All posts tagged brazil

  • January 17, 2011

    Brazil is Hot, Hot, Hot!

    Brazil HotBrazilian 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).

    4 Comments / Case Studies, English /

  • January 11, 2011

    Latinos as Social Media Experts

    The other day, I was reading an interesting article in the Huffington Post about how well Latinos (Spanish-speakers residing in Latin America) and Hispanics (residents of the US) use social media. The article talks about a new book on this topic by Joe Kutchera entitled, Latino Link: Building Brands Online with Hispanic Communities and Content.

    According to Kutchera, who has interviewed marketing executives from Ford, Best Buy and other companies, the Latino/Hispanic culture tends to be much more social and less individualistic than other cultures such as that in the states.  The article goes on to cite someone who mentions that Hispanics and Latinos are the fastest growing group on the Internet and will command $1.3 trillion in purchasing power by 2014.

    How can Latin Americans take advantage of the understanding of social media and develop new digital innovations? Just as the chinese market has generated numerous home-grown startups that understand the nuances of that local market, I believe the same opportunity certainly exists in Latin America (albeit, taking different size markets into account).

    Recently, Simon Olson, a partner at FIR Capital Partners in Brazil, during a recent talk at Standford University, spoke precisely about the available opportunities within that market.  Please click on his name (above) and subscribe to his blog as he’s certainly someone to follow.

    In the video below, Simon also mentions how Brazilians, great social media adopters, are working to relay that into innovative startups that leverage social media.In Brazil, the growth in number and quality of startups is incredible.  This should make other countries in Latin America sit up and take notice as Chile, Argentina and Mexico have.

    Below is the video from Simon’s talk. It’s excellent and eye-opening for investors unaware of the opportunities in Brazil.

    3 Comments / English, General /
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