December 24, 2024 • 23 mins
Discover the transformative journey of Mati Barbero, a trailblazer in Latin American venture capital, as he joins me, Brian Samson, on the Nearshore Cafe podcast. Mati's experiences from Argentina to Miami, coupled with his work at Impacta, 500 Startups, and Pigma, reveal a dynamic interplay of travel, work, and networking that shapes the regional startup ecosystem. As we explore the evolution of entrepreneurial opportunities post-COVID, Mati provides invaluable insights into how Latin American founders are thriving in fintech and impactful enterprises through increased global connections and remote work opportunities.
Together, we navigate the vibrant landscape of Latin America's tech ecosystem, celebrating the energy and innovation bubbling up during Tech Weeks in Argentina, Colombia, Chile, and Mexico. With personal anecdotes and firsthand experiences, we explore the role of regional ambassadors in nurturing growth and community development, featuring insights from Madi Barbero on regional advocacy's pivotal role. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur or a seasoned investor, the wealth of knowledge shared by our guests promises to inspire and guide those eager to tap into the immense potential of Latin American startups.
🔗🔗Connect with Mati Barbero 🔗🔗
Linkedin: Mati Barbero | LinkedIn
📢 Don’t forget to LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and TURN ON NOTIFICATIONS for more insights on Latin America’s growing tech scene! 🎧🔥
_________________________
🔗 Connect With Us
🔗 Stay Connected:
✅ Host: Brian Samson | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briansamson/
✅ Sponsor: Plugg Technologies | PLUGG.tech
✅ Follow The Nearshore Cafe Podcast for More Insightful Episodes!
_________________________
Our social pages:
🎵 Spotify podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/6KYcgpmN77fJm6B25469B8
🌎 Website: https://www.nearshorecafepodcast.com/
🔥 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-nearshore-cafe
🎙️ Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-nearshore-cafe/id1775525954
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
We'll see you next time.
(00:30):
Welcome everyone to anotherepisode of the Nearshore Cafe
podcast.
I'm Brian Sampson, your host.
I'm Brian Sampson, your host,and if you're interested in the
way VCs are scouting LatinAmerica, founder journeys, the
(00:51):
bridge between Latin America andthe States.
This is going to be a reallyinteresting podcast for you.
Before we jump into it, I wantto thank our sponsor, plug
Technologies.
Pluggtech great way to connecttalent from Latin America to
growing US companies Withoutfurther ado.
(01:11):
Our guest who's an ambassador,a bridge and everything else in
between, matty Barbero, great tohave you on the show.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Thank you.
Thank you, Brian, for invitingme, and thanks again, Jaime
Sotomayor, for the introduction.
It's my pleasure to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Mamadi, maybe we'll first just start with location.
So you're from Argentina andyou're living in Miami now.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
I mean it's hard to say, I've been moving back and
forth between Latin America andMiami.
You know the first thing thatyou say?
It's correct.
I'm originally from Argentina,from a city called Rosario, and
for the last couple of yearsI've been moving around
everywhere.
It started, as you know,learning from the different tech
ecosystems Chile, you know,uruguay, obviously Argentina,
(01:59):
colombia, central America andthen obviously Miami.
But now it turns like I also amlearning from other startup
ecosystem, like in Asia too, andyou know it keeps expanding.
But I adopted that lifestyle ofmoving around different places,
(02:21):
obviously taking advantage ofthe different events and
activities happening in thedifferent ecosystems as well.
So it's like a mix of work andtravel and meeting people.
Everything combined, it's a wayof living at this point.
It's been like that for thelast year.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Amazing, amazing.
Yeah, I think it's inspiringfor a lot of people.
That's really cool.
That was me a long time ago,before kids, so I'm living
vicariously.
Now Everyone actually says thesame.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
It's like you know, mati, you can do it because you
don't have any kids, you know, Iknow, so I guess I'm taking
advantage of that moment, butyeah, I'm really, really
enjoying it.
I love meeting new people, sotraveling is, I guess, the right
(03:16):
vehicle to learn from newpeople and their cultures and
how they do businesses and stuff.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
So, as we mentioned at the outset, you've talked a
lot about and done investing inLatin America.
We'll get into your founderjourney a little bit later, but
I think let's just start withinvesting.
You're part of Impacta and thenalso 500 Startups.
(03:39):
Can you talk about each ofthose funds?
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Recently, I joined Pigma, which is a venture
capital firm investing in earlystage fintech companies.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Oh, awesome, awesome.
