Medellin Business – The Silicon Valleys of Latin America: A tale of 3 nations

Conrad Egusa is the co-founder of Espacio, the co-owner of Colombia Reports, and is currently a mentor at The Founder Institute.

In 2012, the Wall Street Journal and Citi announced their finalists for the most innovative “City of the Year” contest: New York, Tel Aviv, and a surprising third selection, Medellin, Colombia.

The city of Medellin, which Time Magazine 20 years ago referred to as the “coke capital of the world” and 10 years ago had a homicide rate 12 times that of Chicago, was selected as the winner.

Unbeknownst to many, the country of Colombia is positioning itself as the Silicon Valley of Latin America, vying against Chile and Brazil for this title. In a country where bloodshed on