Mexico lagged behind Brazil as an investment destination for venture capital funds. With 201 investments in startups and 1.4 billion dollars invested in 2017 and the first half of 2018, Brazil became the Latin American leader in attracting venture capital. Capturing 73 percent of the amount that was exercised in the region in that region. period.
In the same period, Mexico captured only 154 million dollars through 82 transactions, reveals the most recent Latin America Startup Heatmap prepared by the Association of Private Equity Investments in Latin America.
Mexico is the second most active market in the Latin American
The map highlights that Mexico is the second most active market in the Latin American region if we take into account the number of deals. That is, of transactions agreed to receive venture capital investment. Which is when capital funds invest in startups change of a share in the capital of the company.
In its report, LAVCA highlights that between 2017 and the first semester of 2018, 55 of the transactions achieved in Mexico were Serie A +. Which is when investors who are no longer friends or family members of the entrepreneurs or capital of angel investors participate. Which highlights a market that is maturing.
The report does not contemplate the purchase of the Cornershop startup by Walmart Inc. for 225 million dollars, announced in September 2018 and without a doubt the most relevant in the history of the country. In the same period, Colombia managed to capture 188 million dollars of investment through 23 transactions.
No longer depend on what Inadem does
Diego Serebrisky, member of the Board of the Mexican Association of Private Capital (Amexcap) and co-founder of the investment fund Dalus Capital, said that Mexico continues to be a highly attractive market as an investment destination, especially due to the size of its population and access to technology, especially to smartphones connected to the internet.
The cancellation of projects such as the National Institute of the Entrepreneur by the current administration have not been well received by the private capital industry. But that does not mean that there are no more startups ready to receive investments.
“We no longer depend on what the Inadem does, because the Mexican market already has an unstoppable inertia,” he said. He considered that after the announcement of the Japanese bank SoftBank to allocate a technology fund for 5 billion dollars focused exclusively on Latin America, Mexico will undoubtedly be one of the main investment destinations.
Also published on Medium.