The innovative laboratory of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) says it has launched an initiative to help women entrepreneurs in Latin America and the Caribbean with potential access to financing.
IDB Lab said along with its WeXchange platform, which helps tech-oriented women entrepreneurs in the region, it’s launching a new call to connect the most innovative and dynamic STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) women entrepreneurs.
It said this edition of WeXchange Women STEMpreneurs Competition will select 15 startups that have technology as a key component of their business with at least one female co-founder or one woman on their leadership team.
In addition, they need to be headquartered and have operations in at least one Latin American or Caribbean country and be between pre-seed and Series B fundraising stages.
The selected candidates will fly to Miami, where on May 24 they will pitch their companies to capital fund investors at the event “WeXchange: Connecting STEMpreneurs with investors,” within the framework of the VC Latam Summit.
Organized by nine national venture capital and private capital organizations from the region, this three-day summit will bring together Latin America’s leading venture capital investors.
IDB Lab said the selected startups will also participate in a five-day hybrid boot camp organized by Google, where they will receive training and attend workshops on technology, digital marketing, leadership, and fundraising.
“In Latin America and the Caribbean, we need more women-funding companies, particularly in STEM fields,” said IDB Lab CEO Irene Arias.
“We urge women entrepreneurs using technology in their projects to participate in this type of event, which combines training and connections with financing opportunities – all areas that are hard to reach by women seeking to launch a business in our region,” she added.
The IDB Lab said companies interested in participating in the initiative have until April 8 to submit their applications with the successful entrepreneurs notified by April 25.
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