Brazil is Hot, Hot, Hot!

Brazilian startup and investment activity just continues to heat up.  It’s not enough that, at the end of last year, Tiger Management and Accel partners invested US $30M in Vostu and Insight Venture Partners invested an undisclosed amount in Mentez, two Brazilian social gaming companies.  Now, comes news that none other than premier VC firm, Benchmark Capital, just invested in Brazilian social buying company Peixe Urbano.  Conclusion: Brazil is hot, hot, hot!

It was only six months ago that I wrote that article for VentureBeat and the NYTimes.com about the fact that US web companies are starting to look at Latin America for strategic acquisitions.  Now, VC’s are looking at countries such as Brazil, Chile and Argentina, but Brazil is, by far, the big blip on their radar screens.

It’s all part of a global trend whereby new players are disrupting established companies in industry after industry by incorporating the ever present web (mobile and otherwise) into their unique value proposition.  These new players enter markets with more competitive business models and start to take share away from traditional companies in industries such as retail, commerce, media, financial services, entertainment and more.

There are a number of reasons why Brazil is in the lead including the size of the country, the investments in infrastructure and the growing importance of that economy on the world stage.  Nevertheless, another reason is the Brazilians themselves (professionalism, creativity, world view, and ability to execute) and, here, other countries in Latin America can learn a thing or two (although, I think Chileans and Argentineans are keeping step nicely).