Latin American foodtechs raised US$1.7 billion in 10 years; Brazil leads sector

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Nearly 1/3 (123) of the foodtechs mapped are located in Brazil. Of these, 33% are from the logistics and data management sectors, 54% had access to financing and raised US$828 million over the last decade – almost half of the total in the period.

Argentina, Colombia and Mexico are the main countries where these startups go when looking to expand internationally.

The survey identified 323 companies from the region’s main markets: Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico. Of these, 102 participated through questionnaires. There were also 20 interviews with entrepreneurs, investors, investment funds, and accelerators in this ecosystem.

The main niches identified by Endeavor in Latin America were logistics and data management (22%), followed by sales (17%), healthy, natural or organic products (16%), e-commerce and marketplaces (13%), innovation in traditional industry (12%), transportation and distribution (12%), new foods (7%), and packaging (1%).

Also on internationalization, 52% of food startups in the region choose Chile as their first new market, followed by Argentina (49%). Chile is also home to NotCompany (or NotCo), one of the largest in the sector and which became a unicorn in July when it focused on vegan food.

Brazil is in last place in this criterion, and is a desirable destination for only 15% of the neighboring foodtechs, largely due to the language difference and the dominance of existing Brazilian companies.

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