Ecuadorian start-up wins award for creating an internet platform to help upcoming writers

An Ecuadorian start-up venture that created an internet platform for Latin America’s emerging writers was declared the winner of the Inter-American Development Bank’s fifth “pitch” competition, held as part of the “Demand Solutions” event in Miami earlier week.

Inkspired’s homepage.

Galo Vargas, co-founder of the start-up venture Inkspired, won IDB’s top prize of $30,000 for being the Creative Entrepreneur with the Highest Potential for Global Impact. Inkspired is a platform that allows emerging fiction writers from Latin America and the world to publish their books and creative series, connecting them with interested readers and providing them with metrics to improve their work and make their stories more appealing.

Vargas and his partners are from Guayaquil.

Ariana Green, co-founder of Couple Six from Barbados won the Disruptive Creativity for Development Award, a $15,000 cash prize from IDB. Couple Six is the first videogame development studio in Barbados; it features games based on narratives of the history and culture of the Caribbean.

Vargas and Green advance to the Global Finals competition in Copenhagen in late November.

The IDB event, featured 18 innovative startups from across Latin America and the Caribbean, co-hosted by IDB and Miami Dade College (MDC). Demand Solutions, the IDB’s flagship event on innovation and entrepreneurship, is intended to “bring together creative minds from around the world to share solutions that improve lives,” according to its sponsors.