Starting from March 1st, 2022, Idea Foundry is hosting a cohort of 9 Central American entrepreneurs through the La Idea Incubator Project, a collaborative program between the InBIA and the Regional Center for the Promotion of MSMEs (CENPROMYPE) and founded by the U.S. Department of State. The group of entrepreneurs came from Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, and Panama and represented companies in food and agriculture technologies, ranging from software solutions, eco-friendly agricultural production to agricultural retail. The objective of the program is to support them in gaining new perspectives and insight from the U.S. and understanding the opportunities and challenges of doing business in the U.S. and their regions. 

The La Idea Virtual Bootcamp runs from March 2022 until September 2022. The program consists of group training sessions and one-on-one mentoring sessions with each individual entrepreneur. Idea Foundry uses its fully developed Virtual Ignite Program curriculum to serve as group training activities for this cohort. There are 5 formal modules and each module covers a specific topic around entrepreneurship, including Entrepreneur, Market, Messaging and Branding, Business Model, and Growth. Each participant came with a unique company, perspective, and priorities, so the program combines group activities with individual support to meet each participant’s needs and objectives. When the Boot Camp is over, we will continue to engage with the participants in post bootcamp activities, exploring opportunities to support the entrepreneurs as they grow at home and building connections between them and Pittsburgh. 

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