So we've got three differentfunds.
Can you talk about each ofthese funds and what each of
them are looking for?
Speaker 2 (03:58):
500 is looking for early stage, pre-seed Latin
American founders, latinAmerican companies.
They want to invest in 60different companies all across
Latin America.
They're agnostic in terms ofindustry and they want the
founders to be Latin AmericanImpacta.
It's similar, but the onlything is they are investing in
(04:22):
companies doing impact orchanging the world for good, and
then, in Big Mass I recentlysaid they are looking to invest
in fintech companies.
Same thing 60 companies for thenext couple of years, pre-seed
stage and Latin America.
So three things in common there, right?
Latin American founders, latinAmerican companies.
(04:44):
That's my passion, that's whatyou know.
I've been working with a lot ofLatinos for the last couple of
years and I know there's a lotof potential in our region and I
feel like this is a way of me,you know, not only giving back
by supporting not only againwith connections, but
financially this journey.
(05:07):
And the other thing that thesefunds have in common and I pay
attention like a lot about thisis the people.
The people that work behind allof these venture capital firms
are awesome, are great.
They've been in the businessfor the last eight to ten years.
They founded companies.
They fail, they buildecosystems from scratch, but
(05:31):
they're good people.
When I was starting my journeyin the startup ecosystem, they
were very supportive and theywere very open to doing things
with me, so that's also a thingthat I pay attention to.
So Latin America and thisconcept of people correct.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
What does it mean to be a founder in Latin America in
2024, 2025, versus even fiveyears ago, pre-covid, you know?
Talk about like how the worldhas changed.
What does it mean?
Access to opportunities,investments, talent you know.
What does that look like today?
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Well, I mean, I guess things changed a lot.
I wasn't the founder by thattime.
I can't speak how it was beforeCOVID, because I actually
started working in the startupecosystem, first in a consulting
firm that later turned into anaccelerator, and I ran that too.
So my transition was like youknow I started from my home,
(06:32):
like very, very virtually, andthen obviously I started moving.
I'm in Miami, in Latin America,but I guess one of the things
that changed a lot is likepeople now are way more used to
work remotely, as I was saying,or adopting this kind of, you
know, working from anywhere andgoing to the exact place that
(06:54):
needs, let's say, needs me to bethere, but not me to be there
like the full year, you know, 12months, you know, 100% focused
there, 100% focused there.
Then, thanks to this, a lot ofLatin American people started to
be more and more attracted to,let's say, big companies from
(07:14):
the US, right, so the access totalent remotely increased a lot
and I saw a bunch of friends, abunch of different people,
starting to work for companiesfrom abroad thanks to this.
So I guess things changed a lot.
I can't speak how it was before, but while I was transitioning
(07:37):
and starting this, I noticedthese two particular things, if
that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Yeah, what does it look like today?
Is there more optimism?
And maybe even you know,because I want to think about
the big picture, you know macro,across the continent and the
region, but then also take intoaccount you know every country
is different, every city isdifferent with the ecosystem,
and maybe you could talk aboutjust general optimism right now
(08:07):
and if there are any particularlike micro regions or cities
that you're especiallyinterested in right now.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
I agree with you.
We, as Latin American, I feelwe are fragmented economies,
right?
Sometimes I mean countriesoperate by themselves and
economies are not very big,which inventor capital firms
turn to VCs saying like, hey,that's, you know, the total
addressable market or theaddressable market back there is
(08:37):
not big enough.
So that's why, then companies,the total addressable market or
the addressable market backthere is not big enough, so
that's why then companies, theseand other things they consider,
and then they go to the USmarket in order, or to bigger
economies in order to getinvested or to find better
opportunities.
But I'm very bullish about ourregion.
I've been seeing not only themoney coming from.
(09:00):
Now that I'm working closelywith venture capital firms, I
see LPs coming from everywhereacross the globe, even from
Europe, coming here to investthrough these VCs that I was
mentioning, or Saudi Arabia thatthey joined Big Matu Revya,
that they joined Big Matu.
So if those guys, those folks,are very, very bullish about
(09:22):
what's going on in our region,well, maybe I am too right and I
met a lot of founders fromdifferent countries across Latin
America I feel at this point,from all of the countries, but I
particularly connected verywell and I worked a lot with
(09:44):
Colombian and Chilean and alsoArgentinians and, as I was
saying, I feel specifically inthese three countries.
I feel very, very bullish, notonly because of the talent, but
then also there's an importantthing working at the back the
public sector.
