ADAPT: Social Innovation for More Resilient Future Initiative in LatAm

The second iteration of ADAPT: Social Innovation for a More Resilient Future in Latin America will support impact-driven startups developing bold solutions that enable equity, democratize access, and strengthen communities and individuals in the face of climate change, inequality, and other challenges to individual and community wellbeing.

This year’s initiative will focus on supporting 8 to 10 initiatives that are working towards social resilience, prioritizing startups led by or serving women, as well as any founder who has lacked the opportunity to pursue higher education in the past. Village Capital and MetLife Foundation’s goal is to support those who have been marginalized or have had less access to resources to scale.

Benefits

• Mentorship
  • Opportunities to network and receive mentorship from potential investors, strategic partners, founders, and business leaders.
• Connections
  • Build deep connections with other founders in their cohort and the larger Village Capital investor and alumni network. Participate in mock board meetings with representatives from relevant institutions, corporations, and investors.
• Training
  • Join interactive sessions tailored to help their startup identify early milestones and prepare for their next round of capital (if relevant).
• Advice
  • One-on-one coaching with an investment analyst focused on building a financial model, identifying unit economics, and using financial metrics to drive both their business and investor diligence.
• Exposure
  • Exposure on Village Capital’s program website and other communications collateral.
• Peer-Selection Grant
  • The top two (2) startups selected by peers will receive grant capital of USD $10,000 to support their operations.

Types of startups they are recruiting

• Disaster Preparedness
  • Focused, but not limited to, natural disaster recovery solutions that can help community leaders prepare for and recover from climate-related and other natural disasters.
• Health and Wellness
  • They’re interested in startups that offer new and innovative ways to deliver services equitably, democratize access and reduce biases in health services, and build a more efficient and affordable healthcare system
• Access to Education
  • They are interested in startups working on increasing access to educational services, offering resources to upskill the working population, or working on solutions to digitize resources.
• Financial Resilience
  • They look for solutions that seize opportunities for improved financial security by equipping communities with the right tools to have a savings plan and to access financing when needed.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligible startups must:

• Have legal incorporation and operations as a for-profit entity in at least one Latin American country, with a particular focus on recruiting on countries identified as priorities for MetLife (Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico).
• Have a market-based solution that tackles the challenges for financial resilience, disaster preparedness, and health and wellness in Latin America.
• Have one full-time founder and an executive team based in Latin America.
• Be in compliance with local fiscal and business law.
• Have a minimum viable product (MVP) and raised less than $1M in equity.
• Have meaningful customer or business validation (not limited to revenue; it can also be successful pilot studies, number of users, and/or strategic partnerships).

For more information, visit Village Capital.