About Us


The Camino Real Angels

In forming the Camino Real Angels' we agreed our mission was to provide opportunities where our members could realize excellent financial returns by investing in early-stage companies located in the Paso del Norte Region and by helping them obtain market leadership.

Most venture capital firms no longer serve the seed capital market. The Camino Real Angels provide seed and early-stage capital in the range up to $2M.

Business and financial leaders of our community, who have funded and built successful companies, make up our membership. We are involved investors that mentor and coach the entrepreneurs with which we invest. We serve on their boards, provide contacts, and assist with team building, strategic planning and fundraising.

As a sponsor of the 2008 Camino Real Business Plan Competition, we are furthering our commitment and belief in the potential the region holds. To learn more about the Camino Real Angels, click here.

The Bi-national Sustainability Laboratory

The Bi-national Sustainability Laboratory (BNSL) is a non-profit whose core mission to foster long-term, technology-based, sustainable economic development of the U.S.-Mexico border region.  The BNSL has the overall strategic objective of job and wealth creation founded on new technology-based businesses formed through bi-national, regional economic collaboration and innovation. This is accomplished by:

·          Identifying needs for the development of innovative science- and technology-based solutions to regional problems and understanding the social environment in which they will be applied.

·          Facilitating the development of technology-based solutions to these identified problems through product development research and development, incubation of new start-ups, business acceleration, identification of financial resources and strategic partnering with regional stakeholders, among other actions.

·          Applying the solutions through commercial spin-offs, improved government and social services, implementation of new programs, and changes in government policies and regulations.

To realize this, the BNSL establishes strategic collaborative partnerships with existing border-focused programs and institutions, including universities, government programs, existing non-governmental organizations, interested private sector parties and others on both sides of the border.  The BNSL serves as a bi-national platform to leverage the strengths and capabilities of its partners and stakeholders using distributed facilities and activities appropriate to specific border regions.  To learn more about the BNSL, click here.

The Centers for Entrepreneurial Development, Advancement, Research, and Support (CEDARS) is an organization of centers and institutes that foster economic development in the region served by the University of Texas at El Paso. The mission is accomplished through activities that support business creation and growth. CEDARS programs educate students, business owners, and prospective business owners about the formation and management of companies in free enterprise systems. UTEP faculty, staff, and students conduct research to add to knowledge about entrepreneurship and communicate results to practitioners, policy makers and other scholars. CEDARS staff and volunteers provide service to the region through continuing education, counseling, publications and other efforts.

CEDARS fulfills its mission in collaboration with other economic development programs and the business community at large. Through its various centers and institutes, CEDARS seeks to bring global attention to UTEP and El Paso.  To learn more about CEDARS, click here.