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Applications Open for Colombian Ecosystem Builders Accelerator

Village Capital will build an accelerator program to support ten Entrepreneur Support Organizations (ESOs) in Colombia
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Mexico City (March 27th, 2022) — Village Capital, with support from Argidius Foundation, announced a new accelerator program focused on Entrepreneur Support Organizations (ESOs), such as accelerators, incubators, funds, universities, and service providers. The accelerator program: Colombian Ecosystem Builders will contribute to build the infrastructure needed to ensure that Colombia can benefit from a thriving startup community by developing training for Entrepreneur Support Organizations (ESOs) to implement efficient and effective tools to better support entrepreneurs’ needs. 

Applications close on April 28, 2023. Full details and eligibility criteria can be found here.

The call for applications is open to Entrepreneur Support Organizations (ESOs), such as accelerators, incubators, funds, universities, and service providers that support entrepreneurs who are working in the following areas, depending on where they are based: 

  • Entrepreneur Support Organizations (ESOs) supporting the Caribbean Coastal Area - We are looking to support ESOs with presence in the cities of Barranquilla, Cartagena, Santa Marta, Sincelejo, Montería, and Riohacha, as well as Valledupar and Bucaramanga. ESOs are not required to have offices or established operations in these cities, as long as they have programs, services, or initiatives focused on them.
  • Entrepreneur Support Organizations (ESOs) focusing on Agriculture and Food - We will support ESOs with proven track record and existing support for entrepreneurs working on the Agriculture and Food sectors across Colombia.

From July through November 2023, the selected Entrepreneur Support Organizations (ESOs) will participate in hybrid capacity-development workshops. The curriculum is focused on helping them develop the networks and tools they need to scale their businesses and better support entrepreneurs in Colombia. They will work closely with industry experts, investors, and ecosystem partners in four workshops, three online and one in person. A founder/C-suite member of each selected startup will travel with all expenses included to a city in Colombia. All of them will receive $2K USD to support their operations. 

In November 2023, the participant Entrepreneur Support Organizations (ESOs) will rank themselves to select the three best prepared to receive technical assistance and 1:1 advisory services followed by milestone-based plan implementation from January to June, 2024. They will receive additional $25K USD to support their operations. 

All organizations that apply to the program will be invited to join Abaca, Village Capital’s online global network. Accelerators, incubators, and organizations providing support to entrepreneurs use the platform Abaca to measure, track, and analyze startups’ progress, even at the earliest and most intangible stages.

For more information, reach out to Sofía Cándano at Village Capital (sofia.candano@vilcap.com).

About Village Capital

Village Capital is reinventing the system to back the entrepreneurs of the future. Known for its groundbreaking approaches to supporting founders who are building solutions to emergent social, economic, and environmental challenges, VilCap unlocks critical social and financial capital for early-stage companies to maximize business and impact growth.

Village Capital has operated in Latin America since 2015 by running over 16 accelerator programs involving more than 19 countries in the region including Bolivia, Guatemala, and Paraguay. VilCap has supported more than 170 locally-based startups working in sectors such as economic mobility, financial health, and sustainable agriculture. Learn more at www.vilcap.com and follow @vilcap_latam. 

About Argidius Foundation

Argidius Foundation was founded in 1956 to tackle poverty through enterprise development in emerging economies. Our goal is to help entrepreneurs build profitable businesses and contribute to the sustainable development of their communities. We do this by improving the effectiveness and reach of enterprise support organizations in low- and middle-income countries, especially in our focus countries in Latin America and East Africa.