Cenetec to Open Miami Accelerator Sept

Florida-based technology accelerator Cenetec (www.cenetec.com) plans to open September 1 a Miami facility with space for up to 12 companies targeting Latin America and the US Hispanic community, Cenetec CEO Bill Hager told BNamericas.com. However, Cenetec does not expect to host more than eight companies simultaneously, as part of the facility will be used for support, services and laboratory activities, Hager said. The average time of acceleration will be six months, he added. The company will initially install its only official Latin project, Spanish-language ebusiness solutions provider NetMAXimo (www.netMAXimo.com). Cenetec plans to add three projects on September 30 and an additional three before year-end, Hager said. Hager declined to identify the companies for strategic reasons, but he described them as either Internet or high tech companies focusing exclusively or primarily on the Latin American market. ?All are companies that in our judgment have the capability of obtaining US$100mn-plus market capitalization in 24 months,? he added. Cenetec will begin in the next few week US$10mn-US$25mn fundraising process to fund projects, expansion and infrastructure build-out. The company initially planned to raise US$20mn-US$50mn but decided to reduce the amount mainly because ?the current owners prefer to give up as little equity as possible to raise less money now and more later,? he commented. Cenetec has closed two seed rounds of US$5mn and US$1.2mn respectively. It operates a US-centric accelerator in Boca Raton, Florida. The company targets companies specializing in the Internet, software, micro-electronics, wireless hardware or software, telecommunications and technological infrastructure.