In the 90s, Argentina became Latin America’s Internet center, which
was a good sign of an entrepreneurial spirit among its people. Endeavor,
the United States nonprofit that helps foster high impact
entrepreneurship, had its first success in the developing world in
Argentina just before the country’s last major financial collapse. Given
Argentina’s turbulent economic history, I thought I would take a quick
look at the role of entrepreneurs over the past 10 years since
Argentina’s Internet startup boom.
It appears that Argentinean entrepreneurs are resilient. In “Fiscal Chaos Aside, Start-Ups Bloom in Argentina,” the New York Times captured this resilience really well. A catalyst for the evolving start-up culture has been the rise of a local culture of capital investment in startups. This is an important step for a country where it has been historically thought that only those who benefitted from a family inheritance and connections to authorities could start and grow businesses. It is also a significant improvement in terms of access to capital and willingness to invest. When the Argentine government defaulted in 2001, the country was cut off from external sources of capital. In 2008, the nationalization of private pension funds also adversely affected private investment spending. Also important is the fact that, like angels in the U.S., Argentina’s angels are providing expertise along with funds. As the New York Times article explains, several angels founded their own start-ups during past crises.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Start Ups Continue to Bloom in Argentina - Entrepreneurship.org
Author: Jonathan Ortmans
