Santa Teresa de Cóbano in Puntarenas is known as a surfer’s paradise, an ideal spot to vacation away from the big resorts of Guanacaste, one of the preferred locations for celebrities that come to Costa Rica, a remote and perfect getaway… but we certainly never consider Santa Teresa as a place of technology innovation.

Silicon Paradise, is exactly that, an initiative to develop new technological tools. “Silicon Paradise provides the fertile grounds for entrepreneurs, innovators, developers, executives, startups and creative tech minds and freelancers”, explains their Facebook page. Recently featured in NomadCapitalist.com and listed as one of the best co-working spaces in Central America, it was described as “a unique coworking space offers all of the modern conveniences of working in a big city while encapsulating a vacation atmosphere”.

There is no better inspiration than the wonderful view of amazing nature and wildlife and the sound of the waves crashing on the beach. The creator of Silicon Paradise is German Elion Chin who first came to Costa Rica invited by a friend and decided to stay for an undetermined period of time in this beautiful area; along with Frenchman Herve Fulchiron and American Haydee Stuart they managed to make this initiative a reality.

Together they are working on different projects that are currently in a beta stage; Nimiq a crypto currency that takes the best of Bitcoin and makes improvements where needed; LocalEyes, inspired in Instagram but with the purpose of working for the benefit of small communities; and Wappo a messaging service similar to Whatsapp but with advanced security features.

Their office is known by locals as “the Skyloft”, offers a relaxed environment where everyone works for an objective, they offer a great platform for startups and innovative technology products, programmers, developers, and designers are part of this team that is breaking molds in Costa Rica.