Latin American startups find new opportunities through the Innovation LatAm Awards

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

The Latin American startup market has attracted global attention in recent years. Not only was there the latest announcement from Softbank that allocated US $5 billion for investments in the region, but also for its growth potential - according to data from the Statista portal, approximately 56% of the Latin American population accesses the Internet. Only in the last 5 years, the growth of the Internet users base was 34%, going from 278 million to 396 million connected.

These numbers justify the last wave of unicorns (startups with a market value of more than US $10 million) that have emerged in the region. Rappi, Nubank, 99, PagSeguro, GymPass, Movile and Etermax are some of the examples that have stamped the cover of the main newspapers and news portals. However, not everything is necessary highly scalable.

Julie Ruvolo, director of LAVCA (Latin American Association of Private Equity and Venture Capital), acclaimed entity of the sector, said in an interview during the Google Launchpad Accelerator that the regional potential could be much greater if there were more tools for integration: "A large amount of innovations created by startups do not reach the international media. This makes the region seem much less attractive than it really is."

About the competition

Considering the current scenario and with the objective of promoting the region, this month was launched by Cantarino Brasileiro, the third edition of the Latam Innovation Awards. The competition that is considered the main one for the sector has the objective of promoting the regional entrepreneurial spirit.

For João Pedro Brasileiro, responsible for the realization of the project, the initiative, once again, will show the best solutions in Latin America for the world. "We are building a regional network directed towards the incentive of entrepreneurship. The Innovation Awards Latam was designed to be more than just an event: it is a digital platform that fosters connection, alliances and international exposure for all players in the startup ecosystem. It is the combination of the online and offline world fostering innovation. ", He says.

The definition of the winners is made by an international body of juries, made up of specialists, large companies and potential investors. They are diverse nationalities involved that guarantee exposure and business possibility for all startups that obtain value when participating.

"There are many startups with very good and interesting solutions, we have been seeing this for more than a year at our Proptech Latam Summit events. The entrepreneurial ecosystem of Latin America is strong, talent is always present. So from our place as Jury Innovation Latam support 100% initiatives like this Cantarino Brasileiro to promote regionally and internationally to startups and companies that innovate in the industry," says Andrea Rodriguez Valdez, Founder of PropTech Latam Summit, who was called as one of the members of the international jury that will participate in the selection of the best solutions.

The registration period ends on May 12 and, in addition to the ranking of the most innovative Startups, entrepreneurs can participate in one of eight categories: Fintechs, Retailtechs, Agrotechs, Healthtechs, Constru / Proptechs, Adtechs, Smart Cities and Social Impact.

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

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