The LATAM4WEF Innovation Lab 2023 for Youth Innovators is now accepting applications. Young innovators and SMEs from Latin America and the Caribbean are invited to apply to the LATAM4WEF Innovation Lab to co-design and co-develop solutions to problems with food, energy, and water security (WEF) in Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru.
Launched by SAFEEM (Swiss Association For Entrepreneurship in Emerging Markets) and Nexus, LATAM4WEF aspires to address the planet’s most urgent problems by creating technology and utilizing the strength of effective homegrown remedies. LATAM4WEF will offer participants a collaborative space for ideating, validating, and scaling their technology solutions for WEF use, mitigation, and adaptation across Latin America and the Caribbean, but especially in targeted countries: México, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Per. This initiative brings young innovators together with SMEs that are aware of challenging realities in local communities.
The Labs have a rhythm where theory is followed by an activity session where participants can apply what they have learned into practice. Ideation, Lean Canvas, hypothesis testing, MVP development, and pitching are all covered in the sessions.
Benefits:
- LATAM4WEF ends with the selection of the top 10 participants who will be awarded free
flights into the Matchmaking and Demo Day onsite event. - Finalists will be able to pitch their solutions and get the chance to interact with regional
industry players, ecosystem enablers, and investors. Such encounters give participants a
chance to increase their network and business opportunities as well as their visibility.
Eligibility:
For innovators who would like to take part and solve WEF challenges, the application criteria are as
follows:
- Participants will be between 20 and 30 years old;
- Must be attending university or have completed higher education;
- Aspiring or early-stage entrepreneurs or students interested in launching an idea in the WEF
area and building entrepreneurial muscle and launching an idea to address WEF challenges; - Passionate about solving WEF technology needs and challenges in LATAM; and
- Can apply as an individual applicant or can apply as a group if they already have a team of a
maximum of 3 members that will work at the Innovation Lab.
Application:
Young innovators who would like to take part in LATAM4WEF can apply from November 16 to December
9, 2022.