In Argentina Not right now, butI expect this to start moving
(10:09):
with the new administration butin Colombia and Chile, the
public sector and nonprofitorganizations.
You know they've been workingfor the last 10 years in order
to have the good presence that Iam explaining right now, and
that is very important.
When you have the public sectorworking very well, connected
(10:30):
with the private sector, that'swhere the magic happens right
and they do events together,they do activities together,
demo days, they sendentrepreneurs to Miami, to
different cities across the US.
Again, private and publicsector both combined, and that
is something that is beingdemonstrated, that is successful
(10:53):
, and that's why I'm verybullish about the region.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Are there any patterns that maybe you want to
share?
You're seeing companies focusedon markets in Latin America, or
are they trying to solve globalproblems?
Is there any particular sector,that is, whether it's fintech
(11:19):
or something that's reallybringing minds together?
Speaker 2 (11:25):
I mean, I guess fintech and the boom of fintech
it was like a couple of yearsago when the digital banks
started, the wallet for cryptostarted and all of that Fintech
is.
I guess it's a very still it'sa very important industry.
That's why I invested, too, infintech and especially for
(11:45):
fragmented economies like us,like cross-border transactions
and things like that is going tobe very important in our region
.
But when I joined Impacta and Istarted talking and working a
little bit closer with David,the general partner, david Albo,
I started to notice that healthtech, biotech, climate tech all
(12:05):
of these impact industries arestarting to become something
that I expect to be very, veryimportant in the next five to
ten years.
Important in the next five to10 years, right, maybe the next,
same as fintech was a couple ofyears ago.
I expect biotech, health tech,climate tech, things related
(12:27):
with energy and so on, thingslike that that generate impact
are the next well, main topicsor founders are looking to
develop ideas around this.
I literally saw it when I wentto my this year.
I went to my alma mater, likemy university in my hometown and
(12:52):
the last.
When they are taking their lastcourse, you know they need to
develop like an idea.
It's like a pre-incubationprocess, let's put it that way.
And the kids the 20 years old,21 year old kids they were like
very smart, and they werethinking about these things that
(13:13):
I was saying they were notthinking about fintech or things
like that.
And five years ago, when I wasdoing that, six, seven years ago
, when I was in their position,they were not thinking about
fintech or things like that.
And five years ago, when I wasdoing that, six, seven years ago
, when I was in their position,I was thinking about fintech and
things like that, right, andnow they were more like okay,
how we can change, how we canimpact.
And I keep reading about it, Ikeep listening about it.
I keep reading news about newVCs popping up, new nonprofit
(13:36):
organizations, the investmentdevelopment bank investing
around that.
So it's definitely somethingaround that.
And I'm talking about LatinAmerica.
Of course I, you know, I don'tknow other regions in the rest
of the world, but mainly inLatin America I'm listening a
lot about that.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Yeah, Nementi, as you said at the beginning, you're a
guy who loves to travel.
You're going around a lot ofconferences, meetups, all sorts
of stuff.
Can you talk about maybe arecent conference that you went
to that was focused on LatinAmerica tech ecosystem, things
(14:17):
like that?
Can you talk about that?
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Yeah, so this year there was a thing that started
in Latin America.
It was that different countriesstarted making their tech weeks
, so the Argentina Tech Week,the Colombia Tech Week, the
Chile Tech Week, the Peru TechWeek, and so on.
And then in Uruguay, in acouple of months I mean in one
(14:39):
month actually, starting fromnow, in one month, we're going
to have this.
They call it Punta Tech, butit's a city called Punta del
Este in Uruguay, which a lot ofPCs and the startup ecosystem
goes there.
So I've been in, I guess thetwo that I like and then,
obviously, mexico Tech Week.
Sorry about that.
The two I liked the most wasColombia Tech Week and Chile
(15:04):
Tech Week.
Again, it's not a coincidence.
I came three weeks ago fromChile Tech Week.
There was a huge, huge eventcalled ETM, 40,000 people
assisted for three days.
Yeah, it was amazing.
So these guys, they've beendoing this for the last 10 years
(15:24):
and they started with somesmall gatherings at someone's
place and then Daniel turnedthis into like a big, big event.
They have like a huge park inSantiago, chile and Santiago,
Chile, and they, they, they usethat space for three consecutive
(15:44):
days, from Thursday to, youknow, thursday, friday and
Saturday and it was amazing, um,um.
I spoke there aboutinternationalization, but the
most important, the mostimpactful thing for me was, like
there's a lot of things goingon.
