During the inaugural Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (Americas Partnership) Leaders' Summit, President Biden announced that USAID is providing $5 million to catalyze the Americas Partnership Accelerator.
The Americas Partnership Accelerator (the Accelerator) will bring together cohorts of entrepreneurs from across the Americas Partnership countries in Latin America and the Caribbean to facilitate entrepreneurs’ access to the knowledge and skills, professional networks and markets, and the investments they need to grow their businesses, create jobs, and become more productive and impactful. Each Accelerator cohort of entrepreneurs will work toward identifying and connecting with investors, potential corporate or government buyers, or other targeted opportunities.
To reinforce this effort, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is inviting venture capital fund managers in their regional network to engage with the Accelerator and consider connecting with its entrepreneurs. The Inter-American Foundation will also draw on its regional entrepreneurship expertise and networks to support the Accelerator’s reach and success. In addition, the Government of Canada is contributing Cdn$3 million to support the involvement of women and Indigenous entrepreneurs in this initiative. All this will help ensure the Accelerator mobilizes the capital participating entrepreneurs need to succeed.
The Accelerator will strengthen and better connect entrepreneurs and other stakeholders in Americas Partnership countries, focusing on accelerating the growth of for-profit startup businesses with the potential to make a broader positive impact through their products and services, in addition to driving regional economic growth. The Accelerator will leverage existing resources of the private sector and robust entrepreneurial talent in the region, along with USAID’s knowledge and networks on the ground, taking a regional approach to bridge remaining gaps in the path to these entrepreneurs’ success.
In addition to directly benefiting hundreds of entrepreneurs and potentially mobilizing millions of dollars in additional capital, the Americas Partnership Accelerator will build momentum and demonstrate untapped regional potential. In highlighting these latent opportunities, it will seek to attract sustainable new investment flows and generate impact which outlasts the Accelerator.
Through the new Americas Partnership Accelerator, USAID reaffirms its commitment to increase economic opportunity and create more dignified lives for people across Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Americas Partnership is an innovative leader-led forum for driving regional cooperation and promoting more inclusive and equitable economic growth. It reflects the region’s priorities, ideas, and vision for a more integrated, sustainable, and prosperous hemisphere.