RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The group of Argentine unicorns formed by Mercado Libre, Globant, Despegar and OLX, was enlarged last year with the arrival of Auth0. But the startup hotbed emerged this year with half a dozen companies that attracted investors’ attention and debuted in the first division of global business.
What are these companies and what do they do, and could this year end with another surprise?
THE INCUMBENT UNICORNS
With the arrival of the 5 new unicorns, Argentina came second in the regional ranking, only surpassed by Brazil:
Brazil (15): Vtex, Nubank, Wildlife, Creditas, Ascenty, QuintoAndar, Gympass, Loggi, Loft, 99, Ebanx, ifood, madeiramadeira, Hotmart and Nuvemshop
Mexico (3): Clip, Kavak and Bitso
Chile (2): Notco, Cornershop
Uruguay (1): DLocal
Colombia (1): Rappi
Mercado Libre
The company founded by Marcos Galperin and Hernán Kazah, university classmates at Stanford, is the beacon for all startups in the region.
Valued at US$90 billion, it is the most important company in Argentine history and is competing to become the highest-valued Latin American company, surpassed only by Brazilian mining company Vale, at US$104 billion.
Moreover, the company plans to hire more than 16,000 new employees in 2021 across the region, launched its fleet of logistics aircraft in Brazil and Mexico, and continues to open distribution centers in major markets.
According to its latest financial report, the e-commerce giant’s revenues increased 102% in the second quarter and its gross profit reached US$1.7 billion (+55%).
Globant
Martín Migoya, Martín Umarán and Néstor Nocetti from La Plata, and Guibert Englebienne from Mar del Plata founded Globant in 2003. The company’s name was a breakthrough: it provided software services from the country to the whole world.
A year after its foundation, Globant had already opened its first international headquarters in London. It currently has seven offices in different parts of Argentina and subsidiaries in the United States, India and the United Kingdom, among other countries.
Globant has over 16,000 employees worldwide and provides services to giants such as Disney, Google, Electronics Arts, National Geographic, LinkedIn and Coca-Cola.
In the second half of the year, it posted revenues of US$305 million, a year-on-year increase of 67%. The company is valued at US$11 billion and has been listed in the New York Stock Exchange since 2014.
OLX
The company is a global classifieds giant and was founded by Argentine Alec Oxenford (former creator of Deremate) and French Fabrice Grinda in 2006.
Although it is not listed on the stock exchange, it is estimated to have a market value of close to US$5 billion. The company is controlled by the South African holding company Naspers, which acquired 95% of its shares in 2010.
Despegar
Argentine Roberto Souviron experienced firsthand what it was like to buy a plane ticket in the country in the early days of the Internet. He teamed up with his Duke University classmates to create Despegar in 1999.
Along with Martín Rastellino, Christian Vilate, Mariano Fiori and Alejandro Tamer, he created the leading online travel company in the region, with operations in 20 countries.
The pandemic temporarily lowered it from its unicorn status: today it is worth US$870 million on the NYSE, the index where it has been listed since 2015.
Auth0
After several years with no new Argentine unicorns, Auth0 broke the streak in May 2019 by offering authentication -or login- systems focused on the developer.
It was founded in 2013 by Argentines Eugenio Pace and Matías Woloski, with headquarters in Seattle, USA, near the headquarters of Microsoft (where Pace used to work) and Amazon.
Their solution provides user registration and login with maximum security for apps and websites, something highly demanded by programmers who are not experts in cryptography and who want a login that complies with the latest standards.
Its services are of such importance that its competitor, Okta, recently acquired it for US$6.5 billion.
Vercel
Ten years ago, Argentine Guillermo Rauch moved to the U.S. with his family without having graduated from high school, but his self-taught training led him to try web programming.
He created two startups, one of which he sold to WordPress. within Vercel, he created Next.js, a programming and web design environment used by Apple, TikTok, Hulu, Twich, Nike and Adidas, among other big names.
In July, Vercel inaugurated the high season of Argentine unicorns: it raised US$102 million, which increased the company’s value, created in 2015, to US$1.1 billion.
