HerVenture app for women starting businesses launches in Mexico

We have officially launched our award-winning mobile learning app, HerVenture, in Mexico! The app will to support Mexican women who are starting and developing small businesses.

Developed by the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women (CBFW), the HerVenture app has been translated into Spanish for the first time and made available to women entrepreneurs across Mexico in partnership with Fémina Oaxaca, a dedicated business and entrepreneurship institution and incubator for female entrepreneurs. The app’s roll out in Mexico is funded by PayPal and includes events, local outreach and support, alongside a digital marketing campaign.

HerVenture has already supported over 150,000 women in seven countries, Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Guyana, Vietnam, Indonesia and Egypt. It provides free, high-quality training tailored specifically for women entrepreneurs starting their businesses. It features learning tracks on topics including launching a business, accessing finance, digital marketing, expanding market access and e-commerce. It is data-light and after downloading, it can be used offline, supporting women who don’t have regular internet access.

Women-owned micro, small and medium businesses represent only around a third of Mexico’s MSMEs, as they continue to face major social and systemic barriers that limit their ability to start, sustain, and grow businesses.

Access to finance remains the biggest challenge, with only 13% of women led businesses estimated to have obtained a loan. This is often linked to credit assessments relying on formal employment records and asset ownership, which frequently exclude women. Mexico has the fourth lowest female economic participation in Latin America, and most women-led businesses (60%) are financed with personal credit cards.

Women frequently encounter gender stereotypes, which shapes their daily lives. This includes women bearing disproportionate burden of care-giving responsibilities, estimated to be more than 20 hours per week greater than men. The impact of these pressures is reflected in business outcomes: women are 47% more likely than men to close a business due to family or personal reasons.

Crucially, there is also a gap for women accessing technology, often due to a lack of budget, digital skills and time to experiment, compounded by limits to internet connectivity, reliance on cash, and the lack of practical support to overcome these overlapping barriers. Whilst digitalisation is increasingly essential to business growth, many women concentrated in micro and early-stage businesses struggle to access the right technology, from digital payments and marketing to logistics and e-commerce, and miss out on opportunity it provides. HerVenture is specifically developed to address this gap.

The project is anticipated to reach thousands of women across the country in overcoming these barriers.

Cherie Blair CBE KC said: “We are very excited to launch our app to Mexico. Women entrepreneurs in Mexico are ambitious, talented and determined – yet too many are being held back by external barriers.

“HerVenture supports women in navigating these barriers and I’m confident they will use it to unlock their own potential and build businesses that thrive.”

Juan Bordes, VP and GM for PayPal Latin America said: “PayPal celebrates 15 years in Mexico supporting the growth of small and large businesses, and helping transform the lives of thousands of people through technology. Supporting this project is a natural extension of what we believe as a company: bringing tools, knowledge, and opportunities closer to more women entrepreneurs so they can start, grow, and create a positive impact in their communities.”