Reflections on Debt Venturing in Latin America (+ Startup Survey)

The full version of this article originally appeared in Medium written by Jackie Hyland.


> Survey link for startups here (confidential + only 16 questions)

I feel fortunate to have spent the last six years working in the technology and venture capital space in Latin America — seeing what works, what’s yet to be tried, and what dynamics will take the region to the next level.

[…]

While equity investing took off, the question of both growth and working capital always remained high-priority of most conversations on what was needed next in the region.

Addressing this question originally bubbled up when I led Latin American investments at Accion Venture Lab. During my time there, we provided seed-stage equity financing to fintech companies and found that (surprise!) being the first institutional capital to invest in a company, while providing hands-on operational support, works well. […] At that time, besides development banks like Banco Interamericano de DesarrolloIFC, there were no private players looking with excitement to lend in this space under US$30–50M and there weren’t any companies big enough to serve that debt need.

[…]

This left me wondering, with the growth I’ve seen in the 400+ banking clients and the trends when is the right time to think about Venture Debt in Latin America, and how can we make new forms of debt financing, standard in the U.S. and Europe, accessible in Latin America?

Read the full article in Jackie’s original post on Medium.


Learn more about Jackie Hyland’s story on Episode 69 of the Crossing Borders podcast.

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