Post: #1

The government's Start-up Chile incubator gives foreign entrepreneurs $35,000 in seed capital, provided they spend at least six months in the country to get the business going. Like the three Bureo founders, many hail from the United States.

Start-Up's offices in downtown Santiago are a cross between a youth hostel and a Silicon Valley enterprise, abuzz with young people chatting over coffees and laptops.

"It's been critical," said Kneppers on Bureo's support from Start-Up Chile. "It allowed us to produce our first boards."
The business has also received funding from crowdsourcing website Kickstarter and outdoor brand Patagonia.

Bureo is into its second production run of 5,500 boards and is aiming at volume sales of up to 20,000 by its third year, selling at $149 apiece.
The plastic boards are manufactured in Chile and then shipped to Redondo Beach, California to have the trucks and wheels added.
"Because it has a recycled story, that's an addition that helps you connect to your users, but it has to be a good skateboard to begin with," said co-founder Kevin Ahearn.

Post: #2

Very interesting. I wonder how the results will compare with Ecuador's $1 Billion USD investment in Yachay. FYI, there is a highly competitive application process to get the Chilean seed funds...I doubt writing an EBook on banging Chilean broads would qualify

Post: #3

I'm a bit suspicious of government funded incubators. Partly because I was part of one some years ago. But maybe if you had a unique and fairly simple product that you could get to prototype stage for $35,000 or less and then offer it on Kickstarter, or directly to the market it would be worth doing.

I imagine the Chilean government will expect you to stay in Chile and HQ your business there, both legal and operational. Otherwise what's in it for them? Unless you are maybe a "Hispanic" American, or from elsewhere with strong Spanish or Latin-American background how would this work? I don't see a typical American, Brit and so on making a permanent business move to Chile. If the business does succeed they will almost inevitably want to move away. Probably back "home".

Post: #4

BH, have you been to Chile before? If not, check it out.
It is very nearly 1st world, and I could see it being a comfortable home base for expats.
Plenty of highly educated people there, a good amount of capital/upper class.
A strong legal system that is relatively free of corruption, a true rarity in Latin America.
If you buy a nice property or manage to get a business going, the mayor's son is not just going to steal it or have you beaten up and deported.
Due to mining and wine, lots of pre established export channels and banking arrangements.
When I was living in Peru, making a trip to Chile was like going forward 20 years.
The police were there to protect you, cars stopped for you when you crossed the street.
I am not exaggerating when I say I experienced culture shock in Chile after getting used to way things are in Peru.

Post: #5

American ex-pat currently living and working in the south of Chile, and can attest to Chile's near first-world status.

I cannot say much about Start-Up Chile, though from the expats I've met here in the south, it seems the Chilean government is more than willing to help out aspiring entrepreneurs, be they Chilean or foreigner. There are various grants one can apply for so long as they have the proper visa, which is the trickiest part of the equation (teaching English at an institute would be your best bet, assuming you're a native speaker with a college degree). The gringo I'm currently working for down here recently received the equivalent of about $90k USD from the government to launch his exporting biz, money which he then used to pay his emoloyees' salaries for year one.

I'll stop myself here as I don't want to derail the thread (this is my first RVF post...). PM me if you'd like to chat more. I'm currently planning my own operation here, and would love to collaborate with some like-minded forum members should they happen to find themselves in beautiful Chile.

Post: #6

I don't know anything about it beyond the news article I saw.

Here is one of the companies that participated:

http://www.bureoskateboards.com/

Post: #7

(12-12-2014 09:57 AM)VolandoVengoVolandoVoy Wrote:  BH, have you been to Chile before? If not, check it out.
It is very nearly 1st world, and I could see it being a comfortable home base for expats.
Plenty of highly educated people there, a good amount of capital/upper class.
A strong legal system that is relatively free of corruption, a true rarity in Latin America.
If you buy a nice property or manage to get a business going, the mayor's son is not just going to steal it or have you beaten up and deported.
Due to mining and wine, lots of pre established export channels and banking arrangements.
When I was living in Peru, making a trip to Chile was like going forward 20 years.
The police were there to protect you, cars stopped for you when you crossed the street.
I am not exaggerating when I say I experienced culture shock in Chile after getting used to way things are in Peru.

Chile near first world standards?? Its pretty clear that you haven't been to Uruguay, Poland or Czech republic for give you some examples.
The north of chile is mostly underdeveloped, and there is still a lot of poverty in the country. Social inequality is big, poor people has to go to Argentina (YES BACKWARDS ARGENTINA) to have free education and healthcare. Chile has made strides towards development but it is nowhere near first world standards, unless you are rich or live in some
of poshest santiago neighborhoods.