These initiatives include programming that brings entrepreneurs and startups closer to different Google experts, as well as the network of allies and collaborators in the region: investment funds, accelerators and companies.
“We are excited to extend the reach of our startup programs through this collaboration with BID Lab and Centraal. Strengthening diversity in entrepreneurship is part of our mission and carrying out this program in Latin America allows us to support women who are creating companies to face the great challenges of our region. The talent is here and we want to contribute to its growth and development ”, commented Francisco Solsona, leader of the Google for Startups Accelerator for Latin America at Google.
The 20 selected startups will participate in a ten-week virtual program with a high degree of personalization, which includes workshops on technology, digital marketing, leadership, business culture or capital raising, starting in all cases with a specific diagnosis of the situation of every startup and the challenges it faces.
The entrepreneurs will also have individual mentoring sessions with investors and experts from the Google network, WeXchange / BID Lab and Centraal.
The program will end with a Demo Day during the ninth edition of the annual WeXchange forum that will take place on December 1 and 2, 2021 in virtual format.
“This unprecedented alliance between WeXchange, Google and Centraal will allow us to provide relevant tools to STEM entrepreneurs in the region who are developing innovative solutions to solve major challenges, thus contributing to the probability of success of their startups and the development of the region, ”said Irene Arias, CEO of IDB Lab.
The economic impacts of COVID-19 have deepened the gender gap among global SMEs.
Those SMEs led by women are 7% more likely to close in the face of the COVID-19 crisis than their counterparts led by men, specifically in Latin America, this difference grows to 11%, because while women’s businesses have a possibility of closing 40% of men outline a percentage of 29%, according to the report The Future of Business, carried out by Facebook, the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
“Our goal is to promote and strengthen the creation of Latin American startups led by women. We not only want to celebrate their work and their successes but, above all, to have an impact on the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the region, so that female entrepreneurs think beyond their borders and we see more and more startups operating throughout Latin America ”, explained Rogelio Cuevas Ruiz, from Centraal and member of the organizing team.