Brazil’s startup market is reaching new heights, and its domestic stock market could benefit from the boom.
According to data from KPMG, Brazilian startups raised the most capital in a single quarter in Q1 2021, when some $1.4 billion flowed into domestic technology upstarts. That record stood until the second quarter of 2021 saw $2.7 billion raised by Brazilian startups.
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Inflows are only half of the startup equation, however. Brazil has seen notable acquisitions in recent years, including Twilio buying Teravoz in January 2020, and Etsy buying Elo7 in June for more than $200 million. Magazine Luiza spent $528 million to buy Kabum, a Brazilian e-commerce player, earlier this year.
Acquisitions are merely one path to liquidity, however. IPOs are another. The good news for Brazil and its startup ecosystem is that despite a historical dearth of technology public offerings on domestic exchanges, the IPO market for Brazilian tech startups could be gearing up for more volume.
GetNinjas, a platform for hiring local labor for household needs like plumbing and painting, went public earlier this year on the B3 exchange, located in São Paulo. And it’s not alone.
The IPO market in Brazil is changing, data indicates. TechCrunch noted last year that in the decade leading up to 2020, just two of the 56 IPOs in Brazil were technology companies. More recently, the number of technology companies listed in the country has swelled to at least 16, up from just four in 2019.
Will the trend of domestic IPOs continue for Brazilian technology companies? Or will U.S. IPOs play a preeminent role for the country’s leading tech startups?
The question is not idle, with São Paulo-based fintech giant Nubank heading toward an eventual public offering and more capital than ever wagered on the country’s current generation of startups, all of which must aspire to the most famous of exit paths. Brazil is also minting new unicorns, with at least four graduating to the valuation threshold this year alone.
But even that data point is outdated: Just this morning, Nuvemshop, a Brazilian e-commerce company, announced a new $500 million round valuing it at more than $3 billion.
To better understand the recently expanding number of domestically listed Brazilian technology offerings, and what could be ahead for the country’s startups, The Exchange spoke to GetNinjas CEO Eduardo L’Hotellier about its IPO and Renata Quintini from Renegade Partners, a venture capital firm, about what’s happening in the country. We’ll lean on data as we go. Let’s explore Brazil!
What’s driving rising technology IPO volume in Brazil?
The number of public companies, overall depressed compared to historical highs in the Brazilian market, is impacted by both sector-specific and more macro trends. When we consider what is driving more technology offerings in Brazil, we’ll want to think about larger macroeconomic factors along with what’s happening in technology more specifically.
