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03/08/12 | Uncategorized

Women 2.0 Commits To International Growth, Enters Latin America With Ellas 2.0

Women 2.0 goes global with Ellas 2.0 on International Women’s Day.
By Angie Chang (Co-Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Women 2.0)

On International Women’s Day this March 8, 2012, Women 2.0 is announcing our partnership with Ellas 2.0, a Spain-based non-profit supporting female founders of tech startups, to reach a broader community of women entrepreneurs in Spanish-speaking communities in the United States and Latin America.

We will be expanding Founder Friday to Latin America and providing educational content, previously available only in English, in Spanish.

“Women are an important and powerful contributor to economic growth, innovation and job creation in the global marketplace. Expanding our network to include Ellas 2.0 furthers our commitment to increase the number of female founders in the technology sector internationally,” said CEO of Women 2.0 Shaherose Charania.

Latin America boasts a population of 582 million, and 50% of them are women. However, women run only 17-27% of businesses in Latin America, according to The Multilateral Investment Fund. And due to the constraints of offline commerce businesses, women-led companies tend to be small, informal and concentrated in the commerce sector, where profits and margins are low (and often use less credit). These businesses usually do not develop beyond the micro stage and are not positioned to scale globally, according to an IDB report.

By joining ventures, Women 2.0 and Ellas 2.0 together will create a platform for igniting, educating and supporting business growth among female entrepreneurs in Latin American countries at the local, regional and international level. Latin America boasts a wealth of emerging business markets, representing a ripe landscape for early-stage founders that are building new scalable businesses online – with women’s participation in these new ecosystems.

Women 2.0 is committed to provide content, community and conferences that support entrepreneurship ecosystems in local cities. Having founders tell their stories and lessons learned fuels our educational and inspirational content; our Founder Friday networking events help forge needed business networks in local cities and our conferences are a platform for female founders and technology innovators world wide.

Ellas 2.0 was founded by entrepreneurs Patricia Araque and Begoña Miguel in 2009, and the largest organization supporting women in the technology sector in Spain with over 8,000 members. To date, Ellas 2.0 has hosted over 150 events throughout Spain.

“Uniting Ellas 2.0 with Women 2.0 leverages two powerful communities,” said Patricia Araque, co-founder of Ellas 2.0. “This joint venture will enable Ellas 2.0 to reach a broader audience of women, create valuable business connections, and promote dialogue about the opportunities available to Latin American and Hispanic entrepreneurs.”

Women 2.0 brings six years of experience building networks, providing visibility to female-founded companies and connecting communities with investors in the tech industry. Partnering with Ellas 2.0 provides Women 2.0 the opportunity to continue our mission of inspiring and educating a new generation of successful, entrepreneurial women globally.

Angie Chang co-founded Women 2.0 in 2006. She currently serves as Editor-In-Chief and is working to mainstream women in high-growth, high-tech entrepreneurship. Previously, Angie held roles in product management, web UI design, marketing and entrepreneurship. In 2008, Angie launched Bay Area Girl Geek Dinners, asking that guys come as the “+1” for once. Angie holds a B.A. in English and Social Welfare from UC Berkeley. Follow her on Twitter at @thisgirlangie and @women2.

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