On 5 November 2026, the EU-LAC Digital Accelerator, Emprendedora LAC and WeInvest LATAM hosted the online webinar “Mujeres que innovan, negocios que cruzan fronteras” (Women who innovate, businesses that cross borders).
It was aimed at women leading digital startups and small businesses in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Two communities of women
Bárbara Harteneck, Executive Director of WeInvest LATAM and Emprendedora LAC, opened the session.
She presented WeInvest LATAM, a community of more than 420 women investors in 24 countries.
She also presented Emprendedora LAC, a community of women tech founders active for over 14 years.
How the programme works (Maika Gorostidi)
Maika Gorostidi, Director of International Relations at Tecnalia and coordinator of the EU-LAC Digital Accelerator, explained the model.
Each partnership pairs a corporate challenge with a startup solution from two regions: Europe, Latin America or the Caribbean.
Selected partnerships receive acceleration services worth up to €30,000, or €40,000 when one partner is Caribbean.
Startups running a proof of concept can also receive up to €10,500 in grants.
Since 2023, the programme has received 214 applications and signed 101 collaboration agreements.
Open call 6 is receiving applications until 30 November 2026.
She closed on one figure: 79% of accelerated partnerships have at least one woman in a leadership role.
Three partnerships, three types of support (Miguel Rodríguez)
Miguel Rodríguez, corporate venturing expert at Octantis, presented three cases:
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- TechBalance, a Brazilian startup, tested its fall-prevention technology for older people with users of Portuguese care provider Habicuidados. It has since set up a five-person company in Portugal.
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- Nanogrow, a Uruguayan biotech startup developing oral drug formulations with Spanish company Nucaps, received support on shared intellectual property and its investor proposal. It is now raising more than €4 million.
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- ASITech, a Portuguese startup, ran a proof of concept with a Jamaican corporate aiming to cut industrial asset losses by up to 20%. The two now have a distribution agreement and pilots with four or five more Jamaican clients.
For him, the proof of concept was only the start, and the real goal a second, larger contract.
What the questions clarified
Carmen Serna, from the accelerator’s communications team, moderated the questions, which settled four practical points:
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- Companies cannot apply alone: two partners from different regions must apply together.
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- A startup without a partner can respond to one of the 70 corporate challenges active on the Matching Platform.
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- Partners already in talks can apply directly, even if they met outside the platform.
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- Except in the Caribbean, companies need at least two employees and €50,000 in annual turnover.
