Women increasingly are bonding together to share experiences, networks and ideas for how to build global businesses. But there still remains a glass ceiling in luring venture capital and financial backing.

Those who are succeeding are using their business relationships effectively, approaching lenders with confidence and finding mentors, even across borders, who help them discover best practices.

In Miami, Irma Becerra-Fernandez, vice provost for academic affairs at Florida International University, brought together a high-powered panel of women to highlight the needs of women entrepreneurs and spark interest in expanding beyond country borders. Among those involved are Goldman Sachs, FedEx Express Latin America & Caribbean and Vital Voices Global Partnership.

“The most important message is women need to believe it can be done, that they can be successful in getting to the next level,” Becerra-Fernandez said. “Globally, the most underused resource is women.”

Because financing is relationship-based, Becerra-Fernandez believes women need to become persistent about building relationships, tapping them, and persevering when an initial pitch is met with reluctance.

Martha Carr, vice president of information technology for FedEx Express Latin America & Caribbean, says mentoring would help. She has been with the company for 24 years and has contacts in the United States as well as Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Carr says she is trying to think broadly and open her Rolodex to women entrepreneurs in global markets.

“Many female business in Latin America struggle after a few months or years,” Carr said. “Some now know exactly what they would have done differently but they didn’t have mentors to tell them what to do.”

Carr believes the private sector needs to step up and help small women-owned businesses all over the globe learn how to benefit from exporting their products or services. “We don’t have a lot of mentoring in the female world.”

For the entrepreneurs, Carr says, the first step to breaking the venture-capital glass ceiling is to approach financing and growth with confidence. “Women often go in thinking ‘I am the underdog.’ But if you bring something of value to the table, you will get invited back.”

Entrepreneur Celeste De Armas has found that to be true. De Armas, president and CEO of Nueva Cocina Foods, which launched the nation’s first line of all-natural and contemporary Latin rice dishes, seasonings and soups, has been building her Miami business in U.S. markets since 2005. In 2012, she plans to forge into global markets and projects sales of up to $6 million.

For De Armas, relationships and networks have been crucial to her company’s expansion. Her first round of investment came from family and friends, mostly women. Her second round came from local angel investors. “It’s all about your personal network and who you know. People like to invest in people they’re comfortable with and that might be easier for men.”

To break the glass ceiling in the financing world, De Armas says women need to put together a professional presentation and knock on many doors. “Money follows good ideas. Get help if you don’t know how to showcase your idea.”