How Venture Capital, Private Equity Fund Managers and Impact Investors are Applying a Gender Lens in Latin America and the Caribbean
This report, written by Value for Women (VFW) in partnership and with the support of UN Women's Win-Win Programme, summarises the findings of a rapid scoping study that was conducted between April 2021 and June 2021 to capture the state-of-the-field of investing with a gender lens in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).
Through this report, we hope to create a baseline for gender lens investing (GLI) practices in LAC as well as increase GLI uptake across the region’s investing ecosystem by sharing promising approaches from first movers. To that end, the report aims to:
- characterise gender lens activity in LAC, with a particular focus on venture capital (VC), private equity (PE) and private debt investors;
- shine a light on exemplary GLI practices for investors in the region to learn from and follow; and
- provide recommendations for a framework that field builders could utilize going forward to assess funds on the extent to which they have integrated GLI practices.
The focus on the VC/PE sector is particularly important because gender-lens investing is an untapped opportunity for impact funds and investment managers seeking to allocate capital to scale the most innovative solutions to LAC’s challenges. This report highlights that the region is currently in a fast-evolving period for GLI, and many investors have moved from the “why” to the “how” in applying a gender lens in their investment process and activities.
The report summarizes information gathered from 29 surveys with investment fund managers and 15 key informant interviews with investing professionals, GLI experts, members of Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and entrepreneurial ecosystem actors active in LAC.
Value for Women is a global advisory services firm with a mission to promote women’s participation and leadership in business, finance and investment around the globe, with a focus on emerging markets.
