WASHINGTON, CMC – The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Monday said that representatives from Jamaica and Haiti are among the first cohort of climate accelerators undergoing training to promote climate solutions in Latin America and the Caribbean.
It said the program is designed by its innovation laboratory, IDB Lab, and EIT Climate-KIC, a European innovation and knowledge community co-financed by the European Union and supported by the Clean Technology Fund.
At least 28 entrepreneurship support organizations (ESOs) from Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, and Peru are participating in the two-year program.
The IDB said they will develop their capacities to become accelerators of 100 climate technology startups to support climate-focused startups efficiently and increase climate impact.
The program also seeks to boost the climate innovation ecosystem through events, community support, networking, and visibility of investor networks.
The selected ESOs, which include innovation agencies, incubators, accelerators, venture capitalists, hubs, co-working spaces, and other facilitators of the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, will have access to four months of bi-weekly workshops and mentoring sessions that will culminate in the co-creation of a proposal to accelerate climate technology innovations at the regional level.
They will use an open-source toolkit to run their own ClimAccelerator, which includes management resources, content, and a coaching network. A climate impact framework will guide them to align their environmental and financial goals. They will also be able to join a global network of more than 400 organizations focused on the transition to zero net emissions.
The IDB said the program would foster regional climate innovations following the training phase.
“By mid-2024, three to five ESOs with the most promising results from the program will be selected to receive targeted mentoring to accelerate 100 climate technology startups within 12 months,” the IDB said, noting that the official call for such startups will be made in the second quarter of 2024, “although those who wish to do so can sign up by registering their details to receive updates and information about the program.”
It said the program’s third phase will focus on the analysis of the ecosystem and the ESOs and their relationships with the climate entrepreneurship community, for which a mapping of the ecosystem’s actors will also be carried out.
It will also deepen a network of investors and seek collaboration with events promoting sharing ideas with the community.
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