WeXchange Women STEMpreneurs Competition is an annual IDB Lab call for technology- and science-based startups connected to Latin America and the Caribbean. The 2026 edition was organized with support from EWA Capital and selected five company representatives.
Selected entrepreneurs travel to Quito to present their companies to investors and regional ecosystem participants during GET Forum. Applications for the 2026 cycle are closed.
Benefits & funding
- Travel and lodging expenses for the woman founder, co-founder, or C-level director who delivers the pitch.
- A pitch opportunity during GET Forum in Quito from October 5 to 7, 2026.
- Visibility, press, and company-promotion opportunities.
- Support connecting with venture-capital investors.
Eligibility
- The startup must have at least one woman in its founding or C-level leadership team; that representative submits the application and represents the company.
- The startup must be actively raising a seed through Series A/B round or plan to begin an investment round within 12 months of the call opening.
- It must have a substantial technology component or rely on science, technology, engineering, or mathematics.
- It must be legally incorporated and have headquarters or operations in at least one Latin American or Caribbean country.
- Its business model must be highly scalable regionally or globally and have strong potential for social or environmental impact.
- A founder selected as a finalist with the same company in any of the previous four editions is ineligible; applying with a new company is allowed.
- The official criteria state no nationality, personal residency, degree, age, or years-of-experience requirement.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
Decoded from the official rules. A free account checks them against your passport, degree and age in seconds.
Gender requirement
Female
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Application process
- 1Confirm that the company and its woman founder or C-level representative meet every eligibility condition.
- 2Prepare information on the team, technology, fundraising plans, business model, market, traction, scalability, and impact.
- 3Submit the online application form by the stated deadline; the 2026 form closed on June 30.
- 4Provide additional information or attend a video interview if IDB Lab requests one.
Program timeline
Applications opened.
June 2, 2026
Application deadline.
June 30, 2026, 11:59 p.m. ET
Selected companies notified by email.
By September 15, 2026
GET Forum and the in-person program begin in Quito.
October 5, 2026
Selected representatives pitch during GET Forum.
October 5–7, 2026
Program ends.
October 7, 2026