Why are Indian startup owners migrating to Chile? For some entrepreneurs from India, the Andean country is ideal for launching into the US market, although others prefer to stay in Latin America.
By Eduardo Scheffler Zawadzki Edited by Eduardo Scheffler Zawadzki
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This article was translated from our Spanish edition.
Although it is not close to Silicon Valley, like Mexico, Chile is becoming an attractive country for entrepreneurs from India, who seek to establish their businesses in Latin America. For them, the Andean country offers opportunities and government incentives.
Gerardo Alonso Velasco Baratawidjaja, president of the Chile-ASEAN Chamber of Commerce , told the Chilean media outlet Rest of World that in his country: "There is a stable and smaller market, prone to testing and creating pilots for products and services; coupled with a friendly business environment and competitive consumer landscape, where many have disposable income to spend."
Lately, Indian startups have come to test the Chilean market. For example, data services firm Evalueserve to Toolyt, an AI-based personal assistance.
In December 2021, the Indian startup DispatchTrack bought the Chilean Beetrack to grow its leadership in logistics technology in the country and in the Latin American region. The company powers more than 60 million deliveries each year for thousands of customers around the world.
By purchasing Beetrack (Latin American leader in route planning and order monitoring software), DispatchTrack expanded its global presence with the addition of more than 850 clients in 20 Latin American countries, including Chile, Peru, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Costa Delicious.
Other examples of founders from India looking to grow their businesses in Chile include Priyanka Srinias and Sasikanth Chemalamudi, who created The Live Green Company (LGC) in 2019. A food technology company that seeks to produce healthy, plant-based food using artificial intelligence, biotechnology and machine learning.
In August 2020, LGC raised a seed round of one million dollars, with which it expanded to Peru and the United States. He had previously been part of the Start-Up Chile incubator. He was later able to relocate to Boston after raising $8 million in a second round.
For these entrepreneurs, the Andean country is ideal for launching into the US market, although others prefer only to expand in Latin America.
CHILE: LAND OF OPPORTUNITIES
The Andean country has several free trade agreements and a retail market similar to that of the United States. Integration into international markets is important for those looking for a platform from which to scale. In addition, Chile's economic growth is favoring internationalization.
In addition to this, Indian entrepreneurs report that India and Latin America (specifically Chile) have the same inefficiencies in the market, which allows their business solutions to be equally adopted and accepted there.
In fact, Rest of World indicates, Start-Up Chile currently has 12 Indian companies making a place for themselves in the fields of software, biotechnology and gaming.
In recent years, due to the aforementioned reasons, not only startups have settled in Chile, but also large companies, such as Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Polaris Group and ManageEngine, the enterprise IT branch of the Indian giant Zoho Corporation.
And just as the Indian logistics startup, DispatchTrack, did, another option to settle in Chile is to acquire national companies, as did the Indian agrochemical giant UPL, which bought the Chilean company IngeAgro in September 2020.
