Ep 47 Paulo Duarte: Broterra, a Paraguayan Superfoods Company

Category : Crossing Borders Podcast, Paraguay
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Paraguay is often overshadowed by neighbors Brazil and Argentina in conversations about the Latin American startup ecosystem. Despite being one of the world’s largest hydroelectric energy producers, Paraguay has yet to emerge on the global or regional stage as a tech hub. However, Paulo Duarte, founder of Broterra, a Paraguayan superfood company that provides wages for more than 2500 families and has ambitions of selling on the US market, says that Paraguay has the potential to develop as a startup hub, especially in the food and agtech sectors.

I sat down with Paulo for this episode of Crossing Borders, my first with an entrepreneur from Paraguay, to talk about launching and scaling a startup in Paraguay, the challenges and opportunities of doing business in his home country, and why Paulo is confident that Paraguay will eventually rise as a regional hub.

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Unlocking the Potential of E-Commerce in Peru

Category : Peru
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With a population of 30+ million people, Peru is Latin America’s fifth largest country. Much like Chile, Peru is extremely centralized, with 10 million people – or one-third of the population – living in the capital city of Lima. Less than a million people live in Peru’s second largest city, Arequipa, resulting in a highly rural population scattered across a diverse landscape that includes the Andes mountains, the Amazon rainforest, and the Andean Plateau.

Peru’s geography provides challenges to both Internet penetration and delivery logistics. These barriers help explain why Peru, despite its young and Internet-savvy population, lags behind the rest of the region in the development of e-commerce.

MercadoLibre statistics show that only 5% of Peruvians currently purchase goods online, citing reasons such as low financial inclusion, fear of fraud, and concerns about delivery logistics for the disparity. By comparison, up to 40% of Chileans and 70% of Mexicans are purchasing online. (more…)

Ep 46 Pedro Neira: Innovating for the Latin American Dating Industry

Category : Crossing Borders Podcast, Peru
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When Latin America shifted abruptly to mobile in the early 2010s, the online dating industry had to change with it. Luckily, Pedro Neira, the founder of Mi Media Manzana, now Latin America’s most-downloaded dating app, had enough experience from his three previous startups to know when to make changes. Mi Media Manzana now has over one million downloads and recently received an undisclosed investment from Axon Capital Partners.

I sat down with Pedro Neira in this episode of Crossing Borders to hear about his journey founding four startups, what it’s like doing business in Peru, advice for raising capital in Latin America and Silicon Valley, and the future of Mi Media Manzana.

Pedro didn’t realize he was an entrepreneur until his third startup

A few of my previous guests on the show called themselves “accidental entrepreneurs” because they never realized their careers would lead them to innovate. Not so with Pedro. Instead of following his MBA classmates down the consulting track, he worked on a startup in Barcelona right before the financial crisis. Only after starting a few Internet businesses when he returned to Peru did Pedro realize his career path was unique. Check out this episode of Crossing Borders to learn about Pedro’s three startups, and how they prepared him to found Mi Media Manzana.

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How Brazil is Trying to Fight Corruption via Blockchain

Category : Brazil
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Blockchain and cryptocurrency initiatives in Brazil are a double-edged sword. While startups and government agencies work to implement blockchain technologies to increase compliance and reduce corruption, Brazil’s 35th President, Lula da Silva, is on his way to prison in part for a Bitcoin-based money-laundering scandal.

Brazil, like the rest of the G20, sees cryptocurrencies as assets rather than legal tender. However, one of São Paulo’s most prestigious universities debuted a Cryptocurrencies Masters’ program this year, so it is unclear where Brazil will land on this contentious debate. What’s more, Brazil’s private and public sectors are rapidly adopting blockchain technology to manage the political and economic challenges of a population of 210 million people.

Here are some of the ways governments and businesses are implementing blockchain and cryptocurrencies in Brazil.

Blockchain and the Brazilian government

The Brazilian government already uses blockchain in a variety of ways for their operations. Two of the most prominent initiatives include a way to regulate land titles in the Amazon as well as a management system for Brazil’s ‘popular petition’ electoral process.

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