This post is part of my ongoing “BizDev Travels” series.
Babson Park, Massachusetts – July 26 2012
I spent two days in the Boston area, and I had intended for my first stop to be a morning meeting up of entrepreneurs, but traffic in New York and Connecticut prevented me from making it to that. But my next stop of the day was really interesting, and I’m glad I made it in time for that.
I visited Babson College’s Demo Day, which is where the students in a Summer Venture Program present the entrepreneurial creations of their summer. Here is the description from the program:
The Summer Venture Program supports the most promising MBA and undergraduate entrepreneurs from Babson, Olin Engineering and Wellesley Colleges. The 10-week program provides participants with an entrepreneurial community and support, including work space, mentors, facilitated peer reviews, speakers, and more.
The room was packed as 14 teams presented. It was clear there were some great ideas, passionate entrepreneurs, and a great support system that led them to this moment. Boston.com has printed a good summary of the ventures here.
I have to give extra props to two of the ventures since AgilityFeat has offices in Costa Rica and so we have a vested interest in IT related to Latin America.
Nick DiMatteo has an operating business Nomadico Travel, whose tagline is to “Discover the Cultures of Latin America.” They build customized travel adventures in Latin America in partnership with local guides. Nick is focusing on Ecuador for now, but plans to expand around Latin America.
Matias Sevi has started MandaSeguro, which has already successfully piloted its first project in Latin America. MandaSeguro aims to provide an easier way for immigrants to send money back home to family for specific purposes. Instead of paying expensive Western Union fees and then sending money that they are not even sure how it is really spent, MandaSeguro customers can send money to s specific business such as a pharmacy, and that is converted into store credit for family members to use.
This is an event to put on my calendar again for next year, to be sure. Congrats to Babson College and all of the program participants on a great job.
