Negocios Now

www.negociosnow.com Diciembre 2013 9 NegociosNow NegociosNow www.negociosnow.com Marzo 2017 9 NegociosNow NegociosNow CHICAGO LATINOS IN TECHNOLOGY "W e want to get to a place where if you're in Austin, TX, or Tampa, FL, or Seattle, WA, and you're Latino and you're starting up a tech company that has a lot of potential, we want people to say if you're really serious and you want to do this, you have to go to Chicago and be at IHCC," Duque said. NegociosNow NegociosNow El Especial Cortesía Howard Tullman, CEO of 1871, says Latino entrepreneurs need to pay more attention to technologies that can help them grow. possible for regulatory bodies to communicate across state lines. This makes it possible to easily find out, for the first time, whether a doctor lost his or her license in another state and why. The incuba- tor program helped Licentiam raise $150,000 to build out their technol- ogy and Duque said the company is getting a lot of attention from other funders. The long-term goal for the incu- bator, which will be accepting applications for its second cohort by March, is to be the go-to spot for Latino tech entrepreneurs. "We want to get to a place where if you're in Austin, TX, or Tampa, FL, or Seattle, WA, and you're Lati- no and you're starting up a tech company that has a lot of potential, we want people to say if you're really serious and you want to do this, you have to go to Chicago and be at IHCC," Duque said. Already, entrepreneurs moved from Mexico City and Washing- ton, D.C., to participate in the first cohort. Programming for the sec- ond cohort will begin in May and run for 12 weeks. Howard Tullman, CEO of 1871, said incubator programs are one way 1871 has focused specifically on increasing inclusiveness and diversity within its startup popu- lation. The nonprofit has a good number of women-owned busi- nesses, but it continues to explore ways to increase opportunities for Latino-owned businesses. Like Duque, Tullman says Latino entrepreneurs need to pay more attention to technologies that can help them grow. Tech tools can be user-friendly and easy to under- stand. And all the software sup- ports multilingual users. "It's not even a question of understanding the language or the tools," Tullman said. "They just have to get started. They have to make a commitment." 1871 works to expand access to these technologies, especially those that are relatively inexpensive. With IHCC inside of 1871, longtime members can also ben- efit from a simple walk through the building. Duque said Latino business-owners have passed by 1871 entrepreneurs on their way to the IHCC offices and garnered important insights and ideas about how to incorporate technology into their own businesses. Seeing peers in the same indus- try doing things completely differ- ently can be an eye-opener – and one that is now possible because IHCC is embedded in Chicago's center of entrepreneurial activity.

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