📊 Venture Capital
A brief look at the last decade of tech and startups in LatAm; what are we left with?
Welcome to Latinometrics. We bring you Latin American insights and trends through concise, thought-provoking data visualizations.
Startups 🚀
2021 was an unprecedented year for Latin America. The region received almost $16B of capital for startups. A crucial factor in tech investment was certainly the outpouring of talent and ambitious entrepreneurs who wanted to solve challenging problems.
But why exactly did investments triple what they were in any recorded year in 2021? The explosive growth also happened outside of Latin America — the US saw 2x the influx of yearly capital into tech ventures.
The answer can be summed up in three words:Â low interest rates. Low interest rates led investors away from bonds, stocks, and other assets to venture capital and startups, where the potential for higher returns was increasingly worth the risk.
Some companies rode this massive wave of capital and reached the now-avoided term "unicorn" status — a $1B+ valuation. In the aftermath of capital drying up, many startups that claimed that title no longer do.
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