2019
Year in Review
We don't like to brag, but what a year!
It’s already 2020 but there’s still a lot we have to celebrate about 2019 so allow us a quick look back! We met hundreds of very passionate entrepreneurs, partnered with organizations leading innovation and systemic change, revisited existing partnerships, expanded our team, launched new initiatives, and enjoyed every second of this incredible journey.
Your trust and support made this possible, so here’s a quick look at the impact we made together in 2019.
Bridge for Billions at a Glance
1001
Supported
In 4 years, we have supported 1,001 entrepreneurs making us one of the largest early-stage incubators worldwide
782
Mentors
Our professional network of 700+ mentors means that entrepreneurs find mentors in their area of specialization to offer one-on-one support throughout their incubation program
58
Administrators
We have created 58 innovation programs through partnerships with corporate and other organizations
46%
Entrepreneurs
At a gender ratio of 46% female to 54% male, we’re eliminating the bias against female entrepreneurs.
Year to Year Growth
224 Enterprises
325 Enterprises
459 Enterprises
Diversity & Representation
Here at Bridge, diversity is NOT a value we take for granted. The background and focus areas of our entrepreneurs and mentors has helped to create a rich community and reinforces our belief that entrepreneurial potential is everywhere. It’s been exciting to see that the flexible nature of our program enables many full-time workers to begin their startup journey without quitting their jobs.
However, there’s still a lot of opportunity in 2020 to further bridge the gap between rural and urban entrepreneurs and expand to other under-served countries.
Diversity in Areas of Innovation:
Our entrepreneurs come from
1
countries
Diversity in Employment Status
Diversity in Location:
Previous access to other programs
Language of mentoring
Impact Made in 2019
Entrepreneurs still in business after 2 years
Entrepreneurs who said the training program was vital to the creation of their business
Increase job creation after our incubation program
of the entrepreneurs
complete the full program
Mentors are satisfied with the quality of projects in our incubation programs
Entrepreneurs are satisfied with the quality of mentoring received
Seed Funding awarded to entrepreneurs
Total Financial aid given to disadvantaged entrepreneurs
Some of our entrepreneurs
Miguel Linera
Founder of AREX Blockchain Real Estate
Spain - 2019
Democratize access to the real estate sector by eliminating international barriers to investment, bureaucracy and paperwork.
Serban Damian
Founder of Superfit
Romania - 2019
Supports athletes to make the right decisions for their well-being easily and reach their nutrition and sports goals.
Che Francis Ndikum
Founder of eDoctar
Cameroon - 2019
Telemedicine platform offering online remote medical consultations and mental health counseling across developing countries.
A few of our mentors
In 2019, we welcomed 461 new mentors into our Bridge Community. Here are a few of the professionals we work with
Experienced strategy architect with 13+ years experience in finance and management working to design new healthier schemes for circular economy.
Chief Business Officer @ ioBuilders, Currently focusing on Ventures around new blockchain-based businesses
30 years technology specialist with experience in business plans, service definition, project management.
Clients for whom we built programs in 2019
We cannot achieve our vision of democratizing access to entrepreneurship support alone. Here are a few of the corporate bodies and international organizations we’ve partnered with to develop innovation programs.
Service Partnerships
We are grateful for our various partners who offer our alumni and incubating entrepreneurs additional resources to grow their businesses.
They are talking about us
Behind the scenes
Program Overhaul
Since June 2018, we’ve been working on creating an entirely new platform from zero and it became a reality in 2019. We completely rebuilt our program and pedagogy with enhanced features for entrepreneurs, mentors, and program admins.
We saw growth in our team as well
Since 2019 was a year of growth, we welcomed 8 amazing new talents from 5 different countries into our team.
Nadia Gómez from Mexico
Andrea Carrón from USA
Robert Molina from USA
Andrea Zaragoza from Mexico
Afia Bobia Amanfo from Ghana
Phoebe from UK
Rodrigo from Mexico
Sebastián from Costa Rica
What’s Next for 2020?
If we took a leap in 2019, watch out for us in 2020 as we begin our hike into new countries, pursue new partnerships, and launch new initiatives to make entrepreneurship support available to everyone, everywhere. Here are a few of the projects we will embark on in 2020.
Scaling Social & Impact Enterprises in Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh
A 4 year public- private development partnership (PPDP) between the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Roots of Impact and other stakeholders including investors, private sector organizations, incubators and support organizations for social enterprises
Work4Progress
Peru
Peru
A 2 year program in partnership with the ”La Caixa” Foundation with the objective of generating new employment opportunities for women and young adults.
The Leap
Worldwide
Worldwide
The Leap is our incubation program for early stage entrepreneurs around the world and in 2020, we will be looking to support 500 entrepreneurs from various sectors to develop their businesses.
IN-HABIT EU Project
Cordoba in Spain, Riga in Latvia, Lucca in Italy and Nitra in Slovakia.
Cordoba in Spain, Riga in Latvia, Lucca in Italy and Nitra in Slovakia.
3 Year project in partnership with the EU Commission to support the development of Development of (social) businesses that provide livelihood opportunities and promote healthier lifestyles in peripheral small and medium size cities
How to get involved
Looking to build an innovation program in your sector? Our project Specialists will be happy to have a chat with you
Global Projects
France & Benelux
Spain & Latin America
USA & Canada
