Latitud, a pre-seed fund with a presence in Latin America, recently announced the re-launch of the Latitud Fellowship, a program with the objective of supporting and impacting founders of high-profile startups in the region.
In its 13 previous editions, Latitud Fellowship participants have raised more than $1 billion from venture capital investors, including startups such as Alinea Health, BHub, Finkargo and Pomelo.
The top 10 proposals will receive their first check and will go through the ideation and exploration phase of their startups, with one-on-one sessions, meetings with mentors and their peers in the program, as well as being able to participate in meetings, not only in Latin America, but also in the United States.
The Latitud Fellowship combines a check of USD $25,000 per participant for a total of $250,000 for the 10 winning proposals.
They will also have face-to-face meetings in major Latin American cities, sessions with experienced founders and operators, weekly meetings with mentors and peers, and a trip to San Francisco to gain access to global knowledge and investors.
Who can participate?
The program is designed for individuals who are innovators by nature and who are at the earliest stage of their venture, known as the ideation phase or MVP.
Future founders and founders can be experienced operators who have already made significant contributions in recognized startups, and who now wish to use those learnings to build their own projects.
They may also be creators who have proven their ability to execute in other ways and are now looking for funding to build something with scalability potential.
“As venture capital investors, we see promising talent being born from successful startups across Latin America. However, competition is increasingly global and artificial intelligence allows us to create solutions from minimal resources” said Tomas Roggio, general partner of Latitud in a statement.
“After 13 editions of our program, we have learned the main challenges of entrepreneurship and the most useful resources to accelerate the process of transforming ideas into reality“, added Roggio.
The program will be open until February 17, 2025 and although startups from any sector can participate, Latitud is particularly interested in ideas that take advantage of the rise of artificial intelligence (AI).
The young venture capital firm already has a track record of investing in startups that have AI as a primary focus, such as Darwin AI and Hyperplane (acquired by Nubank). “We look for characteristics such as vision, ambition, short- and long-term commitment, and a business where software is a core component,” Roggio said.
The firm’s most recent study on the region’s startup ecosystem, The LatAm Tech Report 2024, reveals that the impact of AI in Latin America can be estimated at up to USD $400 billion, making it undoubtedly a market that can be tapped for large economic rewards for startups.
Latitud launched its program in November 2020 and since then, notable founders such as Jorge Neto from BHub, Gaston Irigoyen from Pomelo and Santiago Molina from Finkargo, have gone through the program.
For eight weeks, from March 10 to May 3, 2025, the 10 participating startups will have space and a $25,000 resource to explore their ideas full-time, culminating in a solid thesis to attract Venture Capital investment.
The majority of the program will be dedicated to talking with potential clients, building MVPs and discussing ideas in the sessions, in meetings with each mentor and in conversations with the rest of the group.
The second half of the program will focus on preparing future founders and founders to get the funding they need to move forward. This includes guidance on crafting a pitch deck, introduction to angel investors and VC funds, and how to cultivate those relationships.
The program ends with a week in San Francisco, California. In this roadshow, Latitud will connect future founders with the right global angel and early stage funds for each business, so they can present their demos to genuinely interested investors in Latin America.