There's a lot of corporatestrying to play and connect with
(16:05):
startups, a lot of VCs comingfrom different countries, from
different continents, and for meit was simply amazing, right,
how this topic in commonstartups can get together people
from all over the world, and Isaw the same in Colombia.
(16:25):
Colombia.
In August they did the ColombiaTech Week.
There were like 160 events orsomething like that.
I hosted like 20 events duringthat week and it was amazing and
I know the guys executing allof this at the back and it's so
cool that everything starts, youknow, with small things and
they were thinking, doing somesmall events, some small
(16:47):
activities and thanks to thesupport of, again, both private
sector and public sector, thesethings are changing people's
lives because they get invested,they get new connections, they
get new clients, new partners,they meet new people and it's
simply amazing.
These type of events andactivities are mind-blowing.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
That's awesome.
Hearing the sighs, the energythat was there must have just
been Absolutely incredible, andI think there's even maybe some
bias, like the whole to see,like the whole, the full event,
it was like how you say.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
This is like when you go to a music festival like, uh
, so, so big, so much, a lot ofthings like going on and and and
it was, it was huge.
Uh, like I never seen somethinglike that now I'm like a big, a
big promoter of uh, of et, ofETM, and did a great job.
But, yeah, same Colombia, sameArgentina, everyone, like you
(18:04):
know, they've been creatingthese.
Well, mexico, as I was saying,and yeah, it was simply amazing.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
Amati, in addition to being a connector and an
investor, you're also a founder.
Mahati, in addition to being aconnector and an investor,
you're also a founder.
Please tell us more about whatyou're working on today and what
the idea and the vision is.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
All right, so I became a founder.
Let's put it this way, byaccident.
I was not looking to become afounder, but last year.
So, as I was saying, I wasrunning an accelerator and then,
okay, we stopped workingtogether and one of the well, I
(18:47):
was running that accelerator,there were like between 250, 270
companies that went throughthat and one of the companies
was this Chilean company calledApodrao.
It has a different naming andway of operating and marketing
back there and they called meonce and it was like the company
was about to do an exit and mycomment was hey, why don't you
(19:12):
literally operate in the US,which was the thing that I was
supporting you before.
Right, and we agreed on doingthat together.
So that's why I say hey, Ibecame you know by accident, but
I love the team, I love theproduct and I love what we are
now executing.
But back in the days, like oneyear ago, we were planning to do
(19:33):
in the US, so that's correct.
Now I am the co-founder ofSchool in One.
We are an all-in-one app forschools.
Basically, we are an edtechcompany software as a service
for schools in the US.
So, long story short, theproblem we identified is schools
(19:54):
have, on average, five to sixdifferent platforms to do
grading, attendance,communicating with parents, all
of the information that thestudents generate.
Somehow it's everywhere in sixdifferent platforms and
sometimes still schools useemails and information is
everywhere.
They're spending a lot of moneyin these six different software,
(20:15):
five to six different softwares, and we say hey why don't we
bring something that getstogether all of these not
integrating these, having like aone product but then also bring
a user-friendly experience toteachers, who are the people
using this the most, and alsofor parents.
So we have both things.
We have an app for parents andteachers and then also and they
(20:41):
can log in through the web and,again, ideally, all the
information flows all in one, ina single place, all in one
through School in One.
So that's what we are doing.
We launched this year.
We are already operating with afew schools, which I love to
call them my partners.
It's a slow industry, but it'sbeen well.
(21:06):
I mean, people love our product.
It's just a matter of adoption,so it takes some time, but we
are doing a great job.
So, yeah, that's my story as afounder so far.
Very cool, very cool.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
So, yeah, that's my story as a founder so far Very
cool, very cool.
Well, we'll have to check backwith you in a few years and see
all the milestones.
Mati, I want to be respectfulof your time.
If anyone is interested in yourstartup, what's the best way to
reach you?
Speaker 2 (21:35):
So it's my LinkedIn.
I always reply back.
You can get me on LinkedIn,mati Barbero.
I love to reply back If there'sa school out there that wants
to, you know, learn more abouthow we can add value.
I'm happy to talk, happy tolisten you know what you're
facing and to see if we addvalue.
And let me also share somethingelse, brian if there's any other
(21:58):
latin american founder orinvestor or someone from latin
america looking to expand abroadand do some businesses in miami
, I'm also, through my linkedin,I'm very happy to support there
.
Um, I also found it, uh, I liketo call it a non-profit
organization that I use it.
It's called project.
