Business

What’s a Latam ‘VCable’ startup and why are Mexico and Brazil key to creating one? (podcast episode)

With a population of over 331 million, the US is a great market to create a startup, giving founders the opportunity to build a booming company without ever having to leave the country. 

However, for founders in smaller countries, particularly in the Latam region, where all but two countries have a population of 50 million or lower, building a wildly successful startup and staying put, isn’t always an option.

In today’s episode of the Brains Byte Back podcast, we speak with Sacha Spitz, General Partner & Co-Founder of Newtopia VC, a hands-on venture capital firm focusing on startups in the Latam region, to find out what it takes to build a thriving startup in this corner of the globe. 

Listen to this podcast on SpotifyAnchorApple PodcastsBreakerGoogle PodcastsStitcherOvercastListen NotesPodBean, and Radio Public.

During the interview, Spitz describes how he believes the Latam startup ecosystem is still in its early stages. He also shares how this belief inspired him and his fellow co-founders to create Newtopia VC, to support the new generation of Latam founders that aim to build a better reality for the region and the world. 

Spitz also talks about the influence of unicorns from different countries, such as Mercardo Libre in Argentina or Rappi in Colombia, and their impact on the new generation of entrepreneurs in the region today.

Additionally, Spitz shares why Mexico and Brazil’s founders have a head start, as he advocates that these entrepreneurs have the possibility to build an incredibly successful startup, without ever branching into another country, due to the size of their markets. 

However, he goes on to explain that, for Latam entrepreneurs from outside these two countries, it is essential to break into at least one of these markets, in order to build a big “VCable” company. 

And finally, before wrapping up the show, Spitz shares advice for young startups looking to get the attention of VCs.

Disclosure: This episode includes a client of an Espacio portfolio company

Sam Brake Guia

Sam is an energetic and passionate writer/presenter, always looking for the next adventure. In August 2016 he donated all of his possessions to charity, quit his job, and left the UK. Since then he has been on the road travelling through North, Central and South America searching for new adventures and amazing stories.

Recent Posts

True robot intelligence requires a digital twin of the entire world: WEF ‘Summer Davos’ in China

In order to achieve true robot intelligence, a digital twin of the entire world would…

6 hours ago

Sensors to surveil people & cities among WEF top 10 emerging technologies at ‘Summer Davos’

Autonomous Biochemical Sensing can turn human bodies into surveillance tools for monitoring and control, Collaborative…

17 hours ago

AI and the Dopamine Trap: How Algorithms Are Rewiring Our Social Cravings

New research shows AI companions can lift mood and teach social skills, but only when…

4 days ago

Hate speech, deepfakes & false info undermine UN work: comms chief

Hate speech is a launching point for crackdowns on narratives that impede UN agendas: perspective…

4 days ago

Making Sense brings strategic insight to the SIM Hartford Chapter

On June 4, technology executives gathered at the SIM Hartford chapter presided over by Fariba…

6 days ago

‘Digital disinformation undermines trust in climate & health authorities’: WHO Pan European Commission on Climate & Health

The PECCH is an attempt to persuade us into believing that climate & health policies…

1 week ago