RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In recent years Latin America has been consolidating itself as one of the most significant innovation hubs in the world. With twice the population of the United States, around 650 million people, and R$30 trillion (US$5.9 trillion) in GDP, Latin American startups will attract, by 2021, more than R$77 billion (US$15 billion) in investments, according to the Association for Private Capital Investment in Latin America (Lavca).
According to Bruno Rondani, CEO of 100 Open Startups, the large number of potential consumers combined with the high rates of cell phone usage and hours spent on the internet have helped surpass even the figures of China or India. “This context makes the region one of the most digitally active in the world, opening up opportunities for startups in sectors such as fintech, retailtech, and constructech. Other areas with great potential include sectors such as ICT, tourism, mobility, energy, healthcare, and agriculture.”
The 100 Open Startups is even expanding its main index, the 100 Open Startups, of open innovation, beyond Brazil. Applications from startups and corporations for the 2022 edition of the 100 Open Startups Ranking are open until June 15. The list, published since 2016 in Brazil, reached Colombia in the 2021 edition, focusing on the practice of open innovation and highlighting the most attractive startups for the corporate market and the leading corporations in open innovation with startups.
“The initiative is part of the expansion process of 100 Open Startups, which wants to boost the practice of open innovation in more countries, as it happened in Brazil and has also been the case in Colombia. Here in Brazil, we are a reference in open innovation, and we want to be the world representatives of this theme,” comments Bruno Rondani. With the expansion and growth of the practice, the expectation is that the number of open innovation contracts will double compared to 2021 when more than 26,000 relationships between corporations and startups were registered.
In 2021, 18 unicorns emerged in Latin America, almost all startups that explore digital businesses, highlighting countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and Colombia. “We look at Latin America, and even globally, where there is a global race where innovation has increasingly become an ecosystem product. Innovation has always had this nature, but there was an organizational effort by companies to concentrate innovation in their R&D centers. In parallel, we had Venture Capital funds betting on technologies that could generate startups. We went from a paradigm of innovation coming from R&D and VC investments to innovation built in ecosystems,” comments Bruno.
“We generate many startups that populate the ecosystem, oriented to this initial relationship with corporations. This innovation process with startups has spread all over the world and in Latin America (Brazil is very prominent). We have seen less intensity in these other countries than in Brazil; however, increasing interest and now at a faster pace. We have already achieved a ranking in Colombia, with a great density of companies opening up to innovation. And then the region starts to interconnect, we start to have more and more open innovation programs or startups that we call open startups, seeking markets there in the region and the pandemic helps a lot, because it is easier to enter the countries with innovative technology, the open innovation platforms start to become popular and start to have much more intensity. Hence this moment of expansion,” reinforces Bruno.
With information from Forbes