Aleph
Gastón Taratuta founded Aleph in 2005, a digital advertising holding company, and in July announced its association with the Silicon Valley fund CVC Capital Partners, which invested US$470 million. As a result, his company is now worth US$2 billion.
The company operates platforms and social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Twich, Warner Music, EA Games, Snapchat and Spotify. And it is preparing to go public on Wall Street next year.
Mural
The pandemic forced companies worldwide to send their employees to work from home. Mural, an Argentine startup that helps to manage the workflow in virtual teams, managed to capitalize on the pandemic and to increase its value to over US$2 billion.
The company – founded in 2011 by Patricio Jutard, Mariano Suárez Batán and Agustín Soler – uses Design Thinking and other tools to improve the work of remote creative teams. It is currently used by companies such as IBM, Autodesk, Intuit, GitHub and Atlassian.
Bitfarms
Argentina is one of the most prosperous markets for cryptocurrencies. Therefore, it is no surprise that an Argentine unicorn should be linked to Bitcoin.
In 2017, Emiliano Grodzki and Nicolás Bonta founded Bitfarms, a cryptocurrency mining company currently listed on the Toronto (headquartered in Canada) and New York stock exchanges.
Recently, Bitfarms announced its intention to start operating in its home country to leverage the low energy prices, local talent and cold climates of the South of the country. It is valued at US$1 billion.
Ualá
Another of Argentina’s “green shoots” is the fintech sector, made up of over 260 companies that offer financial services to the population not covered by traditional banks.
Ualá stands out among them, founded in 2017 by Pierpaolo Barbieri, which started with a prepaid card – a rarity in the local market – but which has begun its path to become a financial super app: it offers consumption certification, collection services for businesses, insurance, assistance, etc.
The company currently has over 3.3 million users in the country and has begun to operate in Mexico, where it has issued over 200,000 cards. Thanks to the contribution of giants such as Softbank and Tencent, it is now worth US$2.45 billion.
ASPIRANTS
Argentine talent does not rest. That is why, in addition to the 10 “incumbents,” there are other companies that hope to make their debut in the top startup category.
Satellogic
The company founded in 2010 by Emiliano Kargieman develops nanosatellites. It has a “constellation” of low orbit units which, with its platform and data science team, offers comprehensive solutions at an affordable price, converting satellite images into specific answers for daily decision-making.
In addition, the company signed an agreement with SpaceX for its equipment to be launched with the rockets of Elon Musk’s company. The Argentine startup is now worth US$850 million.
Ripio
Sebastián Serrano, Luciana Gruszeczka and Mugur Marculescu in 2013 founded the largest cryptocurrency exchange in Argentina and early this year bought Bitcoin Trade, the second largest in Brazil.
Ripio became the only Latin American company in the crypto sector to be chosen within the World Economic Forum’s Technological Pioneers program.
It has 150 employees in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico and Spain, and its operations are audited by Ernst & Young and PwC consulting firms. It is also expected to exceed a valuation of US$1 billion in the near future.
Technisys
It is the oldest of them all. It was founded in 1996 by entrepreneurs Miguel “Mike” Santos, Adrián Iglesias and Germán Pugliese Bassi, looking to digitalize banks.
With digital banking and fintechs booming, the company will soon be on the list of Argentine unicorns. It has almost 500 employees and operates in Latin America, the United States and Canada.
Its clients include Original Bank, Itau Bank, Falabella Bank, Davivienda, Diners, Macro Bank, Patagonia Bank and Provincia de Buenos Aires Bank.
etermax
The company was founded in 2009 by electronics engineer Máximo Cavazzani to leverage the gaming boom in both mobile and social networks.
In 2011, etermax had its first hit, Apalabrados, a sort of Scrabble for cell phones. But it was quickly surpassed by Preguntados (2013), which was a huge success worldwide, climbing to the top of app stores even in the English-speaking world.
The company – valued at US$500 million – not only creates video games, but has opened its operations to other businesses such as gamification software for companies, digital advertising and data analysis through artificial intelligence. And it is looking for a top spot.
Source: iproUp