Honduras‘ Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

May 2016

About the Research

According to the World Bank Doing Business 2016 Index, Honduras is ranked 110th place out of 189 countries on the

ease of doing business¹. Further to this, the Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute (GEDI) ranked Honduras

105th out of 132 countries on a scale that measures entrepreneurship, economic development and welfare2.

Given the potential for entrepreneurship to create jobs and increase economic growth, the Aspen Network of

Development Entrepreneurs’ (ANDE) Central America and Mexico Chapter³ developed this study with the following

goals:

• Identify organizations that are working to support entrepreneurship

• Identify potential partners for these organizations

• Identify where the gaps are for supporting entrepreneurs

• Identify where organizations can collaborate to promote entrepreneurship in Guatemala

With those goals in mind, we designed a questionnaire focused on the following elements:

• Type of organizational intervention

• Stage they support

• Type of capacity development they offer

• Financial support they offer (debt, investment, etc.)

• Sector they support

• Geographic presence

We would like to thank the 28 organizations that were a part of the first stage of this study, through which we were able

to visualize the support they offer, which areas are the strongest, and where collaboration is needed to strengthen the

entrepreneurial ecosystem. This study has not been exhaustive, but has resulted from a joint effort between ANDE and

the organizations involved.

(1) Doing business 2016, World Bank [Online]. [Retrieved on: April 6 2016]. Available here.

(2) Global Entrepreneurship Index 2016, GEDI [Online]. [Retrieved on: April 6, 2016]. Available here.

(3) ANDE is a global network of organizations that propel entrepreneurship in emerging markets as a way creating prosperity fostering stronger relationships and partnerships in the local

and international ecosystem. (www.andeglobal.org)

Stage Idea StartupEarly

Stage

Expansion

Stage

Growth

StageConsolidation

Hivos

Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Honduras

*The organizations of “Financial Support” that are in Green offer financing and capacity development.

Central American Bank for Economic Integration

C&D Tecnologia

GOAL

Instituto Nacional de Formación Profesional

Leitz Group

Root Capital

Rosalila Studio & Community Space

Centro de Estudios para el Desarrollo Rural- Programa de Servicios Financieros para la Agricultura Sostenible

Publíc S.A.

Women Agriculture TechnologySocial

EntrepreneursYouth AllKeys

S.E.E.D.

Lafise Investment Management

OXFAM

CARE Internacional Global Partnerships

Agora Partnerships

FUNDES

Heifer International

Red Latinoamericana de Universidades por el Emprendedurismo Social - RedUnES

Central American Bank for Economic Integration

Instituto Nacional de Formación Profesional

TechnoServe

UNITEC

Voces Vitales Honduras

Others

Universidad Tecnológica de Honduras – Centro de Innovación Avanza

Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Choloma

Coach Para Info-emprendimientos con Alma

Juventud Siglo Veintiuno

Thinkers & Makers

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Geographic PresenceP

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Honduras’ Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

What kind of support do they offer?

n= 28

64% and of participant organizations

focus on training entrepreneurs and

57% focus on education on

entrepreneurial culture. Both are

critical elements to boost the

development of startups in a short,

medium and long term.

43% of the organizations surveyed

give financial support in various

stages of enterprise development.

25% of participating organizations

provide research about the topic. Relevant research can improve

information, models, processes,

strategies, and make it easier to identify

new market opportunities.

The weakest point in the ecosystem

are those organizations who give

support to intermediaries, this

means, financial institutions or

foundations that give support to

incubators, accelerators, funds, etc.,

representing a 4% (GOAL).

Honduras’ Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

Type of

intervention

Give financial

support

43%

Training to

entrepreneurs

64%

Education on

entrepreneurial

culture

57%

Research

25%

Support

intermediaries

4%

How do organizations provide these capacities?

The main ways that organizations are working to develop capacities are business plan development/ incubation,

mentoring and client acquisition/market analysis. To a lesser extent, we found a variety of leadership programs,

training courses, and accelerators.

Others provide legal assessments and tools to strengthen governance, encourage innovation, etc.

0.5357

0.3929

0.3214

0.4286

0.2143

0.3571

0.3214

0.25

0% 15% 30% 45% 60%

Business Plan/Incubation

Training and Courses

Postgrade, Masters, etc.

