The recent announcement of HEVA’s $3 million pre-seed funding round reveals a troubling pattern within the Dominican Republic’s innovation ecosystem rather than celebrating another diaspora success story. Dominican-American founder Héctor Alex Terrero’s AI-native healthcare platform secured substantial venture backing only after relocating operations from Santo Domingo to the United States, despite two years of effort to build within his home country.
HEVA represents precisely the type of venture-scale startup that Dominican institutions rhetorically support—operating at the intersection of AI, healthcare, and cross-border services that align with the nation’s promoted identity as a medical tourism hub. Yet when Terrero attempted to establish his previous fintech venture Moneda and later HEVA from within the Dominican Republic, he encountered systemic barriers rather than substantive support.
The funding consortium that ultimately backed HEVA—including Collide Capital, Flybridge, Benchstrength, and Techstars—operates within jurisdictions equipped with modern venture infrastructure: robust investor protection frameworks, banking systems accommodating cross-border transactions, and regulatory environments that recognize technology startups as legitimate asset classes rather than novelties.
This case study exposes fundamental weaknesses in the Dominican innovation economy:
1. Structural deficiencies in venture capital infrastructure, including inadequate investor protections and misalignment between public policy and venture risk profiles
2. Regulatory friction that penalizes modern corporate structures like Delaware C-corps and international banking arrangements
3. Cultural confusion between traditional small businesses optimized for stability and venture-backed startups designed for exponential growth
4. Predatory local investment terms offering small capital in exchange for disproportionate equity and control
5. Disconnect between institutional rhetoric and actionable support mechanisms, with panels and networking events substituting for substantive ecosystem development
The consequences extend beyond individual startups. The Dominican Republic loses high-skill employment opportunities in engineering, product development, and operations; forfeits regulatory learning that could inform future policy decisions; and diminishes investor confidence in local tech talent and jurisdiction viability.
Parallel research from Successment Venture Labs examining risk modeling deficiencies reveals broader systemic issues. Outdated credit scoring mechanisms prioritize formal paperwork over behavioral data, excluding approximately half the workforce operating in informal sectors despite demonstrating reliability. This risk-aversion mentality permeates both investment decisions and institutional support frameworks.
The solution requires moving beyond branding exercises to address technical foundations: modern investor protection laws, distinct legal and tax regimes for venture-backed startups, banking reforms accommodating cross-border capital flows, and domestic investment vehicles structured for appropriate risk-return profiles rather than control-seeking arrangements.
Until these structural reforms occur, the Dominican Republic will continue exporting its most promising ventures while celebrating their diaspora successes—a pattern that benefits LinkedIn narratives more than domestic economic development.