I use it to support LatinAmerican entrepreneurs.
(22:20):
Every time I can, of courseright, it's like it's not easy
with the startup and all of thethings going around but every
time I can, if I can run anintroduction, if I can have a
few meetings with this with anyfounder and add some value for
the internationalization or or,or, you know, helping them
(22:40):
accelerate that learning curve,I'm always happy to be like I'm.
For me it's so hard to say no,so I'm, I'm always open to
connect.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Well, here at the near shore cafe, we're very
supportive of people that areambassadors for the region,
bringing in spotlight, and Mattis definitely one of the
definitely one of the key peoplethere.
You've been listening to theNearshore Cafe podcast with our
guest, Madi Barbero.
You can find us atnearshorecafepodcastcom and this
(23:12):
podcast was sponsored by PlugTechnologies pluggtech Great way
to connect talent from LatinAmerica to growing US companies.
Thanks everyone for listening.
We'll see you next time.
We'll see you next time.
(00:30):
Welcome everyone to anotherepisode of the Nearshore Cafe
podcast.
I'm Brian Sampson, your host.
I'm Brian Sampson, your host,and if you're interested in the
way VCs are scouting LatinAmerica, founder journeys, the
(00:51):
bridge between Latin America andthe States.
This is going to be a reallyinteresting podcast for you.
Before we jump into it, I wantto thank our sponsor, plug
Technologies.
Pluggtech great way to connecttalent from Latin America to
growing US companies Withoutfurther ado.
(01:11):
Our guest who's an ambassador,a bridge and everything else in
between, matty Barbero, great tohave you on the show.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Thank you.
Thank you, Brian, for invitingme, and thanks again, Jaime
Sotomayor, for the introduction.
It's my pleasure to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Mamadi, maybe we'll first just start with location.
So you're from Argentina andyou're living in Miami now.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
I mean it's hard to say, I've been moving back and
forth between Latin America andMiami.
You know the first thing thatyou say?
It's correct.
I'm originally from Argentina,from a city called Rosario, and
for the last couple of yearsI've been moving around
everywhere.
It started, as you know,learning from the different tech
ecosystems Chile, you know,uruguay, obviously Argentina,
(01:59):
colombia, central America andthen obviously Miami.
But now it turns like I also amlearning from other startup
ecosystem, like in Asia too, andyou know it keeps expanding.
But I adopted that lifestyle ofmoving around different places,
(02:21):
obviously taking advantage ofthe different events and
activities happening in thedifferent ecosystems as well.
So it's like a mix of work andtravel and meeting people.
Everything combined, it's a wayof living at this point.
It's been like that for thelast year.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Amazing, amazing.
Yeah, I think it's inspiringfor a lot of people.
That's really cool.
That was me a long time ago,before kids, so I'm living
vicariously.
Now Everyone actually says thesame.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
It's like you know, mati, you can do it because you
don't have any kids, you know, Iknow, so I guess I'm taking
advantage of that moment, butyeah, I'm really, really
enjoying it.
I love meeting new people, sotraveling is, I guess, the right
(03:16):
vehicle to learn from newpeople and their cultures and
how they do businesses and stuff.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
So, as we mentioned at the outset, you've talked a
lot about and done investing inLatin America.
We'll get into your founderjourney a little bit later, but
I think let's just start withinvesting.
You're part of Impacta and thenalso 500 Startups.
(03:39):
Can you talk about each ofthose funds?
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Recently, I joined Pigma, which is a venture
capital firm investing in earlystage fintech companies.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Oh, awesome, awesome.
So we've got three differentfunds.
Can you talk about each ofthese funds and what each of
them are looking for?
Speaker 2 (03:58):
500 is looking for early stage, pre-seed Latin
American founders, latinAmerican companies.
They want to invest in 60different companies all across
Latin America.
They're agnostic in terms ofindustry and they want the
founders to be Latin AmericanImpacta.
It's similar, but the onlything is they are investing in
(04:22):
companies doing impact orchanging the world for good, and
then, in Big Mass I recentlysaid they are looking to invest
in fintech companies.
Same thing 60 companies for thenext couple of years, pre-seed
stage and Latin America.
So three things in common there, right?
Latin American founders, latinAmerican companies.
(04:44):
That's my passion, that's whatyou know.
I've been working with a lot ofLatinos for the last couple of
years and I know there's a lotof potential in our region and I
feel like this is a way of me,you know, not only giving back
by supporting not only againwith connections, but
financially this journey.
