There’s all kinds of startups all under one roof at this year’s entrepreneurship fair.
Entrepreneurship and technology often go hand in hand, and both are thriving in Colombia.
According to the latest report from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, Colombia stood out as having one of the highest proportions of entrepreneurs in the world who planned to create six or more jobs in the next five years.
And many of the entrepreneurial initiatives in Colombia are family projects, with the country noted for its high levels of entrepreneurial activity combined with high growth prospects.
Nowhere is that optimism more apparent than in the plethora of entrepreneur events, groups and support activities that have blossomed in recent years. One such event is ÉPICO, which stands for Entrepreneurship, Product, Innovation, Community, and Outliers, and is taking place in Bogotá this week.
We spoke to Juan Camilo Cardona, the man who created ÉPICO, to find out more about the event. He starts by explaining that they aren’t trying to reinvent the wheel: “Instead of starting something new, the idea is to bring together lots of existing projects,” he said.
Related: EPICO 2018
Cardona says this year will be bigger than ever, and that they’ve also got events taking place in Medellín and – for the first time ever – in Washington.
He told us that he sees it as “a sancocho, there’s a bit of everything.” And he explained that the biggest days will be tomorrow (Wednesday, August 21) and Thursday, August 22), which will see ÉPICO tech and ÉPICO growth – both will be packed with talks, panels and networking opportunities.
Cardona also wants there to be a social thread running through the event, which started on August 19 with ÉPICO hack, where they’ve got a technical skills competition that challenges attendees to solve social problems. This theme will be picked up again on the final day at ÉPICO
It will take place at WeWork on Carrera 19 #100-45. It’s not too late to sign up if you’re interested in attending.
