Google LLC has awarded Max Mergenthaler Canseco, CEO and co-founder of Pittsburgh tech startup Nixtla, a $100,000 nonequity cash award as part of the newly launched $5 million Google for Startups Latino Founders Fund.
Nixtla is an open source platform for data scientists to improve predictions and production outcomes with the use of time-series platform pipelines.
"The support from Google for Startups will be used to keep contributing to the open source machine learning community," Mergenthaler Canseco said in a press release.
The local startup's award even received recognition from Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey.
"We are proud that Nixtla is receiving this award,” Gainey said in a press release. "Our diversity is what makes Pittsburgh great, and we are proud that our tech ecosystem is once again being recognized and are excited to see how we can ensure that our growth in the tech economy can lift up and empower communities across our city."
Nixtla is one of 50 startups selected as part of Google's inaugural group of recipients for its Latino Founders Fund, an endeavor that the company claims is focused on "high-potential" startups that are founded by Latin American entrepreneurs who are based in the U.S. Winners of the cash award are also entitled to hands-on programming and support from Google, mentorship from technical and business experts and access to free mental health therapy, among other perks.
“We are excited to support these talented Latino entrepreneurs as they build innovative solutions and solve tough problems,” Daniel Navarro, a marketing lead at Google for Startups, said in a press release. “I hope the launch of our inaugural Google for Startups Latino Founders Fund not only catalyzes the growth of these incredible Latino-led startups, but also inspires other Latino entrepreneurs, and ultimately generates wealth within the community.”
See all of the winners in the new fund here.
