Bolivia has been considered as one of the top-performing economies in the region for the past few years and despite the current unstable government environment, they continue to have a positive economic growth. However, Bolivia, as many Latin American countries, has several social challenges: more than 50% of its population is unbanked, it has a poverty rate of around 20-30%, and business informality is one of the highest of the region, among others. These challenges are sometimes the key drivers of innovation and startups. There is no better motivator for a startup to exist than solving everyday problems in society and today we rely heavily on technology to solve, or address, several of these daily challenges people face in countries like Bolivia.
When we look at Bolivia from the entrepreneurship point of view we realize that Bolivia’s government and overall ecosystem is not optimal and does not provide enough resources for innovators to thrive. This could be part of the reason why there are no “unicorn” startups or renowned emerging tech companies coming from the country just yet. The reality is that today there is not an established Fintech regulation; and as we have seen in other Latin American countries this type of regulations are the seed for fintech startups to blossom. However, there are some initiatives in regards to innovation such as the Startup Law that supports and enables entrepreneurs in the country.
Despite the limitations of the ecosystem, there is a movement of fintech startups in Bolivia which is rising and growing exponentially. It is especially seen in the fintech industry, where there are a lot of untapped opportunities that local banks and other financial institutions are not being able to tackle today. We also see young entrepreneurs with the right skills and knowledge taking on this endeavour to be able to add value to the innovation ecosystem and putting their startup name in the radar. Here is a list of a few of these startups that are helping to frame the fintech startup ecosystem in Bolivia:
Bolivia has everything needed to be positioned as a generator of successful fintech startups. We will continue to see the government, investors, and corporations pushing the envelope to make innovation a key part of the country's agenda and sooner rather than later, we will have unique and outstanding startups coming out of Bolivia, and who knows, maybe even the next “unicorn”.
Bolivia has been considered as one of the top-performing economies in the region for the past few years and despite the current unstable government environment, they continue to have a positive economic growth. However, Bolivia, as many Latin American countries, has several social challenges: more than 50% of its population is unbanked, it has a poverty rate of around 20-30%, and business informality is one of the highest of the region, among others. These challenges are sometimes the key drivers of innovation and startups. There is no better motivator for a startup to exist than solving everyday problems in society and today we rely heavily on technology to solve, or address, several of these daily challenges people face in countries like Bolivia.
When we look at Bolivia from the entrepreneurship point of view we realize that Bolivia’s government and overall ecosystem is not optimal and does not provide enough resources for innovators to thrive. This could be part of the reason why there are no “unicorn” startups or renowned emerging tech companies coming from the country just yet. The reality is that today there is not an established Fintech regulation; and as we have seen in other Latin American countries this type of regulations are the seed for fintech startups to blossom. However, there are some initiatives in regards to innovation such as the Startup Law that supports and enables entrepreneurs in the country.
Despite the limitations of the ecosystem, there is a movement of fintech startups in Bolivia which is rising and growing exponentially. It is especially seen in the fintech industry, where there are a lot of untapped opportunities that local banks and other financial institutions are not being able to tackle today. We also see young entrepreneurs with the right skills and knowledge taking on this endeavour to be able to add value to the innovation ecosystem and putting their startup name in the radar. Here is a list of a few of these startups that are helping to frame the fintech startup ecosystem in Bolivia:
Bolivia has everything needed to be positioned as a generator of successful fintech startups. We will continue to see the government, investors, and corporations pushing the envelope to make innovation a key part of the country's agenda and sooner rather than later, we will have unique and outstanding startups coming out of Bolivia, and who knows, maybe even the next “unicorn”.