Startups Exploding In Latin America Due To The Middle Class

By Armando Rayo

Today at the SXSWi Panel: Accelerating Killer LatAm Startups, Panelists Pedro Torres Picón, David Weekly, Carolina Rossi and Yang shared some interesting insights on the entrepreneurial trends happening south of the border.

Rossi mentioned that one of the reasons for Chile’s momentum is because, as the leading producer of copper in the world, funding is now more readily available. She sees a growing trend of powerful organizations that are investing and providing funding for startups.

Also capturing the excitement – “more and more people are joining the middle class, the internet’s penetration has increased, the consumer is growing and they are going more and more online,” discussed Yang.

Interestingly enough, many of the startups are not serving the Spanish speaker. With Spanish being the second global language of the world, this is an isolated opportunity that has been missed.

Some key barriers entrepreneurs are facing are motivation, lack of educated investors, executing logistics and funds. Twitter and Facebook have been integral in assisting distribution and building networks.

This SXSW Interactive Coverage was Sponsored by Univision News