Latin America is going through a startup renaissance. Formerly looked over for entrepreneurship closer to home (the ever-present Silicon Valley, for example) — funds and investors are now pouring into the region.
There was always an entrepreneurial mindset here in Latin America. I’ve seen it happen firsthand. Our ‘think global, act local’ mindset has allowed us to focus on rebuilding cities, solving real problems at hand. Just look at what happened with Colombia. When I first started my own tech company, I did so because I saw the potential of technology in our region.
For entrepreneurs and startups, growth is key. We’re always looking for the next big thing — what’s happening next, where is the trend going. Over the past few years, all the signs have been pointing towards Latin America, and now people are starting to notice. In 2018, a new crop of unicorns such as the ones I mentioned beforehand, emerged on the scene from Latin America — some might say, the Latam unicorn stampede.
Take the newest, shiniest Latin American unicorn, Quinto Andar, for example. The Brazilian real-estate startup recently nailed a 5-billion-dollar investment from Softbank, who has been pouring money into the region lately, backing unicorns like Madeira Madeira and Rappi, (who subsequently are also startup success stories for Latin America.) Quinto Andar tackles a very specific problem in Brazil real estate, as detailed here in TechCrunch.
