Providing Space for Opportunities

As more people decide to leave the corporate world and join the growing entrepreneurial ecosystem in Mexico, there is a bigger demand from independent business for spaces to work, grow and develop. Centraal, a coworking space for Mexican startups located in Mexico City’s Condesa neighborhood, was created in this context. Centraal was founded in 2013 and it has become an important shelter for the Mexican startup ecosystem. “The first time we thought about Centraal, we wanted to create a common place for entrepreneurs where people from different disciplines could interact and create networks of value,” says Rogelio Cuevas, CEO of Centraal.

According to Cuevas, the Mexican startup community is growing as Mexicans choose careers that allow them to work independently. “In Mexico 80 percent of business is created by SMEs.” Plus, according to the most recent economic census done by INEGI, 95 percent of Mexican businesses are SMEs. Considering this environment, Centraal started creating value partnerships for its clients. In 2016, when Google for Entrepreneurs chose Mexico as the first Latin American Country to expand its GFE Partner Network, Centraal became the first and sole Latin American partner. Through this alliance, Google and Centraal will take Mexican startups to Silicon Valley. “Through Google we can provide Mexican startups access to programs developed by other partners in the network. For example, if Campus Seoul, another Google space, organizes an event for startups in entertainment, we can select and invite Mexican entertainment startups to participate with all their expenses paid,” says Cuevas. 

Through these opportunities, Centraal is joining efforts with Google to empower the Mexican entrepreneur community. In fact, Centraal organized Mexico Startup Day 2016 in November 2016, where 10 top Mexican start-ups pitched their companies to investors from Silicon Valley. Centraal is also supporting newborn startups through events called Launchpads, where they gather entrepreneurs with projects in similar sectors and bring Google mentors and experts from across the world to support these young ventures.
Cuevas believes Mexico is a hub for technology entrepreneurs. “There is a lot of engineering talent in the country. In Mexico, there are outstanding developers who can create fantastic projects.” However, he recognizes that there are some gaps in the ecosystem: “Mexican entrepreneurs need to believe they can create a global company and they need to think big. We also need success stories from investors and entrepreneurs who have had good exits.” In his opinion, the main sectors for development in Mexico are fintech, Internet of Things (IoT) and intermediate technology. 

Despite the existing landscape, the number of startups that succeed in the country is low. According to the Failure Institute, 75 percent of startups in Mexico fail and close operations after their second year. “Many people still believe that a business idea is worth gold. Everyone can have ideas but the capacity of a team to execute them in alternative ways is what leads to success,” Cuevas adds. 
In Mexico, the Government is creating new opportunities through the National Entrepreneur Institute, which opens public tenders for funding. “The entrepreneurship career is very lonely and everything we build through public policies should be permanent,” says Cuevas. In addition, private companies are playing a main role in the sector. According to Centraal’s CEO, some of the most committed companies include Bosch, Gentera (Finlab), BBVA, Citibanamex, Grupo Bimbo, Coca-Cola and CEMEX among others. “The problem is the division between people with resources and people with ideas, so we try to find all the ways that they can collaborate,” he explains. Centraal already hosted startups for ‘The Bridge’ program created by The Coca-Cola Company, which recently entered Mexico after being developed in Israel.

Centraal will focus on opportunities to expand internationally. They are also interested in providing more training for entrepreneurs, creating more technology and working closely with corporations, such as Bosch, to develop ambitious innovation programs that bridge startup talent and entrepreneurs with world-class companies. Indeed, Centraal would like to see more success stories pass through their space. “When Uber first arrived to Mexico, they were a team of two working out of Centraal. We believe our impact has been very high and there is a lot to be done,” he adds.