To explore the feasibility of corporate partnerships for entrepreneurial ventures, this report investigates
the experiences of entrepreneurs who have successfully secured corporate procurement contracts in
various country contexts. Their journeys, best practices, and actionable strategies can serve as a roadmap
for entrepreneurs aspiring to navigate the complexities of corporate procurement. These case studies
not only highlight the innovative solutions these entrepreneurs have developed but also underscore the
importance of building strong relationships with corporations and understanding their procurement needs.

Mexico is a burgeoning economy, ranking as the second largest economy in Latin America. According to the OECD, there are at least four million SMEs in Mexico, most of which are microenterprises. However, both culturally and politically, Mexico is making efforts toward encouraging more growth-oriented entrepreneurship, with Mexico City, Monterrey, and Guadalajara becoming known as entrepreneurial hubs.

There is also a focus on entrepreneurship outside the major cities, with rural areas in Mexico increasing in employment opportunities and entrepreneurship rates. However, South and Southeast Mexico still lag behind the northern and central areas of the country.

There has been less research conducted specifically on entrepreneurship in South and Southeast Mexico, defined in this study as the states of Campeche, Chiapas, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Puebla, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, Veracruz, and
Yucatán. A significantly greater proportion of the population in these southern states live in poverty compared to the rest of the country,7 and thus, how entrepreneurship may contribute to local economic growth in these regions is of interest to the international development community. A first step to understanding the current
support available to entrepreneurs is to identify the various actors in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

"We make a comparison of microfinance banks (MBs) and commercial banks (CBs) in terms of efficiency, business orientation, stability, and asset quality by analyzing a large sample of banks from 60 countries around the world. Our findings indicate that microfinance banks have higher intermediation, non-interest income, wholesale funding and liquidity, but lower efficiency and asset quality. These significant variations are influenced by smaller microfinance banks and are driven mostly to African and Latin American microfinance banks."

"To gain a fuller picture of how MSMEs are using digital tools, DAI’s Center for Digital Acceleration partnered with survey firm Ipsos and Meta to administer a large-scale survey across 13 countries: Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Peru, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam and Mexico. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, our researchers took a face-to-face approach allowing us to compare responses from MSMEs operating both online and off. The country briefs provide an overview of each country’s digital ecosystem and MSME sector, followed by a summary of findings regarding the impact of digital tool usage on MSMEs and economic growth, highlighting differences in the responses among key segments of the surveyed business population within each country."

"La inclusión financiera es fundamental para alcanzar la igualdad de género y fomentar el desarrollo económico sostenible. Al abordar las brechas existentes y brindar oportunidades equitativas, podemos fortalecer la autonomía económica de las mujeres y promover una sociedad más justa y próspera en general. El presente estudio tuvo como finalidad abordar (y profundizar) las barreras que enfrentamos las mujeres en el ámbito financiero y cómo pueden afectar nuestro empoderamiento, crecimiento y autonomía económica en España y América Latina."

The brief provides an overview of the ongoing impact evaluation on the Impulso Chileno program, which aims to support Chilean entrepreneurs through financial assistance, training, and mentoring. Previous assessments of entrepreneur training interventions have yielded mixed results. The evaluation of Impulso Chileno holds significance as it examines the unique design and components of the program and their potential impact on business success. By evaluating the combined effect of its components, the evaluation of Impulso Chileno aims to uncover the determinants of business success and drive program improvements. The evaluation employs a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) design to assess the program's long-term impact on various business growth indicators such as monthly sales, profits, business practices, and employment.

"Female founders raise less capital from investors than male founders, even if their ventures are similar or identical. However, providing systematic evaluation frameworks could encourage investors to assess all candidates equally, thus reducing gender disparities. In this vein, the authors – Amisha Miller and Saurabh Lall – investigated whether changing systematic evaluation practices could close the gender gap in investment decisions. The authors designed and implemented a two-stage experiment in collaboration with Village Capital across different developing regions across Africa, South Asia (India), the Middle East, and Latin America to reduce gender disparities in investment decisions. The experimental findings confirm that using a systematic evaluation framework – prompting investors to consider both risks and growth, as well as progress – reduces or even reverses gender disparities in investment decisions. This study provides strong causal evidence for an intervention that can be implemented right out the gate at a low cost: providing a systematic evaluation framework to investors."

"Este relatório examina o cenário do investimento de impacto na América Latina e no Caribe para 2020 e 2021, com base em uma amostra de investidores de impacto ativos na região, destacando tendências, principais desafios e oportunidades, e apresentando mergulhos profundos na atividade em três dos países da região: Brasil, Colômbia e México, além de uma análise sobre a Guatemala. Entre suas conclusões, o estudo mostra que os investidores de impacto estão buscando cada vez mais retornos ajustados à taxa de mercado, se mantendo flexíveis de acordo com as necessidades específicas de países e setores. Além disso, revela que os investidores de impacto ainda dependem fortemente de ferramentas próprias de medição de impacto, no entanto, um número crescente deles utiliza metodologias existentes para atender aos requisitos de medição de impacto. Acesso a capital, educação e treinamento e o ambiente regulatório local são identificados como os desafios mais comuns a serem superados para liberar todo o potencial do ecossistema empreendedor da região por meio do investimento de impacto."

"Este informe examina el panorama de la Inversión de Impacto en América Latina y el Caribe durante 2020 y 2021, con base en una muestra de inversionistas de impacto activos en la región, destacando tendencias, desafíos clave y oportunidades, y presenta análisis profundos de esta actividad en tres de los mercados más grandes de la región: Brasil, Colombia y México, así como un acercamiento a Guatemala. Entre sus hallazgos, el estudio muestra que los inversores de impacto buscan cada vez más retornos a tasas de mercado, manteniendo esquemas de retorno flexibles de acuerdo con las necesidades específicas de los países y sectores. Además, revela que los inversores de impacto aún dependen en gran medida en herramientas de medición de impacto desarrolladas por sí mismos, mientras que un número cada vez mayor de ellos utiliza herramientas existentes para abordar los requisitos de medición de impacto. El acceso al capital, la educación y la capacitación, y el entorno regulatorio local se identifican como los desafíos más comunes a superar para activar el potencial del ecosistema emprendedor de la región a través de la inversión de impacto".

"This report examines the impact investing landscape in Latin America and the Caribbean for 2020 and 2021, based on a sample of active impact investors in the region, highlighting trends, key challenges, and opportunities, and featuring deep dives on activity in three of the region's largest markets: Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico, as well as a feature on Guatemala. Among its findings, the study shows that impact investors are increasingly seeking market-rate returns while keeping flexible return schemes according to the specific needs of countries and sectors. Additionally, it reveals that impact investors still heavily rely on proprietary impact measurement tools, while an increasing number of them are using existing frameworks to tackle impact measurement requirements. Access to capital, education and training, and the local regulatory environment are identified as the most common challenges to overcome to unlock the full potential of the region's entrepreneurial ecosystem through impact investment."