Connecting innovators to make the things happen that is the vision of venture café, an international initiative that takes place In Monterrey and will seek to link to entrepreneurs, investors, government, companies, universities, and Civil Society Organizations.

In alliance with Tecnológico de Monterrey, the next May 26^th will be the official launch with meetings all the Thursdays to link all the city´s entrepreneurial community.

To this innovator event called “Thursday Gathering” can be attended by anyone whether they are involved in the innovation ecosystem or who wants to start a business.

“This is going to help us to connect with entrepreneurs, startups, investors, scientists, professors, students, companies, and corporations that are very interested in innovation and entrepreneurship.

“It will be a neutral entity that will help us to continuously maintain the meeting of the different actors in innovation and entrepreneurship,” said Mario Adrian Flores, vice president of the Monterrey Region.

Venture Café will strengthen Tec’s and the city’s entrepreneurship ecosystem. Said Hugo Garza, Vice president of Strategic Projects at Tecnológico de Monterrey.

This initiative marks the before and after of the development of Monterrey’s entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem.

Represents a meeting place where all the ecosystem’s actors can connect, interact, and collaborate, with the purpose of creating solutions to the humanity’s challenges. Expressed.

What is Monterrey’s Venture Café?

Venture Café was found by Tim Rowe in the Innovation Center of Cambridge (CIC), in Boston, in 2009.

It is a global Non- governmental Organization who is seeking to impulse the local innovation ecosystem of the cities where is located.

Monterrey is the first city in America Latina where it’s going to take place this global initiative, nowadays is in 10 cities and four continents.

The main objective is to benefit the city’s ecosystems, but since it will be within Tec’s spaces, it will help the community of students and professors to take advantage of all of this,” said Flores.

The idea of take Monterrey as a host arose in 2018 when the city entered to a Regional Development Accelerator (MIT REAP), said Alejandra Buendía, Venture´s Café Director.

“The study was done, and it was diagnosed that the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem has evolved and is at the point where there are many actors doing things to support innovation and entrepreneurship in various sectors: government, academia, investors,” he said.

“But the problem is that they all by their own, they don’t know each other sometimes, they don’t connect, or they don’t collaborate even though they are working towards the same goal,” he added.

Thursday Gathering

The emblem of Venture Café is the weekly and thematic event called “Thursday Gatherings” to help all the actors of the entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem to collaborate and connect.

The sessions try to be Interactive and innovative and last of 3 to 5 hours.

“They are like mini-festivals with simultaneous activities and with a theme. Each month there is a global theme and a sub-theme every Thursday. These big themes are co-created with the community,” explained Buendía.

They are made up of various activities, which require prior registration to participate.

“There will always be a networking area where there will be spontaneous conversations and access to drinks.

“There are other more structured and scheduled activities such as workshops, interactive panels. In the panels, for example, the questions start from the public, they are not left at the end, the questions come first,” explained Buendía.

To register click on https://venturecafemonterrey.org/event/lanzamiento-venture-cafe-mty/

In the first session in Monterrey, next Thursday, May 26, from 4:00 to 8:30 p.m. at the CEDES building, there will be the inaugural event, an interactive panel on the status of the ecosystem, what are the challenges and how to co-create the future together.

“We will have two simultaneous activities, one is to build a structure or a mural, where people will be able to build a structure making an analogy that if we all collaborate something better is created, together,” said Buendía.

Another activity will be “drinking storytelling”, where people will learn how to prepare drinks with regional ingredients while telling a story.

This event will be held on Thursdays every two weeks during the months of June and July, and then on a weekly basis. 

Volunteers are being sought for the Monterrey initiative, who can register on the website.

Luis Mario García
Campus Monterrey