DOS_patos
Unverified Legion of Trill member
When Alex Tabor made his first trip to Beijing back in 2014, the Brazilian executive was worried about communication. Tabor doesn’t speak Mandarin, but he was hopeful that (with the help of a translator) he could get one thing across: the huge opportunity for Chinese companies looking to invest in Latin American tech firms.
While there, he met with officials at Baidu, China’s biggest online search engine, hoping to raise capital for his Internet discount hub, Peixe Urbano. Tabor was already focused on pivoting to a bigger business—one that could sell directly to users rather than just posting discounts. Baidu was interested, and took a majority stake.
Alex Tabor
Source: Peixe Urbano
A few years earlier, in Chile, Felipe Henriquez had co-founded Clandescuentos, another venue for web surfers seeking deals. It was quickly scooped up by U.S. giant Groupon. He stayed on, helping build the portal’s South American footprint. By 2017, Henriquez and a group of investors bought the company back. It was renamed Groupon Latam.
It was about this time that he called Tabor. Both serial entrepreneurs who even share the same birthday (they’re both 38), the men clicked immediately. The desktop-to-mobile transformation of Latin America was in full swing, and both men were in the vanguard. By merging Peixe Urbano with Groupon Latam, they hoped to dominate the Latin American marketplace.
Had Tabor not enlisted the help of Baidu, their success story may have ended before it began.
As America recedes into the background, Chinese foreign direct investment in Latin America and the Caribbean has skyrocketed over the last ten years, according to a 2018 report by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. China dropped close to $90 billion in the region between 2005 and 2016. With a growing emphasis on telecommunications, Chinese investment in emerging technology is increasingly the primary fuel behind Latin America’s tech boom.
Long term, Beijing wants to cement deals with countries that are both resource-rich—a critical need for Chinese industry—and have growing consumer demand. Often, those nations and their technology firms are seeking Chinese expertise—and money.
the rest at:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ind-latin-america-s-tech-boom-china-of-course
While there, he met with officials at Baidu, China’s biggest online search engine, hoping to raise capital for his Internet discount hub, Peixe Urbano. Tabor was already focused on pivoting to a bigger business—one that could sell directly to users rather than just posting discounts. Baidu was interested, and took a majority stake.
Alex Tabor
Source: Peixe Urbano
A few years earlier, in Chile, Felipe Henriquez had co-founded Clandescuentos, another venue for web surfers seeking deals. It was quickly scooped up by U.S. giant Groupon. He stayed on, helping build the portal’s South American footprint. By 2017, Henriquez and a group of investors bought the company back. It was renamed Groupon Latam.
It was about this time that he called Tabor. Both serial entrepreneurs who even share the same birthday (they’re both 38), the men clicked immediately. The desktop-to-mobile transformation of Latin America was in full swing, and both men were in the vanguard. By merging Peixe Urbano with Groupon Latam, they hoped to dominate the Latin American marketplace.
Had Tabor not enlisted the help of Baidu, their success story may have ended before it began.
As America recedes into the background, Chinese foreign direct investment in Latin America and the Caribbean has skyrocketed over the last ten years, according to a 2018 report by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. China dropped close to $90 billion in the region between 2005 and 2016. With a growing emphasis on telecommunications, Chinese investment in emerging technology is increasingly the primary fuel behind Latin America’s tech boom.
Long term, Beijing wants to cement deals with countries that are both resource-rich—a critical need for Chinese industry—and have growing consumer demand. Often, those nations and their technology firms are seeking Chinese expertise—and money.
the rest at:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ind-latin-america-s-tech-boom-china-of-course