About Carahue
A city in southern Chile sitting on the banks of the Imperial River about 56 km west of Temuco, Carahue was originally founded in 1552 and subsequently destroyed during the War of Arauco in 1600. It was later rebuilt in 1882 during the Occupation of the Araucania. The town that has an annual fair celebrating the humble "potato" has a population of around the 25,696 mark, so you will probably have a chance to get to know many of them if you hang around the local cafes or in a coworking venue where the tech savvy souls get creative. Predominantly a rural area where only a small percentage of the agricultural activity is modern, the city oozes Mapuche culture (native indigenous people). Carahue is cloaked in forests encompassing the Nahuelbuta Mountain range plus rivers, marshes and a coastal edge.
Carahue may not be a tech hub per se, but it does have its fair share of entrepreneurs hustling around the town. The Chile government has created some amazing opportunities for tech startups to launch and grow with one such inducement being the introduction of a new tech visa allowing entrepreneurs, tech gurus and investors to acquire a visa in only 15 days. The government has backed the "Start-Up Chile" program offering equity-free grants up to US$40,000 that is attracting techies and startups from all over the world. There is a wealth of mentoring workshops and access to investors as well as one-year visas to entrepreneurs who wish to continue developing their startups in Chile. With this leading global accelerator program, it is creating the foundation for a growing culture of entrepreneurship.
Chile is ranked 5th in the world for tertiary enrolment and 14th for the number of companies created each year. It has some of the best universities in South America that is spawning a generation of tech savvy and hungry youth that are on the entrepreneurial ladder to success. Coworking venues have become the space where they flock to forming communities of innovative minds.