Mexico City (April 17th, 2023) – Village Capital, with the support of Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh, announced that eight startups from Latin America have been selected to participate in the accelerator program, Reshaping Consumer Behaviour in Latin America.
The open call focused on supporting startups in Latin America that are preventing food waste by informing consumer decisions, generating efficient management practices, and detecting and preventing food loss in the production and distribution phases. Through virtual and in-person workshops, an award-winning curriculum, and milestone planning support, the accelerator program aims to help startups prepare for their next stage of growth, ultimately scaling their impact.
70 startups from 13 Latin American countries applied to participate in the accelerator. The final cohort is composed of eight startups from four countries (Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico). 63% of the cohort is headquartered outside of Latin America’s tech hubs and 62.5% is led by a female founder or C-suite member.
Here are the eight startups reshaping consumer behavior to prevent food loss and waste in Latin America:
Between April and May, 2023, the selected entrepreneurs will participate in two workshops (one online and one in-person summit in Mexico City) to complete a milestone achievement plan. The curriculum is focused on developing the networks and tools they need to scale their impact. Each startup will also collaborate with and receive mentorship from industry experts, investors, and other ecosystem partners in Latin America. Further, Abaca, Village Capital’s online global network, will provide a diagnostic tool and match them with relevant investors and resources. In doing so, the entrepreneurs will connect one-on-one with an investment analyst for feedback and support. Lastly, each startup will receive USD $4,000 in grant funding from the Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh to further scale their solutions.
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 Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh
The Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh invests in organizations locally, nationally, and across the globe. Through five priority areas, Environment, Human Rights, Education, Jewish Life, and Civil Society, the foundation seeks high-leverage opportunities to advance long-term structural solutions to social, economic, and environmental challenges.
In 2021, the Posner Foundation established a strategic plan to guide and assess funding efforts in food waste, with emphasis on prevention solutions. The foundation envisions a waste-free food system that prioritizes efficient use of human, financial, and natural resources. In early 2022, the Posner Foundation released its first ever open call for proposals to bolster their food waste grantmaking, and now, the foundation supports a Food Waste Prevention Cohort of 14 grantee organizations working on a variety of projects to prevent food waste through reshaping consumer environments.