Accelerator

Mentoring

Leadership Programs

Financial and Accounting Support

Training and Courses

Other

Honduras’ Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

Capacity Development

Honduras’ Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

Organization

Business Plan

Development/

Incubation

Market Research and

AnalysisAccelerator Mentoring

Leadership

Programs

Financial and

Accounting Support

Training and

CoursesOther

Agora Partnerships

Banco Centroamericano de Integración Económica

C&D Tecnologia

Camara de Comercio e Industrias de Choloma

CARE Internacional

Centro de Estudios para el Desarrollo Rural- Programa de

Servicios Financieros para la Agricultura Sostenible

Coach Para Info-emprendimientos con Alma

Fundación Avina

FUNDES

Global Partnerships

GOAL

Heifer

Hivos

Instituto Nacional de Formación Profesional

Juventud Siglo Veintiuno

Lafise Investment Management

Leitz Group

OXFAM

Publíc S.A. de C.V.

Red Latinoamericana de Universidades por el Emprendedurismo

Social - RedUnES

Root Capital

Rosalila Studio & Community Space

S.E.E.D

TechnoServe

Thinkers & Makers

UNITEC

Universidad Tecnológica de Honduras - Centro de Innovación Avanza

Voces Vitales Honduras

Investment in Honduras

Out of the 28 organizations that participated, only 12, or 43%, provide financial support, mainly in the forms of

capital (equity) and loans. Mezannine debt is also another form of support, but it is not as common.

Honduras’ Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

7

2

9

0 2 5 7 9 11

Debt (Loans)

Debt (Mezzanine)

Capital (Equity)

Organization CapitalDebt

(Mezzanine)

Debt

(Loans)

Banco Centroamericano de

Integración Económica

C&D Tecnologia

CARE Internacional

Global Partnerships

GOAL

Hivos

Instituto Nacional de Formación

Profesional

Lafise Investment Management

Leitz Group

OXFAM

Root Capital

Universidad Tecnológica de

Honduras - Centro de

Innovación Avanza

Event Description Frequency

Angel Hack

This event gathers hackers, designers, and entrepreneurs

for 24 hours in order to create innovative projects from

scratch. It is conducted at San Pedro Sula, in the

Technological University of Honduras (Universidad

Tecnológica de Honduras).

Annual

Creative Mornings

Serie of free morning conferences to the creative

community. Each event includes a 20-minute lecture,

breakfast and coffee break. It is held in Tegucigalpa, in the

Cultural Center of Spain (Centro Cutural de España).

Last Friday of every month

F***Up Nights

Events held at nights where entrepreneurs share in public

and in an informal way, some stories about business

failures. It is held in San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa.

Monthly, the second and

third Thuersday (SPS) and

Wednesday every 2 or 3

months (TG).

Geek Girl Meetup

Open Space Conferences to women interested in

technology, design, startups, and some other related fields.

The aim of this event is to create connections, learn and

share knowladge and experiences. It is held in Connect

Cowork at Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula.

Firts Tuesday of every

month

Hackathon de

Innovación

Ciudadana

This event aim to generate technological solutions to

challanges in the city through open data.

Held in Tegucigalpa.

Annual

Startup Weekend

Held on weekends, in this event entrepreneaurs, designers,

tehcnology enthusiasts and young entrepreneurs with

business ideas, come together to create new products and

startups. Held in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula.

Annual

Events

As part of fostering an entrepreneurial culture, during the last years different events and initiatives have emerged

to promote not only the potencial but also the opportunities to start a business, and motivate and encourage

entrepreneurs to do it. Some of these events are the following:

Honduras’ Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

Research Development about Entrepreneurship

The actors who are developing research about the topic are around 25% of all the participant organizations. These

institutions are the following:

