Innovation Lab for Young Innovators in LATAM4WEF 2023

The LATAM4WEF Innovation Lab 2023 for Youth Innovators is now accepting applications. The LATAM4WEF Innovation Lab is accepting applications from young innovators and small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in Latin America and the Caribbean to co-design and co-develop solutions that could assist in addressing the challenges associated with water, energy, and food 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 place for ideating, validating, and testing by bringing together young innovators and SMEs that are conscious of the difficult conditions in local communities, 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 & Perú.

The Labs follow a rhythm of theory followed by an action session allowing participants to put into practice what they are taught. Sessions include ideation, lean canvas, hypothesis testing, MVP development, and pitching.

Innovation Lab for Young Innovators 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.

Innovation Lab for Young Innovators 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.