In honor of the seventh edition of the IDB’s WeXchange annual event taking place in Asunción, Paraguay next week, this episode highlights the stories of seven women from both sides of the investment table featured in past Crossing Borders episodes. These high performers share their experiences of what it’s like being a woman in technology in Latin America.
This episode starts off with a55’s Jackie Hyland talking about how gender-balanced teams improve the long-term health of a business, and Lab4U’s Komal Dadlani talking about her experience as a female founder in science.
Next is Alejandria Tenorio, cofounder of La Manicurista, who talks about her transition from the oil and gas industry into tech, and Cory Siskind, founder of Base Operations, talks about the institutionalized challenges women face in entrepreneurship.
Elevar Equity’s Managing Director Johanna Posada also shares her opinion on investing in Latin America and upping women’s representation, and Maricel Saenz from Nextbiotic shares her experience as a young female cofounder in biotech. Lastly, Marta Forero from Ubits explains what it was like to be the only Latin American woman in her YCombinator cohort and how the ecosystem can be more gender inclusive.
The WeXchange annual forum was founded in 2013 by the IDB Lab and Susana Garcia-Robles to support and connect women STEMpreneurs in Latin America and the Caribbean. If you want to learn more about WeXchange and its backstory, check out Susana Garcia Robles podcast with me Supporting Venture Capital and Women Entrepreneurs in Latin America, Ep 86, or the WeXchange podcast where Susana and her team interview top female founders and those that support them in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Female founders’ full-length episodes:
- Jackie Hyland: How Debt Tools Can Help Latin American Entrepreneurs, Ep 69
- Komal Dadlani, Lab4U: Turning Smartphones in Science Labs, Ep 63
- Alejandra Tenorio, La Manicurista: Using Tech to Improve Latin America’s Beauty Industry, Ep 72
- Cory Siskind, Base Operations: Using Technology to Secure Global Workforces, Ep 81
- Johanna Posada, Elevar Equity: Driving Impact in Latin America via Venture Capital, Ep 79
- Maricel Saenz, NextBiotics: Defeating the Next Superbug, Ep 76
- Marta Forero, UBits: Driving Economic Growth in Latin America via Corporate Education, Ep 74
Show Notes:
- [2:35] Jackie Hyland – The importance of including women in business and politics
- [3:52] Komal Dadlani – What’s it like being a female founder in LatAm versus the US?
- [5:00] Komal Dadlani – Raising money as a female entrepreneur
- [7:57] Alejandra Tenorio – Being a woman in the oil and gas industries
- [10:02] Cory Siskind – Experience as a woman in entrepreneurship
- [11:50] Cory Siskind – Advice for other women getting into entrepreneurship
- [13:03] Johanna Posada – What’s your take on genderless investing?
- [16:20] Maricel Saenz – Hurdles for women in tech
- [20:35] Marta Forero – What’s it like being a female founder in LatAm?
- [21:50] Marta Forero – How can the ecosystem help women?
Resources Mentioned:
- WeXchange 2019
- Susana Garcia-Robles
- IDB Lab
- a55 – Jackie Hyland
- Lab4U – Komal Dadlani
- La Manicurista – Alejandra Tenorio
- Base Operations – Cory Siskind
- Elevar Equity – Johanna Posada
- NextBiotics – Maricel Saenz
- Ubits – Marta Forero
