PRESS RELEASE

Curaçao Innovation Hub marks a key step in building the island’s innovation ecosystem with soft launch at Villa Maria

The soft launch brought partners together around a shared ambition: linking innovation to entrepreneurship, investment and exports.

Willemstad, Curaçao | 4 November 2026. The Curaçao Innovation Hub took a key step in developing Curaçao’s innovation ecosystem at Villa Maria in Scharloo. Public and private partners gathered for a soft launch to mark their shared ambition: a stronger, better-connected ecosystem where new ideas can grow into businesses, investment, jobs and international opportunities.

The Curaçao Innovation Hub is still being developed. The soft launch was not the official opening of a fully operational hub. It was a chance to present the vision, the partnership and the first activities. In the coming months the hub will expand with more programmes, partners and facilities.

Innovation as an engine of economic development

The hub supports Curaçao’s wider economic goals, including the Curaçao National Export Strategy. By linking innovation to entrepreneurship, investment and export-oriented sectors, Curaçao aims to diversify its economy, become more competitive and create new opportunities for local businesses.

The Curaçao Investment & Export Promotion Agency (CINEX) has played a key role in shaping the vision and making the hub a reality. CINEX builds partnerships, connects stakeholders and positions innovation as an engine for investment, exports and sustainable economic development.

The Curaçao Innovation Hub builds on a broader vision for a stronger, better-connected innovation ecosystem on Curaçao, set out in part through innovation.cw. Ngrane made an important creative contribution to developing and visualising this original vision, which helped lay the foundation for the hub.

Partners working together

The hub is being developed with partners from Curaçao’s innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem. They include CINEX, CITI Curaçao Innovation and Technology Institute, the University of Curaçao (UoC), the Ministry of Economic Development (MEO), IBIS Management, Building Depot, Impacto and Securitas. This joint effort shows that building the ecosystem is a shared responsibility and a shared ambition.

Programmes within this partnership help strengthen entrepreneurship and innovation. The DCIF Pioneer Program supports innovative entrepreneurs through a grant programme. CITI’s Startup Launchpad Program helps startups develop and grow their businesses. Both programmes are building blocks of an ecosystem in which entrepreneurs have access to guidance, connections and opportunities to grow.

Regional connections and knowledge sharing

At the soft launch, Impact Hub Aruba and the Curaçao Innovation Hub / Dutch Caribbean Innovation Alliance (DCIA) also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The agreement supports Curaçao’s ambition to strengthen regional innovation networks, share knowledge, encourage entrepreneurship and connect businesses with new markets. Miles Mercera and Mary-Ann Falconi signed the MoU.

The DCIA’s founding team, Valerie Vallenduuk, Luuk Weber and Mary-Ann Falconi, is working to expand regional cooperation. Talks have begun with Sint Maarten, Saba, Sint Eustatius and Bonaire, and the goal is to formalise this cooperation further in the coming period.

Visit by the Dutch minister

The Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs, Heleen Herbert, attended the soft launch. Her visit gave Curaçao an opportunity to present its innovation ambitions and the development of its local ecosystem. The Curaçao Innovation Hub is a Curaçaoan initiative, driven by local partners and focused on the island’s economic development.

Guido Rojer attended on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Development, representing Minister Dr. Roderick Middelhof.

A shared ambition

“With the Curaçao Innovation Hub, we are building more than a physical meeting place. We are building our island’s economic future. Our ambition is to link innovation to entrepreneurship, investment and exports, so that new ideas can grow into businesses, jobs and international opportunities. This soft launch is not the finish line. It is the start of a shared journey in which Curaçao takes charge of its own capacity to innovate.”

— Miles B. M. Mercera, Chief Executive Officer, Curaçao Investment & Export Promotion Agency (CINEX)

During the event, Sinuhe Oomen organised an exhibition of work by local artists. The hub plans to regularly make space for art and creative exchange, including quarterly exhibitions.

 

About Curaçao Innovation Hub

The Curaçao Innovation Hub is an initiative in development that brings together partners, entrepreneurs and knowledge institutions to strengthen innovation, entrepreneurship and economic opportunity on Curaçao.

Note to editors

For more information, please contact CINEX (Curaçao Investment & Export Promotion Agency).