Feb 26, 2013

 

Interesting article in Friday’s NYT about Uruguay’s gaming start-up scene: Ironhide for example encounters great success in the US with its game Kingdom Rush: it has been ranked one of the top-selling paying applications for the Iphone in 2012.  The list of successful start-up- and entrepreneur activities in Uruguay is quite impressive, including Evan Henshaw-Plath, one of the co-founders of the company that became Twitter, having moved there to start his business.

What makes Uruguay such a fertile soil for start-ups? Besides the fact of having quite a progressive IT education from early age on, with the initiative One Laptop Per Child being adopted by the government, the NYT article mentions the immigration policy as beneficial factor: Uruguay offers advantages when it comes to attracting talent.

Interesting food for thought regarding the discussion what makes the Swiss start-up scene thrive (or not) and much debated talent migration initiatives like Open the Gates.