According to the study The Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2020, published on June 25 by the research company Startup Genome, five Latin American cities stand out for hosting some of the startup ecosystems with the greatest potential worldwide.
Among 270 other cities in 100 emerging markets, Mexico City and Bogotá have the highest score of the Latin American cities included in this ranking, although each stands out in specific areas. Buenos Aires followed behind.
Mexico City, the capital of LatAm talent
The Mexican capital obtained the best score in the region in terms of human talent, with a score of 9, in a range of 1 to 10. In this category, the quality and access to qualified human resources in software programming, Science, and Technology are evaluated, .
Compared to other emerging startup centers in the world, Latin American markets have a low score in market reach, where only Bogotá stands out, with 9 points. Good performance in this area implies that startups based in this city benefit from broad access to customers, which allows them to conquer a segment relatively quickly and, thus, become international.
Curitiba, the only metropolis included in this graph that is not a national capital, is the one that has obtained the best grade in the general performance of the startup ecosystem, with a score of 7 out of 10. The Brazilian city that gave birth to the fintech Ebanx, one of the last Latin American startups to achieve unicorn status, obtained the highest mark for the total value of the ecosystem and the general level of success of the startups that choose it as their headquarters.
LatAm is still delayed
Even when these cities are leveling up in Latin America, the region is still quite behind the rest of the world. Any Latin city appears between the 30 top cities in the top 100 Emerging Ecosystems Ranking, where the Asia-Pacific region is overperforming, with Mumbai in the top position.