The leaders of the three organizations nurturing Chilean entrepreneurs felt, to me, like the people creating the next Bad Bunny of the startup world—not in music, but in impact. Just as music can dissolve borders, they were connecting founders, cities, and markets, composing a new rhythm across the Americas. After the program they had carefully designed and brought to life, we sat down to talk—about New York, Miami, and Chile, about what it really means for startups to go global, and about how relationships, not routes, are what truly reshape ecosystems.

That line captured the spirit of the entire journey. The founders who returned from New York and Miami didn’t look like tourists ticking off landmarks. They looked like people who had just discovered that scale is not a destination—it’s a network you earn, one introduction at a time.

This journey was made possible through a collaboration between Startup Biobío, a regional startup program in southern Chile, Endeavor, the global entrepreneurship network, and ELPiS Labs, the U.S.-based soft-landing and market access platform co-founded by Anastasia. Together, they designed a program not to showcase startups, but to help founders experience—firsthand—what it actually means to step into the U.S. market.

The goal was simple. Let founders see what the U.S. market really is, and whether they are truly ready to stand there.

Startup Biobío was created to strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem in southern Chile through a partnership between local companies, the University of Concepción’s incubator, and the Endeavor Biobío office. Over the years, more than 150 startups have passed through its portfolio, shaping a generation of founders who are increasingly aware that Chile’s market, while dynamic, is not enough if they want to grow at scale.

This year, a carefully selected group of around ten teams traveled to the United States. They were not chosen by internal preference, but by a jury composed of venture capitalists, angel investors, and experienced mentors. These were the teams that had shown the strongest performance and the clearest signs of growth potential throughout the program.

They came from different industries and were at different stages, yet they shared a single question that quietly followed them across borders: are we really ready for the next market?

Anastasia, Co-Founder of ELPiS Labs, describes the program not as a tour, but as a process.

In its first year, the program focused on Miami. This time, it expanded to include both New York and Miami, deliberately designed as a comparison between two very different ecosystems. Miami offered familiarity, cultural proximity, and a sense of psychological comfort for Latin American founders. New York, by contrast, presented itself as a full-scale global arena, dense with capital, technology, venture capital firms, and multinational corporations.

Ivan, Co-Founder of Startup Biobío, puts it plainly.

Some teams returned convinced that New York was the market they needed to pursue. Others realized that Miami should be their first step. The ability to feel that difference, rather than just read about it, became one of the most meaningful outcomes of the entire journey.

The days were full. Meetings followed meetings, conversations turned into introductions, and introductions slowly turned into the beginnings of something more. There were discussions about distribution and partnerships, about incorporation and regulation, about how the U.S. system actually works when you’re not looking at it from afar. There were visits to innovation hubs and long hours of networking that stretched late into the evening.

But the real purpose of the trip was never about filling a schedule.

Anastasia explains it in the simplest terms.

Some founders from previous cohorts are still in touch with partners and mentors they first met through this program. For this year’s group, the experience was not “just another business visit,” but the moment they opened their first real business line toward the U.S.

Chile is a country of around 20 million people, stretching from the Atacama Desert in the north to Patagonia in the south. Its long coastline has shaped industries like fishing and forestry, while mining has long dominated the northern regions. For decades, it was known primarily as a resource-based economy.

That image has been shifting. Over the past 15 years, the government-led initiative Start-Up Chile has played a central role in reshaping the country’s entrepreneurial landscape, attracting global founders and strengthening local ecosystems. More recently, national focus has moved toward deep tech, climate tech, and lithium and battery-related technologies, reflecting both global trends and Chile’s own strategic resources.

Felipe from Endeavor Biobío describes the change as a shift in mindset.

What surprised many founders on this trip was not meeting distant, untouchable figures, but meeting people who had simply arrived earlier and built their paths step by step. That realization alone quietly redefined what they believed was possible.

Anastasia also points out something fundamental about the U.S. market.

Latin communities can be a powerful starting point, offering familiarity and trust. But staying only within those boundaries inevitably limits scale. That is precisely why New York mattered so much in this program: it forced founders to practice stepping into the next community, and then the one after that.

This collaboration worked because each partner played a distinct and complementary role. Startup Biobío understood the founders and the local context better than anyone else. Endeavor brought a global network and a clear scale-up perspective. ELPiS Labs designed and executed soft-landing pathways that actually function in the realities of the U.S. market.

Together, they avoided the trap of a “showcase tour” and instead built something far more durable: a structure that founders can continue to use long after the trip itself is over.

Ivan sums it up simply.

The founders who returned from New York and Miami now understand something clearly. The U.S. market is big and far, but it is no longer an abstract world. It is a place they can return to.

Connections continue. Follow-up visits are already being discussed. Some teams are considering U.S. incorporation, while others are exploring deeper partnerships. What this collaboration ultimately shows is simple and enduring.

Finally, Paul, Editor of bcdW, who conducted this interview, added that he hopes this conversation does not end as merely a story about “entering the U.S. market.” bcdW is not a Magazine platform focused only on the United States; it is a creative business magazine and network that connects America and Asia. Building on this case, he emphasized bcdW’s intention to help Chilean startups and institutions, as well as partners in New York and Miami, connect with companies, institutions, and communities across Asia—including Korea. In that sense, this collaboration is not a one-off program, but the beginning of a long-term, relationship-driven exchange, made possible by strong local partnerships.