Brazilian Startups Expand beyond Country Borders, Conquering Global Market

04/02/2018 - 11h06

A group of Brazilian startups is trying to abandon the notion that Brazil has a closed economy and that it conducts little business on an international level. Though there has yet to be any research on the number of startups trying to establish a client base outside of Brazil, conversations with professionals belonging to the sector indicate that there are 52 such cases.

The number of new companies planning on going global is rising as Brazilian startups become more mature and as more entrepreneurs realize that they are capable of competing on an international level.

The trend for going global early is favored by the fact that many of them do not depend on the sale of products or of physically carrying out services.

CHALLENGES

Even though the digitalization of businesses has facilitated the process of going global, attempts to conquer the world stage early can easily lead companies to run out of money, meaning the decision to do so should only be made after careful analysis.

One problem that arises when a company goes global early is that it will need to sell a large share of the company to investors in order to raise money for expanding. "When you raise capital very early it really dilutes your own share", says Tallis Gomes, 30, a former partner at Easy Taxi, a company that is already operating in 35 countries.

IN EXPANSION

Brazilian startups doing business in other countries:

Printi: Online printing company
Foundation: 2012
Currently in: Boston, USA

Hotmart: Offers promotional services to help sell digital products such as online books and courses
Foundation: 2011
Currently in: Spain, The Netherlands and Colombia.

Translated by THOMAS MATHEWSON

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