Mission
Work collaboratively in sharing resources to promote the transformation of great ideas and initiatives in research, innovation and even commercialization.
About us?
We are a community made up of UPRM students and professors, as well as emerging entrepreneurs from different parts of the island of Puerto Rico, who share the commitment to creating opportunities for collaboration and networking between innovative minds.
Vision
We hope that by distinguishing local entrepreneurial talent and emphasizing the importance of the development of social entrepreneurship and innovation, we will have a positive impact on our society.
CURRENT PROGRAMS
ÁREA-E is a program funded by the CDBG-DR grants from the Department of Housing. Its goal is to promote Puerto Rico’s economic development through the creation of viable and sustainable small businesses. The programs it incorporates are: Incubation and Acceleration.
The Mind Market is a space for innovation and creativity, where we seek Puerto Rican PYME’s looking to carry out an innovation or acceleration project for their business.
The main objective of the program is to enhance access to existing knowledge and increase the capacity to create new opportunities within the I&E ecosystem through a web-based format. VMP includes online modules, webinars, and individualized online mentoring with the appropriate mentor. The primary goals are to create technology-based E-Teams, facilitate the path to commercialization, and accelerate the launch of their ventures.
The Área-E Seed Capital Incentive Program (I-CaSe) is designed for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with a current operating period of up to 3.5 years.
This program aims to provide government grantees administering funds for the island’s recovery with training and technical assistance on compliance requirements. Particular emphasis will be placed on economic development projects.
The EPIIC: Strategic University Practices to Expand Research (SUPER) Partnerships project focuses on building and strengthening partnerships between academic institutions and external organizations, such as industries, government agencies, and non-profits. The initiative aims to enhance research capabilities, foster innovation, and create sustainable collaborations to address key societal challenges. It also seeks to streamline institutional processes and provide faculty and administrators with the necessary training and resources to effectively manage and grow these partnerships.
PAST PROJECTS
The New Venture Design Experience (NVDE) is a project to foster a culture of innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship within the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus. NVDE is a year-long effort (2 semesters) in which students from all faculties work in interdisciplinary teams to develop products that benefit society and have commercialization potential.
INNOVA is a collaborative agreement between the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, through CNDE, and the Puerto Rico Department of Economic Development. The program’s purpose is to train and mentor entrepreneurs with expansion ideas or aspiring entrepreneurs with innovative concepts.
A qualified team of professionals will provide on-demand technical assistance through virtual mentoring for nonprofit organizations, including academic institutions, qualified entities, and corporations. This support focuses on preparing proposals for federal and private entities, as well as planning and executing projects that enable them or their beneficiaries to address the economic impact of the coronavirus and foster a vibrant economic recovery ecosystem.
The University Innovation Fellows (UIF) program enables students and faculty to become change leaders in higher education. They lead a global movement to ensure that all students acquire the attitudes, skills, and knowledge needed to navigate a complex world
The goal of this project is to develop a recurring program to expose CAS-UPRM students to an innovation and entrepreneurship mindset, as a first step toward transforming our agriculture into one of precision and efficiency while increasing its economic potential. Through education, exposure to real-life agricultural challenges, hands-on experiences, and interdisciplinary interactions with other students, the program aims to help students create innovative tools for improving efficiency in the agricultural sector.
The mission of the program is to transform the university student experience by fostering the right attitude to be innovative and develop an entrepreneurial mindset. By understanding the challenges and goals necessary to engage all stakeholders, this proposal is designed using an entrepreneurial ecosystem approach. This approach enables the optimization of resources and the development of a sustainable business platform within the complexity and diversity of the UPRM environment.