Latin America  is considerably  much better positioned today than it was, for example, five years ago. As compared to the past years, there is definitely a lot more money available for venture capital funding and private equity investments. Fund raising for PE in Latin America was doing relatively well last year, as compared to other global markets. The  trend has been accelerating this year,  as international investors have sought exposure to growth economies such as Peru, Brazil and Colombia.

What venture capital firms  have been focusing on is Latin America’s technology market. The reason is that the region provides much better investment opportunities than in the past years.  In the Internet market there have been excellent opportunities both in consumer and enterprise segments.The main factors that lead to investors being attracted to Latin American Internet startups are its lower development and infrastructure costs, as well as very good computer science engineers and the widespread use of the Internet and of mobile phones.

A positive aspect is that there has been a shift among a lot of Brazilian entrepreneurs who highlight  regulatory compliance and corporate governance in their companies. As a result, it sounds very encouraging for venture capitalists to invest in such companies, as their operations are more solid  and efficient  and they have much higher chances of long-term success.

Chile has also become a good platform for regional PE investments, following its judicial transparency  and strong economic standing. Other considerable factors placing the country at the top of the list in the region have been tax treatment, protection of intellectual property rights, restrictions on institutional investors and perceived corruption. Chile is said to be a market that makes many investors feel comfortable, as they can expand from this country, which is a sort of platform,  into the rest of Latin America. The Chile-Peru-Columbia triangle has  strong investment laws and high expectations for robust growth.