ROSE HALL, St James — A total of 35 tech start-ups from the Caribbean were invited to participate in an accelerator programme which forms part of Tech Beach Retreat’s third instalment, co-founder Kirk-Anthony Hamilton announced Thursday evening at Iberostar Hotel.

“I want to point to the fact that this year, for Tech Beach especially, we have about 35 start-ups from within the region – all extremely talented individuals and companies who have been selected from various programmes, based on what they’ve achieved, to be a part of the first hybrid accelerator within Tech Beach…” he stated.

Supported by partners Caribbean Development Bank and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago through its Ministry of Planning and Development – both of which played integral roles in vetting the start-ups – the accelerator is described as a “hybrid” as it combines both curriculum-based workshops and face-to-face interactions with 10 entrepreneurs who act as mentors

Start-up entrepreneurs in the programme are from Trinidad and Tobago, The Bahamas, St Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, Guyana, and Jamaica.

According to Hamilton, the accelerator programme “really starts to unfold the ultimate vision of what Tech Beach is about.

“The general concept was how can we build out a more global-[level] ecosystem to allow tech to thrive in this part of the world (Caribbean) where it is often marginalised,” he said, noting that when the conference first took place in 2016 the conversation on tech and innovation in the region was “very embryonic, very elementary”.

He was also grateful for the role Twitter boss Jack Dorsey, last year’s keynote presenter, has played in setting the tone for people to begin realising exactly what Tech Beach hopes to achieve and, ultimately, what the conference can achieve. In addition, he commended Dorsey for taking the message of Tech Beach Retreat farther than either he or co-founder Kyle Maloney could.

“This is very high-level, global-standard content being delivered in a place where the conversation typically does not happen,” Hamilton reiterated.

Ian Durant, the Caribbean Development Bank’s (CDB) deputy director of economics said the CDB found value in partnering with Tech Beach, as digitalisation is transforming business landscapes and has the potential to spur positive developmental outcomes such as increased productivity, enhanced competitiveness, and the creation of sustainable livelihoods.

“Of course, we recognise as well that the application of digital solutions to transactions and interactions in the region is behind where it should and could be,” Durant said. “Hence, we are doing a number of things to help to speed up the process of digital penetration given the huge developmental potential that it has. These actions include initiatives in the area of research and also technical assistance to implement some of those digital applications.”

The deputy director said Caribbean citizens are now demanding better services, more timely responses, and greater levels of transparency from everyone, including regional governments. As such, the CDB will seek to address these concerns through digital transformation which facilitates efficiencies and spurs innovation, competitiveness and productivity growth.

“CDB, in its quest to reduce poverty and inequality through inclusive and sustainable growth, continues to support new, innovative approaches to addressing the development challenges of the region,” Durant said.

Referring to the regional bank’s involvement in the tech conference, specifically the accelerator programme, he said, “it gave us great pleasure to partner with Tech Beach and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to host the first Tech Beach 3-Day Accelerator for Caribbean Entrepreneurs and Innovators. We believe that this support will go a long way towards ensuring that Caribbean-based entrepreneurs are able to contribute to the further development of the region as well as towards the provision of globally demanded goods and services”.

Durant expressed confidence in the bright, young and energetic start-up entrepreneurs to successfully fulfil the expectations being placed on them.

“We at CDB truly believe that innovators and entrepreneurs such as yourself are immense — and woefully untapped — engines of growth for the Caribbean,” he said.