Around 50 startups from Argentina, Spain, Portugal, Chile, and Miami will test an Ibero-American entrepreneurial passport. The accreditation certifies their trajectory in their home ecosystem and is presented with the new Ibero-American Startup Forum.
According to ecosistemastartup.com, around 50 startups from Argentina, Spain, Portugal, Chile, and Miami will be the first to try an Ibero-American entrepreneurial passport. This is an accreditation that reflects their journey in the home ecosystem, so they do not have to prove everything from scratch when entering another market. It is the first concrete project of the Ibero-American Startup Forum, presented at the Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government, which will take place in Madrid on November 4 and 5.
For a founder considering crossing the Atlantic, the document allows them to arrive with verifiable references, local mentors, and already active contacts.
The Forum was established in April 2026 as a non-profit coordination space among associations and ecosystems from Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. It will not have a fixed headquarters and will operate within existing international meetings, without creating its own structure. It is driven by ASETEC from Córdoba (Argentina), VDS Scale Up Alliance, and Startup Valencia from Spain, and Vórtice, which connects entrepreneurial spaces in Chile and the European Union.
The presidency is held by Agustín Baeza, director of Public Affairs at VDS Scale Up Alliance. The vice-presidencies are occupied by Paula Gialdi Svorcan, president and co-founder of ASETEC, Nacho Mas, Gastón Metayer, and Marisel Rodríguez. Among the entities that have shown interest in participating are the Latin American Startups Alliance (ALAS), URUCAP (Uruguay), Unicorn Factory Lisbon, Emprende tu Mente (Chile), Mana Tech, Grow, Dybo, and the U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce in Miami.
The passport is not a migration document or a visa, and it does not replace the administrative procedures of the destination country. It certifies that the startup has raised capital, participated in incubation or acceleration programs, or received institutional support in its home market. This history often goes unnoticed by investors, corporations, and agencies in the destination country.
The pilot, involving around 50 companies linked to the Forum's organizations, will compare the journey of those internationalizing with this accreditation against those doing so without it. The expected metrics are reduced friction, access to mentors and investors, and the effectiveness of prior recognition. Alongside the passport, the project includes a network of trusted actors in each receiving ecosystem, a mapping platform of organizations on both sides, and the Ibero-American Startup Nation Standards (IBSS), a common measurement framework inspired by the Europe Startup Nations Alliance (ESNA).
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