We started out wanting to improve businesses in Latin America and how they connect with international merchants and vendors in a way that was fast, reliable, and affordable. Our journey started just days before the hackathon of Stellar & Techstars in Mexico City, where we learned about Web 3 technology and its potential for Latin America. From there, we participated in another hackathon, this time online, which was organized by a Blockchain incubator and involved different Latin American countries. There, we were one of the winners.

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We then formally applied to the “Blockchain Academy Chile incubator” (now known as Colledge) and were selected after numerous interviews and revisions. The incubator program lasted for four months, during which we worked on different aspects of our business alongside other startups and our mentors. After the program, we applied for a Stellar Community grant and were awarded a grant of 10k. This allowed us to incorporate our business, start a team, and set an office space in the garage where we work full-time.

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Despite facing several challenges and obstacles, including technical hurdles, regulatory compliance, and fundraising, we persevered. We closed a partnership deal with a technology university that has multiple locations in Mexico, specifically working alongside Coatzacoalcos Campus. We recruited one marketing person and four developers, starting with the developer team in January. We integrated Wyre for our MVP, although we needed to restart that part of the integration due to Wyre problems. We launched along the way our website and social media channels. We then participated and were selected as winners of the SCF#13.

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Some of the hurdles we have had regarding users was to start with just a market, at the beginning we wante to do many markets, but until we actually started talking and interviewing potential customers we better understood what they truly care about, that's why we decided to focus completely on B2B. and from that we have been drilling down business size, and industry, allowing us to truly build an ICP and to build and improve the product around their needs.

CashAbroad uses the Stellar Anchors network to on-ramp FIAT to crypto to a USDC master wallet, then a smart contract built on the Soroban platform distributes the money via on-chain transactions to three different wallets allocating a percentage fee for public goods, the recipient and the CashAbroad wallet. Building on top of Stellar provide us with realtime, almost zero cost on-chain transactions and allow us to use the Stellar Anchors protocols (SEP´s) to build a payment experience that can be replicated with all the Anchors of the network in different countries, maintaining security and trust in the payment process.

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Furthermore, this strong foundation allows us to seamlessly integrate with the Soroban smart contract platform, enabling us to build the logic to distribute funds within the blockchain. With all these, we confidently offer additional business functionalities such as automatic payments, mass payments, roles and approvals, invoice/request, and WhatsApp status updates.

We are absolutely thrilled with our experience so far! Working with such talented individuals has helped us grow in so many ways - as a team, in our individual areas of expertise, and as a company.

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We love being a part of the Stellar community. Our journey with Stellar began in Mexico City, and even though we were living in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz at the time, we knew we had to attend the Stellar + Techstar Startup weekend. It was a long drive of 12 hours, but we made it and it was well worth it. During the Startup Camp, we met so many amazing people and were thrilled to be finalists. After that, Anuxhya encouraged us to participate in the SCF#10, which we did. Although we made it as candidates in the SCF#10, we didn't win. But we didn't give up. We tried again in the SCF#11 and were over the moon to be one of the winners! We have also participated in both Startup Camps and in the Sorobathon. Currently we are winners of the SCF#13.

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SCF Startup Camp Spring 2023

We joined SCF Startup Camp to boost our company's creativity, develop a solution and test it with users in just 5 days. We also wanted to connect with like-minded individuals who could offer valuable feedback and improve our company.Our experience was amazing! Five members of our team worked on testing a concept for funding public goods using fees from cross-border payments. We enjoyed the Lightning Demos and the Four Step Sketch, where we quickly sketched ideas and designed screens to propose a solution.During this Startup Camp, we coded a lot and were thrilled with the support we received from the community using Stellar and Soroban smart contract platforms.

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The Stellar team was awesome in helping us implement our ideas on their platform.Finally, the meet-and-greet spaces were great for relaxing and getting to know the mentors and company founders. It was an absolutely great 360-degree experience! We feel that one key element of the Stellar Community Fund is the feeling of urgency it creates, which is a huge boost to our daily work! We also think it was a genius strategic decision to add the Proof of Intent and the new award structure and timeline because it keeps everyone on track and improves accountability for all projects.😎

• The Stellar + Techstars Startup Weekend in Mexico City was an amazing experience!
• The Stellar Startup Camp was truly a game changer for us. And it was so much fun!!
• Winning the SCF#11 was a huge milestone for us.
• We were thrilled when we won the SCF#13. 🌟
• Meeting Anuxhya for the first time was an unforgettable moment.. It was Salsa dance, great talking and a great view of the city.
• Our first meeting with Anke through Discord, after a 12h trip returning from the Mexico City Startup Weekend, we just got in time to connect on the Stellar Discord. She is always incredible with people.
• Meeting passionate people from the community has been one of the most rewarding aspects of this journey.
• Every pitch session!!! We always get so nervous.
• When we planed, scripted, filmed and edited the Sorobathon video, that was a lot of fun.
• The period leading up to the application deadline is always a very demanding and exciting time for us!
• We are always grateful when members of the community help us to solve technical problems or guide us to understand the ecosystem.
• When Anke and SDF re-posted our Linkedin and Twitter posts. We felt deeply happy and moved. :)

• The community is an invaluable resource for learning and growing in the ecosystem. Collaborating with its members will help you leverage the network and achieve your goals with ease.
• Creating a compelling proposal that solves users' problems requires significant thought and effort. With dedication, you can develop a proposal that stands out and makes a difference.
• The blockchain industry is known for its volatility, so it's essential to be proactive and build a team that can react quickly to changes in the market.
• When the fundamentals of your problem and solution are sound, you can have confidence in the long-term success of your company.
• As founders, we have the responsibility to inspire urgency and motivate our team to achieve our goals.
• Optimizing your budgets to focus on specific goals at each stage of your company's journey is critical. From building to launching, finding market fit, and scaling, you must prioritize your spending and investing to ensure success.
• Your closest network can be a valuable source of potential customers. Continuously testing marketing strategies until you find a fit with them is key to success.
• It's essential to focus first on one market before expanding to others.

CashAbroad uses the Stellar Anchors network to on-ramp FIAT to crypto to a USDC master wallet, then a smart contract built on the Soroban platform distributes the money via on-chain transactions to three different wallets allocating a percentage fee for public goods, the recipient and the CashAbroad wallet. Building on top of Stellar provide us with realtime, almost zero cost on-chain transactions and allow us to use the Stellar Anchors protocols (SEP´s) to build a payment experience that can be replicated with all the Anchors of the network in different countries, maintaining security and trust in the payment process.

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Furthermore, this strong foundation allows us to seamlessly integrate with the Soroban smart contract platform, enabling us to build the logic to distribute funds within the blockchain. With all these, we confidently offer additional business functionalities such as automatic payments, mass payments, roles and approvals, invoice/request, and WhatsApp status updates.

• The first step is to take your work seriously! You must put in the effort and drill down as much as possible in your market.
• Interact with other members of the community. There is a lot of knowledge and goodwill in the community that you should definitely leverage. Take advantage of the resources available to you.
• Participate in events. This is where you, your team, and your company will grow the most. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to connect with the people in the community. They are very interesting and can offer valuable insights.
• Test your prototypes to ensure they meet the needs of your customers.
• If you don't succeed at first, don't give up! Use the feedback you receive to make your proposal stronger and better. With confidence and persistence, you can achieve your goals!