Mexico City (April 11th, 2022) – To advance prosperity and opportunity in the Western Hemisphere, the U.S. Department of State sponsored ten alumni of the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) Fellowship Program to grow their business ventures across a variety of sectors. Participants in the YLAI Americas Accelerator were selected for this opportunity through a competitive process managed by implementing partner IREX and venture capital firm Village Capital, which offered the entrepreneurs targeted support and mentorship over the course of three workshops. As a culmination of the activities, Lazarillo was peer-selected to receive a cash award to invest in their business as a part of the Americas Accelerator.
Lazarillo was selected for investment by their peers on the final day of the program in Mexico City, where the ten participating startups evaluated each other through an investor lens, using Village Capital’s methodology that goes through eight categories and nine “readiness” levels to evaluate a business. Lazarillo was ranked “most investment ready” and is focused on the following:
These ten outstanding YLAI Fellowship Program alumni represent 10 different countries across the Western Hemisphere. The ten companies, half of which are founded by women, create solutions that serve rural and low-income communities as well as people with disabilities; support women’s health; expand employment opportunities; and more. YLAI selected the accelerator cohort from 170 applications and 31 countries in the Americas.
The Americas Accelerator culminated its third and final workshop on Friday, April 8th in Mexico City. Selected alumni participated in training to improve their investment readiness and scalability. The participants benefited from Village Capital’s experience, including working closely with industry experts, investors, and ecosystem partners to develop the networks they need to scale their impact.
For more information, reach out to Sofía Cándano at Village Capital (sofia.candano@vilcap.com).
For queries to the Department of State, reach out to ECA-Press@state.gov.
About YLAI
The YLAI Fellowship is a program of the U.S. Department of State and implemented by IREX. The fellowship brings together mid-career entrepreneurs from 37 countries across Latin America, the Caribbean and Canada to learn, share expertise, develop their business skills, and build networks. Since the initiative’s launch in 2015, more than 1,000 YLAI Fellows have expanded their leadership and entrepreneurial experience, accelerated their commercial and social ventures’ success, and strengthened their capacity to effectively contribute to social and economic development in their communities.
About IREX
IREX is a global development and education organization. We strive for a more just, prosperous, and inclusive world—where individuals reach their full potential, governments serve their people, and communities thrive. With an annual portfolio of nearly $90 million and more than 500 staff worldwide, we work with partners in more than 100 countries in four areas essential to progress: cultivating leaders, empowering youth, strengthening institutions, and increasing access to quality education and information.
About Village Capital
Village Capital helps entrepreneurs bring big ideas from vision to scale. Our mission is to reinvent the system to back the entrepreneurs of the future. Our vision is a future where businesses create equity and long-term prosperity. Since 2009, we have supported more than 1,000 early-stage entrepreneurs through our investment readiness programs. Our affiliated fund, VilCap Investments, has invested in more than 100 program graduates, including nine early-stage Latin American companies like ePesos (2016), Fintual (2017), and Huli (2017).