The first Peruvian startup unicorn has already been born (although we still don't know its name)

When various players in the Peruvian startup ecosystem are asked why a unicorn has not yet been born in Peru, the answer is almost unanimous: “We have entered this late.”

Both the question and the answer are timely when one appreciates the speed and growth shown by its neighbors Chile and Colombia, not to mention Brazil, Argentina and Mexico . However, it is precisely the evolution of these ecosystems and their turning points that make us see that Peru’s time has finally come. 

Latin American startup ecosystems have followed similar routes of progress over the last fifteen years, according to Greg Mitchell , managing director of AVP , a Mexican VC fund with a presence in several countries in the region. 

In this period of time, three waves of development have been observed in the ecosystems of Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Peru. With the exception of the Peruvian case, the rest have already gone through them. The first wave is one of governmental support in economic, promotional and convening issues. The second, when the venture capital industry focuses on local startups, which offer their first success stories by raising rounds of international investors. The third wave is the inflection and consolidation point: when startups become regional with valuations of more than $100 million.

Successive waves in Mexico, Colombia and Chile have already given birth to unicorns such as Kavak, Clip, Rappi, Platzi, NotCo and Betterfly. For Mitchell, the Peruvian ecosystem is entering the third wave, which means two things: that, on the one hand, there are now serial founders and solid teams; and, on the other hand, a local venture capital industry with several active funds such as AVP, Inca Ventures, Salkantay or Winnipeg, as well as accelerators such as UTEC Ventures. As of today, the Peruvian Association of Seed Capital and Entrepreneurship (PECAP) has 50 active members. 

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