As part of its quest to build a “Smarter Planet,” IBM is once again sponsoring its annual SmartCamp initiative, which fosters entrepreneurship and innovation through exclusive events around the globe.
CareCloud’s founder and CEO, Albert Santalo, recently participated in this year’s SmartCamp Global Finals in Silicon Valley, California. Albert attended the event to serve as a mentor to early stage entrepreneurs.
Considering that CareCloud is now a major presence in the healthcare IT industry and has a staff of over 120 employees, it’s almost hard to believe that just over a year ago, CareCloud was a start-up mentee in this elite competition, not a mentor.
CareCloud participated in the inaugural round of the SmartCamp program in September of 2010 and made a major impression, being named co-winner of SmartCamp Silicon Valley and earning runner-up honors in the SmartCamp World Finals in Dublin, Ireland.
At the 2010 event, IBM provided invaluable support to CareCloud by introducing the company to a number of influential investment firms, industry experts, executives and advisors.
Albert reflected on CareCloud’s experience as a SmartCamp competitor in an interview with IBM’s Timothy Willeford, which you can watch here or below:
This year, Albert served on a special “Winner’s Journey” panel at the Global Finals with his fellow 2010 SmartCamp winners Zia Yusuf, CEO of Streetline and Ashifi Gogo, CEO of Sproxil. Speaking to an audience of newer start-up founders, Albert offered his advice on getting funding, winning those first customers and embracing change in the marketplace.
“Entrepreneurship is an act of faith, not an act of logic,” Albert said at the event. “You have to see the door and run through it.”
Albert and the rest of CareCloud’s leadership team look forward to continuing to support and foster global entrepreneurship through involvement with IBM SmartCamp in the years to come.
How are you building a Smarter Planet?
If you’re ever been involved with IBM SmartCamp, we’d love to hear about your experience. Tell us about it in the comments below!