One of our favorite things about our Global Hackathon Series is getting the chance to meet and foster innovators in countries around the world. Last year, we met team Boxtrip when they won AH8 Mexico City. From there, they were invited into the HACKcelerator, and have now come back as Ambassadors for AH9 Mexico City! Today, we (virtually) caught up with Boxtrip CEO, Gabriela Roque.
Let’s start with introductions! What’s your name and where are you from? What did you do before Boxtrip?
Hi! My name is Gabriela Roque from Mexico City!
Before I started with the idea to create a startup I was working in another company developing apps, but then I was invited to assist at the hackathon as a mentor. I was really excited to help other people make their ideas become a reality, after that moment I realized that I could do more with starting my own idea. I was searching for new opportunities, and I found the best place to do it, AngelHack.
The original AngelHack Mexico City demo.
Tell us about your experience in the HACKcelerator program. What were your goals? Did you meet them? What roadblocks did you run into?
At first, we couldn’t believe it, we were chosen as the best idea among more than seventeen very talented teams. When we started our experience in the HACKcelerator, there was a lot of pressure. It was a huge deal, representing my country alongside 46 highly skilled international teams. Our main goal was to give our best and build the product. With time and dedication, we achieved our goals against all odds!
Being in the HACKcelerator, my team and I were selected to pitch our idea in Paris as one of the top 10 Mexican startups. We also won a prize from Becas Transfer to attend AnDevCon in Santa Clara, California.
I couldn’t believe it, our dreams were coming true!
What did you learn from this experience?
The most valuable thing I learned was that there is no problem you can’t deal with. I also met amazing people from all over the world, we shared our passion to turn ideas into something real, changing the world little by little.
At the end we built an amazing family.
Tell us about your company journey after the HACKcelerator.
The journey is still very long. We achieve more confidence to solve every problem, and as a result we create a better product every day.
We’ve been working on our product to deliver the best experience to every customer we have. There is still a lot to do, and we plan to keep working to achieve more success everyday. In terms of numbers: we have more than 400 customers, we have been selected to join NUMA, the international Accelerator, and we are in accelerator process there!
What is your game plan for the future of Boxtrip?
Our game plan is to give the best moving experience to every customer, and to become the leader in moving services. We plan to expand our startup to other countries and try to share this amazing experience with others all over the world.
We are preparing the company to receive a hands-in investor who can share with us his/her experience, contacts and talent. We also launched a crowdfunding campaign to make Boxtrip bigger, and to give our service providers tools to expand.
You’re an ambassador for AngelHack now. What made you decide to join us?
We joined because we love the idea of your project, the amazing team, and because you show the world that any dream can come true by giving others the chance to spread those amazing ideas. You help people to achieve their goals and share their success with others.
Tell us about the hackathon scene in Mexico.
There are a lot of people really excited to create new projects that will transform Mexico in the next few years, but there is a lot to do here. Mexico is a country with passion and talent, all the things needed to succeed are here. The next step is to spread the word, and share these new amazing opportunities!
Tell us about the AngelHack series event.
This year will be the best year! A lot of people from all around the world will gather together to share their ideas, learn, enjoy an amazing event that I’m sure will change their lives.
In Mexico, a lot of people are coming out to enjoy this amazing weekend!
BoxTrip has launched a Crowdfunding campaign to help give them a little more momentum. If you’re interested in helping their company click, here.