(05:07):
And the other thing that thesefunds have in common and I pay
attention like a lot about thisis the people.
The people that work behind allof these venture capital firms
are awesome, are great.
They've been in the businessfor the last eight to ten years.
They founded companies.
They fail, they buildecosystems from scratch, but
(05:31):
they're good people.
When I was starting my journeyin the startup ecosystem, they
were very supportive and theywere very open to doing things
with me, so that's also a thingthat I pay attention to.
So Latin America and thisconcept of people correct.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
What does it mean to be a founder in Latin America in
2024, 2025, versus even fiveyears ago, pre-covid, you know?
Talk about like how the worldhas changed.
What does it mean?
Access to opportunities,investments, talent you know.
What does that look like today?
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Well, I mean, I guess things changed a lot.
I wasn't the founder by thattime.
I can't speak how it was beforeCOVID, because I actually
started working in the startupecosystem, first in a consulting
firm that later turned into anaccelerator, and I ran that too.
So my transition was like youknow I started from my home,
(06:32):
like very, very virtually, andthen obviously I started moving.
I'm in Miami, in Latin America,but I guess one of the things
that changed a lot is likepeople now are way more used to
work remotely, as I was saying,or adopting this kind of, you
know, working from anywhere andgoing to the exact place that
(06:54):
needs, let's say, needs me to bethere, but not me to be there
like the full year, you know, 12months, you know, 100% focused
there, 100% focused there.
Then, thanks to this, a lot ofLatin American people started to
be more and more attracted to,let's say, big companies from
(07:14):
the US, right, so the access totalent remotely increased a lot
and I saw a bunch of friends, abunch of different people,
starting to work for companiesfrom abroad thanks to this.
So I guess things changed a lot.
I can't speak how it was before, but while I was transitioning
(07:37):
and starting this, I noticedthese two particular things, if
that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Yeah, what does it look like today?
Is there more optimism?
And maybe even you know,because I want to think about
the big picture, you know macro,across the continent and the
region, but then also take intoaccount you know every country
is different, every city isdifferent with the ecosystem,
and maybe you could talk aboutjust general optimism right now
(08:07):
and if there are any particularlike micro regions or cities
that you're especiallyinterested in right now.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
I agree with you.
We, as Latin American, I feelwe are fragmented economies,
right?
Sometimes I mean countriesoperate by themselves and
economies are not very big,which inventor capital firms
turn to VCs saying like, hey,that's, you know, the total
addressable market or theaddressable market back there is
(08:37):
not big enough.
So that's why, then companies,the total addressable market or
the addressable market backthere is not big enough, so
that's why then companies, theseand other things they consider,
and then they go to the USmarket in order, or to bigger
economies in order to getinvested or to find better
opportunities.
But I'm very bullish about ourregion.
I've been seeing not only themoney coming from.
(09:00):
Now that I'm working closelywith venture capital firms, I
see LPs coming from everywhereacross the globe, even from
Europe, coming here to investthrough these VCs that I was
mentioning, or Saudi Arabia thatthey joined Big Matu Revya,
that they joined Big Matu.
So if those guys, those folks,are very, very bullish about
(09:22):
what's going on in our region,well, maybe I am too right and I
met a lot of founders fromdifferent countries across Latin
America I feel at this point,from all of the countries, but I
particularly connected verywell and I worked a lot with
(09:44):
Colombian and Chilean and alsoArgentinians and, as I was
saying, I feel specifically inthese three countries.
I feel very, very bullish, notonly because of the talent, but
then also there's an importantthing working at the back the
public sector.
In Argentina Not right now, butI expect this to start moving
(10:09):
with the new administration butin Colombia and Chile, the
public sector and nonprofitorganizations.
You know they've been workingfor the last 10 years in order
to have the good presence that Iam explaining right now, and
that is very important.
When you have the public sectorworking very well, connected
(10:30):
with the private sector, that'swhere the magic happens right
and they do events together,they do activities together,
demo days, they sendentrepreneurs to Miami, to
different cities across the US.
Again, private and publicsector both combined, and that
is something that is beingdemonstrated, that is successful
(10:53):
, and that's why I'm verybullish about the region.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Are there any patterns that maybe you want to
share?
You're seeing companies focusedon markets in Latin America, or
are they trying to solve globalproblems?
Is there any particular sector,that is, whether it's fintech
(11:19):
or something that's reallybringing minds together?
Speaker 2 (11:25):
I mean, I guess fintech and the boom of fintech
it was like a couple of yearsago when the digital banks
started, the wallet for cryptostarted and all of that Fintech
is.
