GET Forum 2026 Brings Global Innovation Leaders to Ecuador

More than 100 international speakers and 800 participants are expected at the main conference, while the Innovation Village on the opening day is set to welcome over 2,000 attendees.

Global entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers and technology leaders will meet in Quito, Ecuador, from October 5–7 for GET Forum 2026, the Inter-American Development Bank Group's flagship gathering focused on innovation and early-stage investment for development. The event will explore how Latin America and the Caribbean can turn entrepreneurial talent into scalable businesses, stronger investment ecosystems, quality jobs and wider economic opportunities.

More than 100 international speakers and 800 participants are expected at the main conference, while the Innovation Village on the opening day is set to welcome over 2,000 attendees. The scale of the gathering reflects a central challenge facing the region: entrepreneurial activity is strong, yet many promising ideas and young companies still struggle to secure the capital, connections and supportive policies needed to grow.

Connecting entrepreneurs with capital and global networks

GET Forum is designed to bring different parts of the entrepreneurial ecosystem into the same conversation, connecting founders with investors, governments with evidence, universities with industry partners, and businesses with technology and international networks.

Confirmed speakers include Jeff Hoffman, Chairman of the Global Entrepreneurship Network and technology entrepreneur; venture capital leaders Rebeca Hwang and Nicolas Berman; Casey Weston, LinkedIn's Global Head of Labour and Economic Policy; Ecuador's Minister of Economic and Productive Development Sariha Moya; and El Salvador's Minister of Economy María Luisa Hayem.

Graham Macmillan, CEO of IDB Lab, said entrepreneurial talent can be found in every country, while the strength of the surrounding ecosystem often determines whether that talent can produce wider economic change. Entrepreneurs require investors, investors need reliable market intelligence, governments depend on evidence, and universities benefit from stronger connections with industry.

Ecuador sees hosting the forum as an opportunity to bring its entrepreneurs and companies closer to international investors and technology leaders. The country also wants to strengthen its position in the regional innovation economy by presenting entrepreneurship, innovation and investment as engines of long-term growth.

Technology, venture capital and policy take centre stage

GET Forum 2026 will concentrate on three main priorities: expanding economic opportunity through technology skills, scaling venture capital investment, and shaping policies that support stronger entrepreneurial and investment ecosystems.

Artificial intelligence and digital transformation will run across these discussions rather than being treated as isolated technology topics. Participants will examine how emerging technologies are changing businesses, workforce needs, labor markets and access to economic opportunities, raising important questions about the skills people need and the conditions companies require to compete.

The focus on venture capital addresses another major barrier facing young businesses. A region may generate large numbers of entrepreneurs, yet innovative companies can remain small when early-stage financing is difficult to access. Stronger links between founders and investors could help promising ventures move beyond their initial markets and develop into businesses capable of generating jobs, productivity and wider economic value.

Policy will play an equally important role because entrepreneurship depends on more than individual ambition. Regulatory environments, access to finance, technology infrastructure, education, research partnerships and connections with international markets can influence whether innovative companies survive and expand.

Quito forum looks beyond a three-day gathering

The event is being co-organised by the IDB Group, Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN), Alliance for Entrepreneurship and Innovation of Ecuador (AEI), and the Government of Ecuador, bringing public institutions, private-sector actors and international networks together around a shared innovation agenda.

Jonathan Ortmans, Founder and President of GEN, stressed that countries seeking to remain competitive need ecosystems capable of connecting talent with capital, knowledge and global networks. AEI Board President Paulina Burbano de Lara highlighted Ecuador's combination of natural wealth, social diversity, entrepreneurial energy and a private sector interested in connecting talent and investment. GET Forum will give the country a platform to show how those strengths can be used to respond to global trends and turn ideas into practical solutions.

The gathering is also part of the broader GET Platform, an IDB Lab initiative created to strengthen entrepreneurial innovation ecosystems across the region. This means the effort extends beyond the three days in Quito, with the forum serving as one part of a longer-term strategy to build relationships between entrepreneurs, investors, governments, universities and other ecosystem partners.

For Latin America and the Caribbean, the larger question is not simply how many businesses are created, but how many promising ideas can grow into competitive companies with lasting economic and social impact. GET Forum 2026 will put that challenge at the centre of discussions as regional and global leaders search for ways to turn entrepreneurial energy into investment, innovation and development at scale.