IDB Lab Announces Winners of WeXchange Women STEMpreneurs 2025

Five entrepreneurs will present their solutions on December 2 at GET Forum, the IDB Group’s flagship event on innovation and technology for development.

WASHINGTON – IDB Lab, the innovation and venture capital arm of the Inter-American Development Bank Group (IDB Group), has announced the five women-led businesses that have won the WeXchange Women STEMpreneurs 2025 competition.

WeXchange, a platform connecting women entrepreneurs in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), received more than 400 entries from 35 countries, offering solutions in edtech, healthtech, fintech, software as a service (SaaS), biotech, climatetech, agtech and e-commerce, and other fields. The venture capital fund AVP Ventures led the selection process, which involved more than 86 judges from over 59 organizations, including 52 investment funds from Latin America and the Caribbean.

The selected startups are either actively raising capital or plan to do so in the coming months, and will be presented to venture capital investors and key stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem in Latin America and Caribbean at the WeXchange Demo Day 2025 on December 2 in San Salvador, El Salvador, during GET Forum.

The selected startups are:

Musa (Peru): an omnichannel learning platform, focused on WhatsApp and powered by artificial intelligence (AI), that trains workers and communities from the ground level up. With more than 500,000 people trained to date and a 90%+ completion rate, Musa works with businesses and NGOs to reduce educational gaps at scale.

Polymera (Uruguay): a biotechnology startup that aims to transform the hygiene industry with biodegradable superabsorbent materials for diapers, sanitary napkins, and incontinence products. Their technology substitutes non-biodegradable, petroleum-derived superabsorbent materials for a sustainable alternative, reducing up to 50% of the plastic footprint without compromising on performance or costs.

Quipu (Colombia): a fintech company that uses AI to offer fair credit to informal workers who are excluded from the financial system, by analyzing data from SMS, social media, and videos to create credit profiles. Quipu offers direct loans and licenses its technology to banks, fintechs, and cooperatives to enhance financial inclusion in Colombia.

Oncoliq (Argentina): a startup that is developing a blood analysis for the early detection of multiple types of cancer, using polymerase chain reaction technology and artificial intelligence, with the aim of reducing mortality resulting from late diagnosis while also reducing costs for health services.

Pathogenix (Jamaica): the patented air quality monitor Pathogenix.ai uses AI and nanobiosensor technology in a powerful biomedicine tool to detect, monitor, and efficiently control bacterial pathogens. It enables early detection of the type A flu virus, Legionella bacteria, formaldehyde, volatile organic compounds, and gases, including carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide in under five minutes. Its detection capabilities are combined with a rapid filtration system that can clean the air in the same time frame.

The WeXchange platform aims to help entrepreneurs connect with other entrepreneurs and investors, and to participate in training. The winners will present their solutions at a plenary session during GET Forum, giving them significant visibility in front of investors and key stakeholders from the entrepreneurial ecosystem. They will also participate in networking activities and have the opportunity to deepen their understanding of the most relevant discussions about innovation in Latin America and the Caribbean.

WeXchange’s activities are made possible by the support of the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi).