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Although California remains the global heartland of disruptive ‌start-ups, the last decade has seen hubs emerge around the world, including in Latin America and Africa. Start-ups of all kinds– whether using new technologies, offering new services and products, or providing solutions to new problems – are burgeoning. They have an important role to play in transforming production structures, boosting productivity and diversifying economies in those regions. However, most of them face even bigger hurdles than in OECD countries to get started and expand. In order to unleash their transformative power, therefore, governments need to devise and implement specific policies, and create a “start-up friendly” eco-system.

There is no single, optimal formula: each ecosystem develops based on the country’s structural features, development vision, and science, technology and production systems. Nevertheless, it will require (i) giving start-ups access to finance –both public (especially in the early stages) and private (especially at the expansion stage), and (ii) facilitating the provision of flexible, modern services for entrepreneurs. As evidence shows, such policies do not depend on huge budgets. To be efficient, however, they require smart planning and a flexible design. Simple, effective instruments, as well as partnerships with the private sector, universities and technology centres can do a lot.

The OECD Initiative on Global Value Chains research component gathers evidence, compares policies promoting start-ups, offers insights on what works and what does not, and generates advice to governments.




Click on the images to consult the Start-Up Latin America reviews:

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Note: The graph includes selected African countries which have a universe of more than 50 start-ups as of December 2016 according to AngelList.  Circle sizes represent the number of start-ups. The figure is meant to show an approximate of the size of start-up landscape in the different countries and its distribution in the territory.
Source: Authors’ work based on AngelList (www.angellist.com accessed December 2016)

Number of start-ups in Latin America
and their distribution by city, 2016
(click on the image for more information)

Note: The graph includes selected Latin American countries which have a universe of more than 200 start-ups as of October 2016 according to AngelList.  Circle sizes represent the number of start-ups. The figure is meant to show an approximate of the size of start-up landscape in the different countries and its distribution in the territory.

Source: Authors’ work based on AngelList (www.angellist.com accessed October 2016)‌