Centrallia, Global Business Forum - a Futurallia event by ANIM

Congratulations to OpenGate from Mexico Winner of the Travel to Manitoba Grand Prize!

Press Release

Owners: Luis Aguirre, Ignacio Rivas and Eduardo Romero
Founded in: 2005
Location: Guadalajara, Mexico
Employees: 8
Sales: 100 000$
Profile: OpenGate is a computer software development company.
www.opengate.com.mx

Luis Aguirre was still in university when he and two other business-oriented colleagues, Ignacio Rivas and Eduardo Romero decided to start their own software company. Appropriately enough, their business is located in Guadalajara, which is known as Mexico’s silicon valley. OpenGate specializes in computer software for small and medium sized businesses. Their clients include hotels, schools and universities throughout Mexico.

At first, it was just the three partners. Today, there are eight people on the company’s payroll and Luis Aguirre is proud of what they have accomplished.

“We work very hard,” says Aguirre. “I am 25 years old, my other partners are 25 and 27. We were very young when we started this company. The most difficult part is the management aspect. We are software engineers, not accountants but when it comes to the technical aspects, we think we are better than the other companies.” And certainly luckier.

This is the second time the young software company has been chosen to participate in a Futurallia event. In 2008, OpenGate was selected by its local government to attend Futurallia Quebec, an all expenses paid trip that ended up being quite profitable for the small business.

“We really benefited from our participation at Futurallia Quebec,” explains Luis Aguirre. “We met a few partners, one from Montreal, one from the United States and ironically, we even met two new clients from Mexico while in Quebec City!”

Their experience in Quebec City was so positive that when they heard about Centrallia 2010, Aguirre and his partners were eager to enter the contest to win a free trip to the Futurallia event. Luis Aguirre says this prize couldn’t come at a better time, “…with the economy as it is, it would be difficult to afford such a trip.”

Besides the business to business meetings that are planned for Centrallia, the OpenGate team looks forward to networking and exchanging ideas just as they did at Futurallia Quebec. “It was interesting to meet other software companies and compare how we do business and learn from it. And it’s great to meet businesses from other parts of the world, not just Mexico,” adds Aguirre who can’t wait to do it again. “We will look for new customers at Centrallia or the possibility of doing joint ventures. Anything to increase our business and export our software to other parts of the world.”

For more information, contact:
Suzanne Druwé
Communications Director
ANIM (Agence nationale et internationale du Manitoba)
219 Provencher Blvd., 3rd Floor
St. Boniface, Manitoba
Canada R2H 0G4
Telephone: (204) 253-4888 ext. 107
Toll Free: 1 877 484-9931

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