here’s what happened during our first year + giveaway results!
Contxto – “Information is still obscure. We’re here to fix that.” Those were the first few words I wrote on our WordPress admin panel exactly one year ago.
Over the last twelve months, we’ve grown from a team of two to nine people. This year has been an emotional rollercoaster, full of ups and downs, but more importantly, of lessons. I am extremely grateful to all of our readers, listeners, and users. Your attention and loyalty is everything to us.
To my team, thank you. This would have never turned to be what it is without you.
Now, before tears start rolling out of my eyes due to the onions I keep on my desk, here’s something you might like. We’ve dug deep into our archives and found the articles that had the most traffic during each of the past 12 months
January
Spotlight: Latam Startup Ecosystem 2018: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
Starting the year, we compiled a list of what happened in 2018. Some highlights, market insights and a good-ol’ “good, bad, ugly”-type of analysis.
February
Spotlight: Latin American Grin and Yellow merge to create a colorful mobility giant
Ah, who would forget when the ecosystem saw a better color palette than that of Van Gogh’s? Back in February, Grin and Yellow initially merged to create what today is one of Latam’s most promising tech and mobility companies.
March
Spotlight: Nubank lands in Mexico, starts recruiting process
Nubank’s entrance to the Aztec nation certainly caused a lot of buzz regionwide. Contrary to what has happened with previous Brazilian companies making their way into the rest of the Spanish-speaking Latam, Nubank seems to be doing just fine. In fact, quite great.
April
Spotlight: Glovo leaves Chilean market behind after financial hardships
In a very unexpected plot twist, Glovo left the Chilean and Egyptian market, due to financial difficulties. Yet, it managed to buy Peru’s Domicilios.com somehow and raise US$169 million. All of that the very same week. Jeez, and I think I have stressful weeks…
May
Spotlight: The 19 Latin American unicorns galloping to success
Honestly, one of my favorite pieces ever published in Contxto. Not only because it is an all-encompassing picture of the unicorn farm growing in the region, but because it was a highly collaborative work for the entire Contxto team. It still is, we update it regularly.
June
Spotlight: Mexican startup Clip raises US$100 million led by SoftBank
One of Mexico’s most promising scaleups confirmed its mightiness backed by SoftBank. Keep your eye on Clip; it’s growing fast. But don’t lie to yourself, there are big threats in the market.
July
Spotlight: Merqueo steps into physical retail branches
The Colombian fast-growing online delivery company is now not only online. Officially it went against the so-called digital-only trend and opened its first physical shop. Interesting move.
August
Spotlight: More Latin American startups entering Y Combinator’s Summer Batch 2019
Latin American startups are shining bright this year. Not only within the region, but in outside circles, too. Silicon Valley’s most renowned accelerator saw the participation of 16 Latin companies in its most recent batch.
September
Spotlight: Mexican fintech minu raises one of the largest seed rounds in Latin American history
“What a sophisticated solution” said one of our readers. I agree, minu is not only tackling a big issue for Mexican office workers, but doing it in a very uncomplicated, yet technological way. It is now in the Hall of Fame for seed raisers.
October
Spotlight: Uber to purchase majority stake in Cornershop
No doubt, one of the most controversial deals in the Latin American ecosystem so far. And honestly, nothing could’ve resulted in a better outcome despite Walmart’s situation.
November
Spotlight: Argentina Fintech Ualá raises US$150 million Series C
Ualá, the Argentine frontrunner for the neobank race is once again positioning itself as the go-to alternative (at least in the eyes of investors).
As our editor, Alex González Ormerod would say, just a bit of housekeeping before we let you get on with your week:
In case you have not listened to our latest, two-part anniversary edition podcast, you’re missing it big time. Your life won’t be the same afterward.
Lastly, as we announced in our Social Media giveaway dynamics, here are the three winners of the giveaway:
- 3rd. Paco Huerta
- 2nd. Damaris Mendoza
- 1st. The winner of this giveaway is 刘旺祖 (according to its Facebook name), or in Roman Alphabet, Wang-Tsu Liu!
Thanks a lot for participating. This won’t be our last!
Love you all.
-VC
