• The initiative, aimed at fast-growing women entrepreneurs from Latin America and the Caribbean, will be open until April 8.
• Those selected will have access to investors and to training at a bootcamp organized by Google.  

IDB Lab, the innovation laboratory of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and its WeXchange platform –which helps tech-oriented women entrepreneurs in the region– are launching a new call to connect the most innovative and dynamic STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) women entrepreneurs with a potential access to financing.

This edition of WeXchange Women STEMpreneurs Competition will select fifteen 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 at between pre-seed and Series B fundraising stage.

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.

The selected startups will also participate in a five-day hybrid bootcamp 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,” IDB Lab CEO Irene Arias said. “We urge women entrepreneurs using technology in their projects to participate in this type of events, which combine training and connections with financing opportunities – all areas that are hard to reach by women seeking to launch a business in our region.”

Companies interested in participating can apply until April 8, 2022 from this link. Entrepreneurs will be notified if they were selected by April 25.

This call is being carried out with assistance from the venture capital fund AVP and Google, and support from The Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi).

About IDB Lab

IDB Lab is the innovation laboratory of the Inter-American Development Bank Group, the leading source of development finance and expertise for improving lives in Latin America and the Caribbean. The purpose of IDB Lab is to drive innovation for inclusion in the region, mobilizing financing, knowledge, and connections to test early-stage private sector solutions with the potential to transform the lives of vulnerable populations affected by economic, social, and environmental conditions. Since 1993, IDB Lab has approved more than US$ 2 billion in projects deployed across 26 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.