latin leap offers scaleups from asia a leg up in latin america
Contxto – We often talk about accelerators and venture capital (VC) firms that help startups from Latin America soft-land in new markets. But today, we’re mixing things up a bit and hey, it’s an interesting sign for the overall regional ecosystem.
So here’s the deal: VC Latin Leap has recently opened its doors and is ready to help investors and scaleups from southeast Asia enter Latam.
Making the leap from Asia to Latin America
At this Latin Leap’s helm is Stefan Krautwald. This German-born entrepreneur had previously participated in the deployment of cryptocurrency exchange, BITPoint, in Guatemala last October.
Now from its headquarters in Colombia, it’s been reported that the VC currently holds US$20 million. These funds are tagged to help scaleups enter Colombia and other parts of the region. Latin Leap also wants to help these businesses connect with key allies.
Its sweet spots are innovative tech scaleups in education, financial inclusion, healthcare, mobile mobility, sustainability, and agriculture. Moreover, Latin Leap is buddying up with various players from Asia such as Decacorn and Enterprise Singapore.
According to Krautwald, by cozying up with key investors from Asia, the VC’s mission to “show the best of Latin America for global entrepreneurship” is accelerated.
Related article: New blockchain initiatives land in Guatemala, Costa Rica and Honduras
A sign of the times
What convinced Krautwald to lead Latin Leap’s opening can only be summarized as a sign of recent times.
“We’ve lately observed a great interest in landing businesses with tech components in Colombia and the region [of Latin America],” said the executive. “But there’s always been a sense of uncertainty about the market. And these investors will feel more secure entering through a local partner.”
Call me an optimist, but as participants from outside the region are drawn to Latin America, it fuels the development of a more robust ecosystem. It also suggests that startups from Latam and abroad can prosper here just as well as in any other part of the globe.
-ML