I guess it's a very still it'sa very important industry.
That's why I invested, too, infintech and especially for
(11:45):
fragmented economies like us,like cross-border transactions
and things like that is going tobe very important in our region
.
But when I joined Impacta and Istarted talking and working a
little bit closer with David,the general partner, david Albo,
I started to notice that healthtech, biotech, climate tech all
(12:05):
of these impact industries arestarting to become something
that I expect to be very, veryimportant in the next five to
ten years.
Important in the next five to10 years, right, maybe the next,
same as fintech was a couple ofyears ago.
I expect biotech, health tech,climate tech, things related
(12:27):
with energy and so on, thingslike that that generate impact
are the next well, main topicsor founders are looking to
develop ideas around this.
I literally saw it when I wentto my this year.
I went to my alma mater, likemy university in my hometown and
(12:52):
the last.
When they are taking their lastcourse, you know they need to
develop like an idea.
It's like a pre-incubationprocess, let's put it that way.
And the kids the 20 years old,21 year old kids they were like
very smart, and they werethinking about these things that
(13:13):
I was saying they were notthinking about fintech or things
like that.
And five years ago, when I wasdoing that, six, seven years ago
, when I was in their position,they were not thinking about
fintech or things like that.
And five years ago, when I wasdoing that, six, seven years ago
, when I was in their position,I was thinking about fintech and
things like that, right, andnow they were more like okay,
how we can change, how we canimpact.
And I keep reading about it, Ikeep listening about it.
I keep reading news about newVCs popping up, new nonprofit
(13:36):
organizations, the investmentdevelopment bank investing
around that.
So it's definitely somethingaround that.
And I'm talking about LatinAmerica.
Of course I, you know, I don'tknow other regions in the rest
of the world, but mainly inLatin America I'm listening a
lot about that.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Yeah, Nementi, as you said at the beginning, you're a
guy who loves to travel.
You're going around a lot ofconferences, meetups, all sorts
of stuff.
Can you talk about maybe arecent conference that you went
to that was focused on LatinAmerica tech ecosystem, things
(14:17):
like that?
Can you talk about that?
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Yeah, so this year there was a thing that started
in Latin America.
It was that different countriesstarted making their tech weeks
, so the Argentina Tech Week,the Colombia Tech Week, the
Chile Tech Week, the Peru TechWeek, and so on.
And then in Uruguay, in acouple of months I mean in one
(14:39):
month actually, starting fromnow, in one month, we're going
to have this.
They call it Punta Tech, butit's a city called Punta del
Este in Uruguay, which a lot ofPCs and the startup ecosystem
goes there.
So I've been in, I guess thetwo that I like and then,
obviously, mexico Tech Week.
Sorry about that.
The two I liked the most wasColombia Tech Week and Chile
(15:04):
Tech Week.
Again, it's not a coincidence.
I came three weeks ago fromChile Tech Week.
There was a huge, huge eventcalled ETM, 40,000 people
assisted for three days.
Yeah, it was amazing.
So these guys, they've beendoing this for the last 10 years
(15:24):
and they started with somesmall gatherings at someone's
place and then Daniel turnedthis into like a big, big event.
They have like a huge park inSantiago, chile and Santiago,
Chile, and they, they, they usethat space for three consecutive
(15:44):
days, from Thursday to, youknow, thursday, friday and
Saturday and it was amazing, um,um.
I spoke there aboutinternationalization, but the
most important, the mostimpactful thing for me was, like
there's a lot of things goingon.
There's a lot of corporatestrying to play and connect with
(16:05):
startups, a lot of VCs comingfrom different countries, from
different continents, and for meit was simply amazing, right,
how this topic in commonstartups can get together people
from all over the world, and Isaw the same in Colombia.
(16:25):
Colombia.
In August they did the ColombiaTech Week.
There were like 160 events orsomething like that.
I hosted like 20 events duringthat week and it was amazing and
I know the guys executing allof this at the back and it's so
cool that everything starts, youknow, with small things and
they were thinking, doing somesmall events, some small
(16:47):
activities and thanks to thesupport of, again, both private
sector and public sector, thesethings are changing people's
lives because they get invested,they get new connections, they
get new clients, new partners,they meet new people and it's
simply amazing.
These type of events andactivities are mind-blowing.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
That's awesome.
