EARLY STAGE ENTREPRENEURS

The Challenge of Entrepreneurship

Innovation and support for entrepreneurship are key drivers for the development of economies. Access to financing in early stages of development is crucial for the creation of dynamic businesses in Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition to capital, entrepreneurs need a favorable environment to launch and develop their dynamic businesses. This environment, commonly called an "entrepreneurial ecosystem", consists of a series of actors and conditions that interact to increase the likelihood of success and life expectancy of companies in start-up and growth stages.

Objective

The MIF seeks to support high impact entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises in Latin America and the Caribbean by creating a favorable ecosystem for early stage financing through angel, seed, and venture capital investments.

Focus
To achieve this objective, the MIF carries out projects and initiatives in the following areas:

• Getting on the right track. We provide technical assistance and consult with governments who want to make reforms to regulations and support initiatives that promote early-stage financing.
• Encouraging stakeholder engagement. We bolster the presence of relevant actors in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, such as business development agencies, angel investor networks, business schools, accelerators, associations, corporations, etc.
• Supporting the strengthening of the financial system. We encourage the development of early-stage financing networks and of capital markets for companies in growth stages.
• Betting on entrepreneurs. We encourage "investment readiness" programs to increase the number and improve the quality of proposals by entrepreneurs, helping them to be better prepared to receive investments.
• Disseminating and raising awareness. We publicize knowledge and success stories that serve as models for early stage financing.

The regional outlook is currently quite favorable, which encourages a renewed effort to continue improving entrepreneurial environments in the countries. For economies with advanced ecosystems, we support their progress towards the levels of developed countries. For economies with nascent ecosystems, we support their implementation of measures of continuous improvement towards a more advanced environment.

Results

• 17 years working in the region
• More than US$ 31mm of investments and technical assistance
• 8 Angel networks supported
• 41 Projects implemented
• 19 publications
• Participation and organization of more than 25 Events