IDB Group – Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.
Women entrepreneurs in STEM-related industries, or STEMpreneurs, are an engine for economic growth, technological innovation, and job creation in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), but they cannot reach full speed without strong networks and mentors. Over 30 percent of women STEMpreneurs in the region report lack of access to networks and mentorship as one of their top challenges.
In 2020, We-Fi funding of $450,000 was approved to support the work of WeXchange in Central America. An initiative of the IDB Group’s IDB Lab, WeXchange was founded in 2013 to connect women entrepreneurs in STEM-based fields with mentors and investors across the LAC region. The We-Fi IDB Lab project will help expand and diversify networks and mentoring opportunities for high-growth women STEMpreneurs in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. It will also increase their access to regional and global early-stage seed and venture capital investors.