Hearing the sighs, the energythat was there must have just
been Absolutely incredible, andI think there's even maybe some
bias, like the whole to see,like the whole, the full event,
it was like how you say.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
This is like when you go to a music festival like, uh
, so, so big, so much, a lot ofthings like going on and and and
it was, it was huge.
Uh, like I never seen somethinglike that now I'm like a big, a
big promoter of uh, of et, ofETM, and did a great job.
But, yeah, same Colombia, sameArgentina, everyone, like you
(18:04):
know, they've been creatingthese.
Well, mexico, as I was saying,and yeah, it was simply amazing.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
Amati, in addition to being a connector and an
investor, you're also a founder.
Mahati, in addition to being aconnector and an investor,
you're also a founder.
Please tell us more about whatyou're working on today and what
the idea and the vision is.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
All right, so I became a founder.
Let's put it this way, byaccident.
I was not looking to become afounder, but last year.
So, as I was saying, I wasrunning an accelerator and then,
okay, we stopped workingtogether and one of the well, I
(18:47):
was running that accelerator,there were like between 250, 270
companies that went throughthat and one of the companies
was this Chilean company calledApodrao.
It has a different naming andway of operating and marketing
back there and they called meonce and it was like the company
was about to do an exit and mycomment was hey, why don't you
(19:12):
literally operate in the US,which was the thing that I was
supporting you before.
Right, and we agreed on doingthat together.
So that's why I say hey, Ibecame you know by accident, but
I love the team, I love theproduct and I love what we are
now executing.
But back in the days, like oneyear ago, we were planning to do
(19:33):
in the US, so that's correct.
Now I am the co-founder ofSchool in One.
We are an all-in-one app forschools.
Basically, we are an edtechcompany software as a service
for schools in the US.
So, long story short, theproblem we identified is schools
(19:54):
have, on average, five to sixdifferent platforms to do
grading, attendance,communicating with parents, all
of the information that thestudents generate.
Somehow it's everywhere in sixdifferent platforms and
sometimes still schools useemails and information is
everywhere.
They're spending a lot of moneyin these six different software,
(20:15):
five to six different softwares, and we say hey why don't we
bring something that getstogether all of these not
integrating these, having like aone product but then also bring
a user-friendly experience toteachers, who are the people
using this the most, and alsofor parents.
So we have both things.
We have an app for parents andteachers and then also and they
(20:41):
can log in through the web and,again, ideally, all the
information flows all in one, ina single place, all in one
through School in One.
So that's what we are doing.
We launched this year.
We are already operating with afew schools, which I love to
call them my partners.
It's a slow industry, but it'sbeen well.
(21:06):
I mean, people love our product.
It's just a matter of adoption,so it takes some time, but we
are doing a great job.
So, yeah, that's my story as afounder so far.
Very cool, very cool.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
So, yeah, that's my story as a founder so far Very
cool, very cool.
Well, we'll have to check backwith you in a few years and see
all the milestones.
Mati, I want to be respectfulof your time.
If anyone is interested in yourstartup, what's the best way to
reach you?
Speaker 2 (21:35):
So it's my LinkedIn.
I always reply back.
You can get me on LinkedIn,mati Barbero.
I love to reply back If there'sa school out there that wants
to, you know, learn more abouthow we can add value.
I'm happy to talk, happy tolisten you know what you're
facing and to see if we addvalue.
And let me also share somethingelse, brian if there's any other
(21:58):
latin american founder orinvestor or someone from latin
america looking to expand abroadand do some businesses in miami
, I'm also, through my linkedin,I'm very happy to support there
.
Um, I also found it, uh, I liketo call it a non-profit
organization that I use it.
It's called project.
I use it to support LatinAmerican entrepreneurs.
(22:20):
Every time I can, of courseright, it's like it's not easy
with the startup and all of thethings going around but every
time I can, if I can run anintroduction, if I can have a
few meetings with this with anyfounder and add some value for
the internationalization or or,or, you know, helping them
(22:40):
accelerate that learning curve,I'm always happy to be like I'm.
For me it's so hard to say no,so I'm, I'm always open to
connect.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Well, here at the near shore cafe, we're very
supportive of people that areambassadors for the region,
bringing in spotlight, and Mattis definitely one of the
definitely one of the key peoplethere.
You've been listening to theNearshore Cafe podcast with our
guest, Madi Barbero.
You can find us atnearshorecafepodcastcom and this
(23:12):
podcast was sponsored by PlugTechnologies pluggtech Great way
to connect talent from LatinAmerica to growing US companies.
Thanks everyone for listening.
We'll see you next time.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.