of high potential Caribbean start-ups who have game-changing businesses – not just ideas –and showcased them to an international audience.
If this can provide the jolt needed to shake a few US and Canadian investors to start looking at the Caribbean then we have to say “Job well done,” said Bryan, who credits the intensive, eight-week long curriculum with preparing him to make the most of the unique opportunity.
Based on feedback received thus far from both participating start-ups and potential investors, Demo Day served to confirm what Tech Beach’s Co-Founders Kyle Maloney and Kirk-Anthony Hamilton knew five years ago when they set out on this journey to revolutionise the technology landscape in the Caribbean: the region is burgeoning with talent in need of the right exposure and resources.
“It feels great to open doors for these start-ups, they are talented and passionate, but underserved. All we are doing is opening up our global network of knowledge and resources to them; that incremental step on our part can have exponential effects on the work they do.
“For that I am extremely excited,” said Tech Beach Co-Founder, Kirk-Anthony Hamilton.
Demo Day was the culmination of the first cycle of TBR LAB. Tech Beach looks forward to repeating the process in a few months with a new cohort of Caribbean entrepreneurs who are ready to take their businesses to the next level. (PR)
