Latino Startup Alliance is Going National with Help from Hispanicize
The Latino Startup Alliance (LSA), a non-profit founded to support Latino tech entrepreneurs get their startups off the ground, is joining with Latino PR and news wire Hispanicize to expand its non-profit organization nationally.
The LSA was founded in 2011 by first generation Mexican-American entrepreneurs -- and brothers -- Jesse and Ed Martinez as a support group for Latinos with high tech products and businesses, building an ecosystem of peer resources, mentors, and investors. Based in San Francisco and Miami, the LSA is now expanding into other regional offices in a partnership with the multi-platform news and PR organization Hispanicize.
The national non-profit incarnation LSA will have three hubs initially, in San Francisco, Miami, and now New York, with the ambition to expand its support ecosystem across the U.S. The organization will be overseen by the Martinez brothers and Manny Ruiz, chairman of the Hispanicize organization. The San Francisco hub will be helmed by Deldelp Medina, the New York City office will be run by George Torrez, and the Miami branch will be co-led by Ruiz and Latina Mom Bloggers network's Cristy Clavijo-Kish.
"Our alliance with trailblazers like Manny and the partners of Hispanicize will greatly accelerate LSA's national footprint in several dynamic and tangible ways," said Jesse Martinez, LSA's national co-chair and an entrepreneur who has raised capital for several of his past startups including his current venture Media Relevance, in a release. "This alliance will provide LSA with a national grid from which it can credibly grow into one of the nation's most vibrant, respected organizations for Latino entrepreneurs and potential investors alike."
"Jesse and Ed have built a great foundation for LSA that has proven to be all about action and not words," said Ruiz, who in 2008 sold his first tech media startup to United Business Media for $5.5 million. "Our message to Latino tech entrepreneurs today is that if there is truly a market to fund your ideas and innovations, LSA will cultivate those opportunities. Effective immediately we will focus on tech inclusion for Latinos who wish to play in the world of Silicon Valley and tech."
LSA will now play a part in annual Hispanicize events, including the LSA Tech Summit, which will be paired with the Hispanicize 2014 conference in April. Hispanicize will regularly feature LSA members and Latino tech entrepreneurs in its soon-to-be relaunched Hispanicize.com site, as well as other Hispanicize platforms.
On Monday, Hispanicize announced that it was reuniting with Bill Gato, a Latino entrepreneur that previously headed the editorial division at Hispanicize, by making him CEO of Hispanicize Wire -- a position that was held by Manny Ruiz until Gato took over this week. In the announcement, Hispanicize hinted of new initiatives that the company was "about to announce," but didn't divulge Ruiz's new role or the partnership with LSA until later this week. The alliance of Latino wire service and Latino non-profit will help create opportunities for Latino tech startups to get more exposure, a key step in finding interested investors.