The participating female entrepreneurs were: Paula Gallotti, founding partner of Dvelop; Dayana Jabif, founding partner of IONIC Themes; Victoria Mignone, founder of El Almacén de los Chicos; Cindy Kleist, founder of the jewelry brand that bears her name; and Macarena Zas, founder of 1000 Razones—all of which are projects incubated at the CIE.
Also participating were Amalia Quirici, Entrepreneurship Coordinator at the National Development Agency; Ximena Camaño, Deputy Operations Manager at the National Agency for Research and Innovation (ANII); Guillermina Cabrera, Executive Director of the Organization of Women Entrepreneurs of Uruguay (OMEU); and Rosana Fernandez, Coordinator of the CIE Pre-Incubator.
According to recent studies, over the past 10 years, men have started twice as many businesses as women. While the male Total Early-Stage Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA) rate rose from 19% in 2014 to 20% in 2015, the female rate fell from 13% to 9% during the same period.
Although women’s educational attainment is generally higher than men’s, women have very low self-assessments of their knowledge and skills for entrepreneurship, which is believed to be influencing the low rate of female-led startups.
In this regard, the CIE, together with the Canadian Embassy, developed a Women’s Entrepreneurship Incentive Program to train, motivate, mentor, and incubate women-led startups.
The program offers participation in three practical workshops that provide tools to develop entrepreneurial skills and become part of a community capable of sharing experience and knowledge to foster growth.
The CIE will select the ventures with the greatest potential to provide them with mentoring and incubation, with the aim of fostering their development.
Admission is free.