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Overview
The TechBA Program, created by the Ministry of the Economy and the United States-Mexico Foundation for Science (FUMEC), has the purpose to support top-tier Mexican companies in bringing their innovative technology, products and services to global markets. The TechBA acceleration process facilitates access to market, financial, managerial skills and technological resources of highly entrepreneurial ecosystems.As a result of this process, companies rapidly increase their value and become players in the international technology business markets.To coordinate this effort, the Ministry chose FUMEC as a strategic partner that brings into the program strong technology and business networks. Perhaps more importantly, FUMEC understands the key cultural and economic issues involved in developing successful international endeavors (www.fumec.org).
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In the case of TechBA - Madrid, the Ministry partners with ACELTEC, a spin off of FUMEC. Another key element of the TechBA Program has been the selection of ecosystems with high innovation drive, such as Silicon Valley in California, Austin in Texas , Montreal in Quebec and Madrid in Spain. In each region, TechBA partners with recognized organizations that have a proven track of successful results in accelerating innovative companies. Today our partners include The Enterprise Network of Silicon Valley, IC2 from the University of Texas at Austin, Inno-centre in Montreal and Parque Científico de Madrid in Spain. Results related to the acceleration process are the following:
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Companies have secured investment or closed deals for around $28.36 million usd.
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48 companies have incorporated in the U.S.
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High value direct jobs created since their incorporation to TechBA represents 8% of total employment
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Companies income related to each new job is $70,000 USD.
Mexico's Commitment to Technology
With a population of nearly 105 million people, and with exports to the U.S. of more than 220 billion dollars, Mexico is the third largest trading partner of the U.S. In 2004, Mexico ranked as the 8th exporting economy[1] in the world, ranking first from all Latin America.
Mexico has more than 125 R&D institutions and 1,200 universities whose student population has nearly doubled in 10 years. As a result of this effort, Mexico has an extensive and highly-qualified pool of talented professionals who have developed top tier technological and entrepreneurial skills.
The international growth and development of premiere Mexican companies such as CEMEX, a global cement supplier, Grupo Carso, one of Latin America’s largest telecommunication conglomerates, Grupo Modelo, a world class brewery company, Maseca, a large food producer, and Bimbo, a multinational commercial bakery, is also a sign of the increasing presence of Mexico in global markets.
To foster Mexico’s capacity to compete in world markets, the Ministry of the Economy has established programs to further strengthen the more technological regions that are becoming the source of new technology based companies, aided by financial support from the Ministry’s SME FUND (FONDO PYME).
(1) Considering as one economy the 15 member countries of the European Union
Data Source: Ministry of the Economy of Mexico, data from Banco de México |
Program Objectives
To provide an environment that encourages the international development of Mexican technology based companies by helping them to:
TechBA focuses on innovative companies related to high-tech sectors with strong presence in the global technology markets, such as:
- Information and Wireless Technologies
- Biotechnology and Bioinformatics
- Life Sciences
- Microsystems, including Semiconductors and Mems
- Advanced Materials
- Robotics
- Multimedia, Animation and Education Services
Acceleration Process
To ensure the quality and readiness of the companies that become members of TechBA, the Ministry of the Economy of Mexico and FUMEC organize a once-a-year selection process where a committee, comprised of international and Mexican experts in business, technology and venture capital, select the best companies. As part of this process, the companies participate in workshops to receive guidance on how technology businesses are conducted in the international arena. They also undergo a validation of their value proposition using the “TechBA Market Finder methodology”.
The selected companies then move to one of the TechBAs to access venture capital, capture key customers and establish partnerships and major alliances. These companies receive financial awards by the Ministry of the Economy of Mexico. Some of them have also closed first round investments and are recipients of grants and funds from institutions such as CONACYT and NAFIN.
TechBA Ecosystem
The success of the acceleration process relies on the quality of the companies emerging from Innovation Regions in Mexico and the support they get through TechBA in penetrating global markets and their support systems for technology entrepreneurs.
FUMEC collaborates with local organizations within Mexican Innovation Regions (i.e. Nuevo León, Baja California, Chihuahua, Jalisco, Bajío, Mexico City and metropolitan areas) in finding, selecting and preparing companies for the acceleration process.
FUMEC also works on bi-national programs related to specific niches such as Automotive Electronics, Microsystems, Medical Devices, Software, expanding the possibilities of acceleration of enterprises and clusters.
Future Development
Companies that grow and mature as international players in one TechBA, will be able to access new ecosystems through the interaction with the other accelerators, which will translate into the expansion of markets as well as access to additional resources such as alliances, risk capital, specialized consultancy, among others.
Regions of innovation in Mexico will also benefit from the market intelligence that each TechBA will be acquiring, helping them to start the acceleration of high value added clusters.
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The Program 