Startup Phase Zero ends with the certification of more than sixty participants of the third generation

startup end

Program trained more than 180 young students from the Coquimbo Region thanks to the contribution of CORFO and the ULS.

More than sixty participants experienced three days of intensive training that helped them understand and see from a new approach what it means to undertake and innovate, through the knowledge provided by the speakers Sebastián Arias and Pedro Varas, all thanks to the financing of the Government of Chile, through CORFO, and the University of La Serena.

Through this training, students were able to obtain the key knowledge to detect problems that affect people's lives on a daily basis and, based on these results, seek solutions to improve their quality of life. The program also considered early validation methodologies, generation of contact networks and advice for future financing; More than sixty participants were able to be part of the latest generation of ''Startup Phase Zero'' in the Coquimbo Region, belonging to the ''Environment Support Program for Entrepreneurship and Innovation'', born from the strategic alliance between the University of La Serena and CORFO.

For the rapporteur, Pedro Varas, this is an instance that fosters human relationships, working on the soft skills of the participants, and working as a group for the same goal: entrepreneurship. ''I really liked the human group of this third generation, for two reasons; their desire and participation, as well as the age difference between the members, since this made the exchange of experiences and experiences much more nourished,' he specified.

In this third generation and last day, the winners went with 1st place "Your Vegetarian Sunset", who opted to satisfy a need for vegetarian food at times when these products are not available in La Serena. The members of this team were: Catalina González, Patricia Aguirre, César Núñez, Verónica Núñez, Daniel Esquivel Salinas, Pablo Muñoz and Paula Zepeda, who pointed out that this was a very enriching experience not only in knowledge, but also in the generation of networks for the future, ''exceeded my expectations from the first moment, it made me change my thinking about what entrepreneurship and innovation were, I realized that sometimes it is easier than one thinks and having won is a very good thing for the group, since it strengthened us much more and we are thinking about the future and seeing what can really be undertaken,'' he said.

On the other hand, second place was awarded to the group ''Innova Kids", made up of Bárbara de La Fuente, Nathalie Morales Jimenez, Daniel Mondaca, Yoselin Rojas, Lilian Olivares, Catalina Arredondo and Oscar Cristi Cabello, which maintained that it was It was a pleasure to participate in ''Startup Phase Zero.'' ''A great experience, I met many interesting and important people, in the sense of the things that their dreams can contribute. People of different ages and backgrounds and I hope that this type of initiative "It can be replicated in the future," he said.

And finally, third place went to "Arma tu Pichanga", composed of Maximiliano Santander Saavedra, Saúl Tapia Paredes, Víctor Valdés Rojas, Cristopher Pizarro Castillo, Claudio González Gómez and Cindy Guzmán. 

Program Completion

''Start Up phase 0'' was carried out in the Coquimbo Region as an initiative aimed especially at students and designed to promote the formation of multidisciplinary teams that complement each other to solve market problems in an effective and sustainable way.

More than 180 young people from the area benefited thanks to the University of La Serena and the Government of Chile, through CORFO Coquimbo Region, within the framework of the execution of its financing line ''Environment Support Program for the Entrepreneurship and Innovation'', an activity that sought to strengthen the ability to detect opportunities in the market and deliver solutions that generate value through the development of a new business, through the delivery of knowledge quickly and practically to all those who participated in the different training sessions, such as ''COACHING GLOBAL THNKING'' and ''START-UP ESSENTIALS''.

In addition, the best ideas will be selected for a public or private financing search process, as well as constant contact will be maintained to guide their future projects.