Unicorns made in Argentina: are they the soy of the future?

Silvia Naishtat

08/22/2021 6:46 AM

• Clarín.com

• Economy

Updated 08/22/2021 6:46 AM

In 2010, funders named after a mythological animal, the unicorn, internet companies with a market valuation of more than $ 1 billion.

In 2017, in Argentina, Mercado Libre, OLX, Despegar and Globant belonged to that select club, with the common denominator being

four of the seven unicorns of Latin America

.

At that time, Brazil only had PlayKids, dedicated to games for children on cell phones.

Chile with Crystal Lagoons, specialized in artificial lagoons

and Spain had none.

In recent years everyone has stretched and unicorns sprout like mushrooms.

Also in Argentina, which

in the last week put three unicorns in the spotlight and was placed in the world top ten.

The emergence of these companies with a long-term vision, the challenge of being global and the fact of being led by ambitious young people who think big, is related to political and economic instability and to a country like Argentina, which

pushed its creators to seek other options

.

The fact that Argentina now has

eleven unicorns and is once again leading in Latin America also speaks of a robust ecosystem.

These entrepreneurs help those who helped them, generating a virtuous circle of positive actions that in turn reinforce the sustainability of a community.

But specialists distinguish the creation of these latest unicorns, which emerged in the rhythm of the pandemic and its push for accelerated digitization, from those born earlier.

Santiago Sosa, co-founder and CEO of Tíanube.

And in this scenario of international land tax and venture capital, many entrepreneurs

receive help when they are just a power point, when the company does not even exist

.

What happens to them afterwards?

How much value do they generate?

How much employment do they create?

The prediction of the creator of Ualá

Pier Paolo Barbieri, the creator of the successful Ualá who leads in digital finance, said that

unicorns are the soy of the future.

It received US $ million to boost its growth abroad.

Incidentally, unicorns represent

the top of an industrial fabric

of tech firms, with salaries

up to 45% above average.

And in a sector such as the knowledge economy that generates exports of around

US $ 6 billion

.

The bulk

does not require,

as in other activities, a counterpart in importing inputs.

Luis Galeazzi, CEO of Argencon, the camera that brings together the knowledge industry, attributes the unicorn boom to the "hot demand that was generated by the pandemic that exploded the needs for digital support."

Luis Galeazzi CEO of Argencon Photo: Andres D'Elia

This is the case of Trendenube or Mural,

thinkable since the quarantine

and that knew how to take advantage of the availability of global funds.

"They are created by Argentines who work for the world," Galeazzi completes.

To obtain financing from abroad, they have vehicles in companies abroad.

Andrés López, director of the UBA Department of Economics, adds that these companies are located in

countries with lower tax burdens

and mentions the spillover effect on job creation in the country, "since the knowledge was generated here."

For Galeazzi they are part of an

inspiring phenomenon for young people

who seek opportunities and see a possible path. But he warns that taxation and part of the billing is not captured by the country. "Instability, exchange gap and withholdings of 5% on exports from this industry are some of the reasons," he says. And that is

the great difference with soy, whose economy is fully captured in Argentina.