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Why is Latin America a Great Market for Tech Companies?

Latin America is a great tech market

2021 was a huge year for the Latin American tech market, a region that not long ago wasn’t considered a great market for tech but nowadays is constantly breaking investment records and with venture capital firms from all around the world interested in doing business there.

Because of that, it has seen a dramatic increase in the number of startups with unicorn status (16 new companies with over $1 billion in valuation) and billions in investment rounds in startups like Nubank ($750 million), Kavak ($700 million), Rappi ($500 million) and Nuvemshop ($500 million).

But why is LATAM being considered such a booming market for technology companies and investors, as well as tech recruiters, looking for top talent? Today we will talk about three of the main reasons why.

1. Top performing startups

Latin America is considered one of the highest-growing technology hubs in the world, with countries like Brazil (24th), Mexico (38th), and Chile (36th) ranking highly in StartupBlink’s charts. Startups like Nubank, Cornershop, Rappi, and QuintoAndar were born there and have seen huge growth, achieving unicorn status in just a few years.

Because of the performance of those startups and many more, according to a study by LAVCA (Latin American Private Equity Investment Association), private capital investments have reached $29.4 billion. Out of this amount around $15 billion is from venture capital firms alone, which is more than the previous 10 years combined.

2. Huge consumer market

Latin America has a population of around 664M people (over 8% of the total world population), with countries like Brazil (210M) and Mexico (128M) some of the most populous in the world.

Due to the economic boom in the region in the last decade, it also has seen a significant increase in the number of people online and with smartphones (71% of Brazilians use a smartphone) which helps them become potential clients of companies with digital products, like streaming services and mobile apps. According to an article by ChicagoAbroad, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina are among the highest-ranked markets worldwide in total hours per week spent on the internet.

While setting up or expanding to a new region, the size of the consumer market is one of the main aspects companies consider so the amount of people that now have access to the internet is a great indication that Latin America is becoming one of the best regions to expand to.

3. Untapped market of skilled workers

Another one of the main topics concerning the tech market in Latin America is the sheer amount of skilled and qualified workers, from marketers to product managers and especially software engineers.

The region has so many skilled tech workers that, according to research by Daxx, LATAM is currently the most popular overseas software development destination for North American tech companies not only because of their salaries but especially how experienced they are.

The recent boom of remote work has changed the way many companies recruit top tech talent worldwide, helping skilled tech workers get discovered by companies of all sizes and industries. Brazil in particular has seen a huge increase in the number of developers get hired by international companies, particularly from the United States and Canada, in the last few years.

Also, due to the current conversion rates from Brazilian Real to US Dollar (1 USD = about Brazilian Real), tech salaries for developers in Brazil are highly attractive for companies in North America and Europe.

How can you find and hire LATAM developers?

Now that you have more info about the Latin American market, you may be interested to know how you can hire top LATAM talent for your tech team. Some of the main options are job boards and TRMs, LinkedIn recruiting, and talent marketplaces. We will go over the pros and cons of each one.

Job boards and TRMs, like Indeed, Greenhouse, and Lever, tend to be straightforward when it comes to using them: you become a client, create the job opening and wait for the applications. They are great tools for managing your hiring process, but not so much for getting the candidates themselves: the problem is that it’s not that different from the regular hiring processes.

Latin American countries have great tech talent at their disposal

When it comes to tech recruiting, the power is in the candidate’s hands: due to the amount of demand nowadays, top tech workers get bombarded with messages from recruiters actively looking for them. You need to differentiate from the rest to get their attention.

LinkedIn recruiting can give out great results if you’re an interesting company with great salaries and an experienced recruiting team but still requires a ton of effort to find the perfect candidate, message them, and interview prospects that may not have the required skills or English proficiency to become a member of your team.

Another great option is a talent marketplace. They work like a matchmaking platform to connect both companies and tech workers that fit their profiles and requirements. GeekHunter is the biggest marketplace for companies to hire Brazilian tech talent: front-end and back-end developers, to data scientists.

We hope this article has been helpful to you. If you’re interested to learn more about GeekHunter and how we can help you match with top developers in Latin America, click the button below!

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