Honduras’ Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

Organization Website

Camara de Comercio e Industrias de Choloma http://www.ccich.org/site/

F***Up Nights http://fuckupnights.com/san-pedro-sula/

GOAL https://www.goalglobal.org/

Publíc S.A. www.publichn.com

Rosalila Studio & Community Space http://www.rosalilastudio.com/

UNITEC http://www.unitec.edu/

Universidad Tecnológica de Honduras - Centro de

Innovación Avanzahttp://www.uth.hn/uth-avanza/

Organizaton Website

Agora Partnerships http://agorapartnerships.org/esp/

Banco Centroamericano de Integración Económica http://www.bcie.org/

C&DTecnologia http://cdtechnologia.net/

Camara de Comercio e Industrias de Choloma http://www.ccich.org/site/

CARE Internacional http://www.care-international.org/

Centro de Estudios para el Desarrollo Rural- Programa de Servicios Financieros

para la Agricultura Sosteniblehttp://cdr.or.cr/

Coach Para Info-emprendimientos con Alma www.alejandrorodrigezalaz.com/

Fundación Avina http://www.avina.net/avina/

FUNDES http://www.fundes.org/

Global Partnerships http://www.globalpartnerships.org/

GOAL https://www.goalglobal.org/

Heifer http://www.heifer.org/

Hivos https://hivos.org/

Instituto Nacional de Formación Profesional http://infop.hn/

Juventud Siglo Veintiuno https://m.facebook.com/Jusive01/

Lafise Investment Management http://www.lafiseinvestment.com/lafise-lim/

Leitz Group http://leitzgroup.com/

OXFAM https://www.oxfam.org/es/paises/honduras

Publíc S.A. www.publichn.com

Red Latinoamericana de Universidades por el Emprendedurismo Social -

RedUnESwww.redunes.org

Root Capital http://www.rootcapital.org/

Rosalila Studio & Community Space http://www.rosalilastudio.com/

S.E.E.D. http://seedcr.com/

TechnoServe http://www.technoserve.org/

Thinkers & Makers https://www.facebook.com/ThinkersMakersNetwork/

UNITEC http://www.unitec.edu/

Universidad Tecnológica de Honduras - Centro de Innovación Avanza http://www.uth.hn/uth-avanza/

Voces Vitales Honduras http://vocesvitaleshonduras.org/

Where can I find more information about the

organizations?

Honduras’ Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

Glossary

Entrepreneurial Stage:

• Idea (concept): The business is just an idea or a prototype; the organization is not formally established; capital and capacity development

services resources can demonstrate the business model viability and it represents a high level risk.

• Startup: The business is formally established; products and services are starting to be produced. The use of capital or capacity

development services is being oriented to product development and commercialization.

• Early Stage: The product is already tested, but it could have low sales, negative cash flow, and a small team. The capital and capacity

development are oriented to start the commercialization processes, trying to reach an equilibrium.

• Expansion Stage: The business model has been proven and has financially broken even. Capital and capacity development are oriented

to prove that the model is scalable.

• Growth Stage: The organization has a scalable business model and is financially viable. Capital is required to accelerate growth (for

example: investing in new infrastructure and exploring new markets).

• Consolidation: Stage before the public offer.

Financial Support:

• Capital (Equity): A fund for big businesses that is generally used for important business expansion or internationalization. Private Equity

Provides capital in exchange for shares provided by the business. Equity capital often also provides non-monetary resources such as

contacts, best practices, professionalized management, and so on. Their participation in business is temporary and typically lasts between

four and seven years. (1)

• Mezzanine: A hybrid between debt and equity that is used for business expansion, and essentially enables the lender to convert debt

into equity if the debt cannot be liquidated on time. (2)

• Loan: The financer provides the entrepreneur with an amount of money that has been established under a contract, indicating the ways

that the capital has to be returned, along with loan interests that must be repaid, and deadlines predetermined by a contract. (3)

1. Moreno, Tania. Expansion [on line]. 2016. [Retrieved on March 31, 2016]. Available here.

2. Investopedia [on line]. 2016. [Retrieved on March 31, 2016]. Available here.

3. López Domínguez, Ignacio. Expansion [on line]. 2016. [Retrieved on March 31, 2016]. Available here,

We want to thank all of the organizations that participated in this survey and recognize the great

contribution they make everyday to the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Honduras.

If you are interested in being part of this map, please fill this survey.

For more information, contact the regional staff of the ANDE Central America & Mexico Chapter:

Katia Dumont

Regional Manager

ANDE Central America & Mexico

Email: katia.dumont@aspeninst.org

Rosario Uriarte

Program Coordinator

ANDE Central America & Mexico

Email: rosario.uriarte@aspeninst.org

Twitter @AndeMexicoCA

http://www.andeglobal.org

About the study of Honduras’ Entrepreneurial

Ecosystem