Sunny Ray interviews José Roberto Rodríguez Duque of CoreNest Accelerator, a platform that connects Latin American startups with corporate partners in Central America. José argues that technology is no longer the scarce asset in the AI era, and that adoption, meaning real demand and access to a corporate buyer, now matters most. He explains why many founders solve problems that were never validated, why corporates tend to resist open innovation, and why CoreNest asks corporates to pay for pilots while startups give early equity. He shares what he sees in the application pipeline, with roughly 400 applications between September and January and almost 500 more since March, many of them built largely with AI. He also describes an exit model built on scaling startups across several Latin American markets so global companies can acquire a proven entry point. As a proud Salvadoran, he explains why El Salvador works as a sandbox for validation before going global. The first accelerator batch begins in January with five or 10 startups working with corporates across insurance, finance, robotics, marketing, and telecommunications.
Technology is no longer scarce in the AI era; José Roberto Rodríguez Duque says the real prize is getting corporates to adopt it.
What is CoreNest Accelerator and what problem are you solving?
CoreNest is a platform that connects startups with corporate partners in the Central America region so they can scale. The scarce asset today is adoption within the corporate sector. We link strong regional corporates with Latin American startups, and also welcome startups from anywhere in the world that want to build in Latin America from El Salvador.
When did it click for you that adoption, not technology, is the scarce asset?
We launched in September last year and got about 400 applications by January. From March to date we have received almost 500 more, and most of those solutions were built by AI. The tools work well, so the real question is whether the solution solves a corporate's problem. Investors now care about how fast startups can reach market and validate.
Why do so many great founders stall before getting traction?
Many founders build for problems that exist only in their heads and are not validated in the market. They do not ask the right questions to the right people. Part of the reason is that corporates in the region are often closed to open innovation. We act as the bridge so startups can build from real corporate needs.
Why does a paid pilot change the relationship compared with a free one?
There is no free lunch. If a corporate does not commit time and capital, the project will not matter inside the organization. So we ask corporates to pay for the pilot and the accelerator support, and we ask startups for early equity. In return, we help them land a first anchor client and a champion in Central America.
What was the strangest question a corporate brought you?
A CEO asked what happens if the pilot succeeds, because he might want to acquire the startup so competitors cannot use it. I told him that validating a startup and investing in it gives his company a stake in its success. Helping the innovation scale across the region could give him a great upside later.
How does the exit model work if IPOs are not an option in the region?
In Central America and Latin America, an IPO is not really an option. Our path is to help founders scale quickly across several key markets, like Central America, Mexico, and Colombia. Then global companies that want to enter Latin America can acquire a startup that has already faced the local challenges, with users, contracts, and validation in place.
Why build this in El Salvador instead of Mexico City or Miami?
I am Salvadoran and very patriotic, but beyond that I believe El Salvador is doing a great job on innovation, with a clear vision to become a hub for technology. Safety lets people build creative things. It is also a small country, so it works as a sandbox to validate a solution before it goes global.
What should a founder outside Latin America know before selling to Central American corporates?
Treat Latin America as an emerging market, which gives you a chance to grow fast because there are so many needs to solve. Walk the streets of El Salvador and you see opportunities in telecommunications, finance, agriculture, and robotics. It is the right place for founders who like big challenges.
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