RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The venture capital segment exceeded US$15 billion in investments in 2021, which is equivalent to a four-fold growth compared to the results of 2020; in this scenario, Mexico and Brazil account for 80% of investments in Latin America.
According to a study conducted by Endeavor and Glisco Partners, 62% of the participation comes from foreign funds such as SoftBank, Valor Capital Group, Endeavor Catalyst, FJ Labs, and Tiger Global Management.
Mega rounds exceeding US$50 million are becoming increasingly common in the region.
From 2020 to 2021, there was an increase in startups reaching a valuation of US$100 million, thanks to waves of technology entrepreneurship, which represent the most developed verticals based on the number of companies that have reached a private valuation of US$100 million or more in less than ten years.
In 2021, the average time required to reach unicorn status in Latin America was seven years; 78% of these firms are concentrated in Brazil, with 58%, and Mexico, with 20% uptake.
The companies that benefited most from the waves of entrepreneurship during 2021 are part of the fintech sector, followed by e-commerce, with 63% of the investment attracted between them.
Meanwhile, in the region, soonicorns (companies that are about to become unicorns) represent 9% of the companies that have managed to raise capital.
The study includes countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, and Argentina, as well as more than 3,650 investment rounds and more than 1,200 active investors.