The year was 2012. Stolberg siblings, Sofia and Juan Carlos, had just moved back to their native Puerto Rico, ran their own businesses, and were searching for a coworking space to network with like-minded individuals. Noticing that coworking was not a thing on the Island, they took it upon themselves to launch the first coworking space. They named it Piloto 151, (piloto means pilot in Spanish) referencing the then en vogue startup world concept of starting small and validating an idea before investing and scaling. They adopted the pigeons found in the plaza in front of their building on the suitably-named San Francisco Street as their mascot, arraying it with an aviator helmet and goggles to create the now iconic Piloto pilot pigeon.
Sofia Stolberg and Juan Carlos Stolberg, Piloto 151 founders
The pilot pigeon went on to spread its wings, soaring past that first location in the 500-year-old neighborhood of Old San Juan to nearly 100,000 square feet of commercial real estate across five unique locations (and growing!) in the diverse San Juan neighborhoods of Santurce, Hato Rey and Miramar, making Piloto 151 the largest and only multi location coworking operation in Puerto Rico.
Since its inception, Piloto 151 quickly became the epicenter of the startup and tech scene on the Island; a space where techies, startup founders, freelancers, investors, professionals and corporates from all over the world and all walks of life not just coexisted, but conspired to create the heterogeneous fabric of Puerto Rico’s emerging entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Over the years, Piloto continued to support the growth of the Island’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, hosting hundreds of events for thousands of local and international entrepreneurs, and co-founding Colmena66 alongside the Puerto Rico Science and Technology Research Trust. Colmena66 would go on to become the glue that would help connect ecosystem support organizations to each other and to entrepreneurs at every stage of their entrepreneurial journey.
Initially lured by attractive tax incentives, many successful entrepreneurs and investors from outside of the Island started relocating to Puerto Rico and joining the local entrepreneurial scene at Piloto spaces. Piloto 151 soon became the landing place and launchpad for those looking to make the move to the Caribbean. With its one-stop-shop business services and Virtual Office memberships, Piloto 151 supported (and continues to support) entrepreneurs with relocation services spanning from incorporation and certification under Puerto Rico’s tax incentives, to real estate sourcing and brokering and tech services.
Today, in part thanks to Piloto 151’s efforts and collaborations, Puerto Rico’s entrepreneurial ecosystem is burgeoning and new-comers are no longer just lured by the Island’s tax incentives. Piloto 151 continues to be the most sought-after coworking space for local and foreign entrepreneurs to enjoy state-of-the-art amenities, connect with a thriving community of movers and shakers, and get access to premier member experiences and services, including sophisticated mail management and handling services through a virtual mailbox provided by Piloto’s sister company, PilotoMail.
Photo Credits: Daniel Morris, Jeileen Ocasio
A true testament to its world-class offering, the coworking powerhouse has been accepted to the League of Extraordinary Coworking Spaces (LExC), a selective, international organization of industry-leading coworking brands all over the world that share resources and allow members of the LExC network access to over 100 highly curated spaces in over 50 cities across the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia.
