Peru breaks investment record with US$11.3 million dispersed to startups this year

Contxto – Great news for the Peruvian startup ecosystem; investments are on the rise. According to the Peruvian Seed and Venture Capital Association (PECAP) in a recent press release, from January up until September of this year, around US$11.3 million went towards supporting Peruvian startups.

What’s more, this is a 24 percent increase compared to last year. Approximately 58 percent of these funds came from the private sector, the majority being angel investors.

In recent email correspondence with Contxto, PECAP also reported that it hopes to reach US$15 million in investments by the end of the year. Around the same time, the group also anticipates launching more private funds for higher investment amounts.

“By 2020, we seek the implementation of the Entrepreneurial Capital Fund in order to promote the creation of venture capital funds that meet the international growth stages of Peruvian startups,” said Luis Narro, the Operations Manager at PECAP, in recent correspondence.

Investment rounds will range between US$2 million and US$5 million, according to Narro. Participating entities for this project will be COFIDE, Development Bank of Peru and the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF).

Meanwhile, a total of 28 startups have received funds so far in 2019. Some of these included Crehana, Manzana Verde, FitCo, plus many others. Primary beneficiaries were fintech startups with 47 percent of the total amount invested. But they weren’t the only ones. For example, edtechs also received 37 percent of funds.

Public and private investments

For PECAP, this progress signifies that the Andean country is becoming a more attractive destination for both startups and investors.

Motivated to allure more venture funds, the association hopes to implement an Entrepreneur Capital Fund next year. Specifically, it hopes to draw in more investment funds to spur Peruvian startup growth on an international scale.

As we’d previously reported, the Peruvian government has been doing its share of nurturing the Peruvian startup ecosystem as well. From what I can tell, this joint effort of private and public forces working to nurture the Peruvian startup ecosystem can only yield positive results.

-ML