On today’s episode of McKinsey on Startups, our guest is Camila Lecaros, the Managing Director of MassChallenge Mexico, a start-up accelerator that is part of a global network with other outposts in Boston, Texas, Israel, and Switzerland. MassChallenge uses a relatively unique model in its work with budding entrepreneurs. It takes no equity in the start-ups it helps get off the ground over an intensive, 3-4 month program; its offering is completely free to the very early stage companies that are chosen after a competitive judging process. Camila has been with MassChallenge Mexico for several years; she started her career in entrepreneurial outreach in Latin America working at local accelerator Endeavor Colombia and then VC firm Nazca Ventures. She has an abiding passion for working with founders just starting to try to turn their ideas and visions into reality; in her more than a decade career doing so, she has seen the region’s ecosystem similarly take flight from a nascent state to a vibrant, burgeoning entrepreneurial environment. As she told me, her greatest professional motivation is that “entrepreneurship is the only way we can create sustainable economic development.”

On today’s episode of <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/technology-media-and-telecommunications/our-insights/mckinsey-on-startups">McKinsey on Startups</a>, our guest is Camila Lecaros, the Managing Director of MassChallenge Mexico, a start-up accelerator that is part of a global network with other outposts in Boston, Texas, Israel, and Switzerland. MassChallenge uses a relatively unique model in its work with budding entrepreneurs. It takes no equity in the start-ups it helps get off the ground over an intensive, 3-4 month program; its offering is completely free to the very early stage companies that are chosen after a competitive judging process. Camila has been with MassChallenge Mexico for several years; she started her career in entrepreneurial outreach in Latin America working at local accelerator Endeavor Colombia and then VC firm Nazca Ventures. She has an abiding passion for working with founders just starting to try to turn their ideas and visions into reality; in her more than a decade career doing so, she has seen the region’s ecosystem similarly take flight from a nascent state to a vibrant, burgeoning entrepreneurial environment. As she told me, her greatest professional motivation is that “entrepreneurship is the only way we can create sustainable economic development.”

McKinsey on Start-ups is an original podcast series from Fuel, McKinsey’s startup practice. In each episode, our experts cut through the noise to help startups and investors accelerate growth. We feature conversations with founders/leaders, investors, and industry experts to share the latest perspective across borders and sectors.

McKinsey on Start-ups

Startup accelerator MassChallenge Mexico takes a distinctive, equity-free approach to helping new ventures get off the ground. Camila Lecaros talks about the keys to its success and the trends shaping the growing entrepreneurial ecosystem across Latin America.

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