VIQTORIA: Connecting small businesses in Ecuador with digital solutions that accelerate their transformation.

Our programs

Why this program?

  • ​​In Ecuador, MSEs are an important driver of the local economy, representing 94% of businesses and 25% of all jobs.
  • As many as 86% of Ecuador’s women entrepreneurs start their own businesses due to a lack of employment opportunities (only 40% of formal jobs are occupied by women).
  • Financial inclusion is a crucial aspect for the development of small businesses led by women. According to a report from the Network of Financial Institutions of Ecuador, 36% of the adult population is currently excluded from the financial system, and it rises to 42% for women.
  • Latin America and the Caribbean face significant entrepreneurial challenges, particularly for women-led small businesses. The closure rate of these businesses in the region is alarmingly high, being 20% higher than male-led MSEs. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Research Association, COVID-19 has exacerbated this issue over the past two years, pushing closure rates for women-led businesses in the region up to 57.5%, the highest in the world.

Program overview

VIQTORIA focuses on the connection between startups and women-led MSEs across Ecuador. It fosters the development and implementation of digitalization projects that promote the growth and financial sustainability of these small businesses across a variety of sectors.

This is achieved through a twin-track initiative that 1) incubates MSEs to digitalize and innovate their own business models, and 2) supports startups to adapt existing products and services or roll out new ones that meet MSE needs and boost their competitiveness.

Main objectives of the project:

  1. Foster the development and implementation of digitalization projects that promote MSE growth and financial sustainability in Ecuador.
  2. Stimulate the Ecuadorian startup and wider innovation ecosystem.
  3. Create spaces for local B2B connections and learning opportunities between startups and MSEs.
  4. To better understand and improve methods for supporting women-led MSE growth in Latin America’s growing digital economy.

IMPAQTO, Ecuador’s first B-CORP and a leading Ecuadorian organization for inclusive innovation and entrepreneurship, will lead the coordination and delivery of VIQTORIA. Evidence and lessons generated through this project will be consolidated by Universidad Ecotec and disseminated to drive their uptake and replication within other small business-focused projects in Ecuador, the Andean region, and across LATAM.

About IMPAQTO

IMPAQTO is an ecosystem weaver that facilitates the creation of networks in the Latin American impact ecosystem through inspiring spaces and support for entrepreneurship, innovation and impact investment. It is the first B Corp in Ecuador and uses the power of markets to provide concrete solutions to social and environmental problems across four business units: Coworking, Consulting, Labs and Capital.

IMPAQTO is a gender smart institution that promotes their impact on women-led MSEs across the country, fostering the development and implementation of digitization projects that promote their growth and financial sustainability.

About Universidad Ecotec

From Ecuador, we train professionals with academic quality and a vision of internationalization, supported by solid research foundations. This approach promotes the generation of new knowledge through our modern university degree programs, including in-person, hybrid, and 100% online master's programs.

ECOTEC University, a private institution of higher education with 16 years of institutional life, currently houses a community of more than 12,000 students on its 3 campuses, Juan Tanca Marengo, La Costa and Samborondón, in Ecuador.

“IMPAQTO and Mastercard Strive, through VIQTORIA, shatter boundaries for Ecuador's women-led MSEs. We connect them to a network of possibilities, ignite their financial engines with digital solutions, and inspire startups to develop products that transcend borders and limitations. Together, we empower change agents to transform Latin America, one connection at a time. ”

Daniela Peralvo

Co-Founder and CEO of Impaqto

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