September 4, 2013
Posted by: Maxine Gurevich
jwtintelligence.com
From the Middle East to Mexico, tech hot spots continue to spring up around the world (Silicon Valley Siblings was one of our 100 Things to Watch for 2012), in areas not previously known for digital innovation. Bianca Loew, co-founder of Mexico City-based couples app Twyxt, recently told us, “New tech developers who use to work at a bank, today they’re making their own startups. It’s a very exciting time for the country, because an entirely new community is emerging.”
Latin America as a whole is becoming a tech powerhouse, as All Things D reported last year, and Mexico boasts the second-largest economy in the region. One major advantage, as ABC News notes, is location, since Mexico is relatively close to Silicon Valley and time zone-compatible. In February, Dave McClure’s 500 Startups incubator presented some of the Mexican companies it has nurtured since merging with a Mexican venture fund last year. And last year Mexican VC firm Alta Ventures closed a new $70 million fund to invest in Mexican startups. Startup Weekend, funded by the Kauffman Foundation, now has 13 chapters in Mexico, more than anywhere outside the U.S., and Angel Hack, one of the leading hackathon organizations, has included Mexico City on its roster.
While small businesses can find Mexican banks difficult to deal with, Loew says there’s money in the startup scene. The government is moving to better support entrepreneurship, and according to one report, Mexico has 10 active VC firms.
Image credit: Rob Young
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