SAFEEM and Nexus team up to launch LATAM4WEF, which aims to solve the most pressing threats to our planet through developing technology and harnessing the power of impactful home-grown solutions.

Bringing young innovators together, LATAM4WEF is set to provide a collaborative space for participants in 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 & Perú.

Supported by private sector experts, entrepreneurs, and innovation facilitators, the participants of LATAM4WEF will be challenged to think outside the box and co-create solutions and business ideas. The Innovation Lab will provide a unique opportunity for participants to demonstrate their knowledge, problem-solving skills, and creativity while co-creating and networking with peers and experts in the field.

Youth innovators

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.

Once participants are selected, the programme will hold its WEF Innovation Labs, a 2.5-day event intended to introduce young talent to the entrepreneurial mindset, basic techniques of entrepreneurship, and, often, a specific theme giving the basis to solve WEF Nexus challenges.

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. At the end of the programme, the teams present the business pitch and product mock-up they will have developed during the programme to the group and jury panel.

“The challenges present by water, energy, and food security issues require a collaborative effort to solve. SAFEEM believes in supporting problem-solvers by providing them with the right resources and access to large communities that can help them make a difference,” shared Latam Regional Lead & Program Manager, Paula Garcia Malpica. ”We’re excited to see the great solutions LATAM4WEF’s participants could bring together.”

From there, selected participants will move on to the Academy programme, a 6-8 week long programme to support young talent by transferring the necessary skills for an entrepreneurial career path, and providing hands-on support in launching their verified ideas and iterating their products as progress, so that they can pursue the ventures. The Academy includes theoretical training but is largely mentorship-driven to support each specific project's needs.

LATAM4WEF ends with the selection of the top 10 participants and the winning team will be awarded free flights and accommodation to attend the NEXUS conference next summer in Germany as well as LATAM4WEF’sMatchmaking 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.

Applications are open for SMEs and young innovators until the 26th of December, 2022. Young innovators can sign up here: seedsta.rs/LATAM4WEF-Innovator.

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ABOUT SAFEEM

SAFEEM (Swiss Association For Entrepreneurship in Emerging Markets) is an independent, non-profit organization based in Geneva that was created to support entrepreneurs in emerging markets. SAFEEM believes that entrepreneurship, especially when technology-based, can be a powerful means of poverty reduction through economic empowerment. SAFEEM is committed to entrepreneurs developing innovative solutions for the pressing global challenges the world is now facing.

ABOUT NEXUS

The Water, Energy & Food Security Resource Platform is an independent information and facilitating platform developed within the framework of the Global Programme „Nexus Regional Dialogues”, implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH jointly funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the European Union. For more information, visit https://www.water-energy-food.org/.

CONTACTS

Programme

Paula Garcia Malpica

Programme Manager

[email protected]

Media

Michaela Villaroman

Media Relations

[email protected].