As South America’s largest country, Brazil has the potential to be an economic powerhouse. But over time, political turmoil, largely as a result of corruption, has marred the economic landscape.
Still, despite the political upheaval in recent years, the country’s startup scene has seen some serious acceleration, reflecting a general trend we’re seeing in Latin America as a whole.
By Mary Ann Azevedo via CrunchBase News
If it’s going to conquer the world one foreign market at a time, Uber has considerable work to do in Latin America. Populous cities with iffy public transit portend big business, but the competition there is fierce and well-funded, with local taxi operators plus Chinese giant DiDi and its subsidiary 99, and the Daimler-backed scrappy Greek upstart Beat. Now the newly public company could get a boost in its driver rosters in Brazil, thanks to a partnership between backseat mini-convenience store Cargo and the local ampm operator Ipiranga.
By Julia Walmsley via Forbes
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Spanish tourism and transportation company Grupo Globalia will launch a new air carrier in Brazil, Brazilian Infrastructure Minister Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas said in a message posted on Twitter on Saturday.
Globalia owns the Air Europa carrier and companies in the tourism sector, including hotel operators and travel services such as Travelplan and Groundforce.
By Marcelo Teixeira and Roberto Samora via Reuters
Brazilians have embraced mobile banking as their preferred means to handle their banking affairs as the channel accounted for nearly half of all transactions carried out last year, according to a new report.
The latest research on banking technology trends carried out by Deloitte on behalf of the Brazilian Banking Federation (FEBRABAN) also shows that the number of transactions overall, so any interaction involving a financial element or not, has seen an increase of 24 percent in 2018 in relation to the prior year.
By Angelica Mari via ZD Net
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian healthcare provider Hapvida Participacoes e Investimentos SA will look for more acquisitions in the near future after agreeing to acquire rival group Sao Francisco Saude for 5 billion reais ($1.26 billion), Chief Executive Officer Jorge Pinheiro told reporters on Tuesday.
The deal will enable Hapvida to expand to Brazil’s southeastern, southern and center-west regions, from its current focus only on the north and northeastern regions.
By Carolina Mandl via Reuters
Brazilian fintech Nubank commenced its international expansion by announcing the start of its operations in Mexico today (7).
With a portfolio of 8,5 million customers, the unicorn claims to be the largest online bank outside Asia. The company is launching its Mexico office with 20 staff, with plans to nearly quadruple that by year end.
By Angelica Mari via Forbes
Online firm Grupo Zap is chasing a billion-dollar opportunity by introducing the instant home buyer (i-buyer) model in Brazil, with plans to nearly double its workforce and enhance data analytics capabilities to support the new business.
With Grupo Globo, one of Latin America’s largest media conglomerates as a majority shareholder and the likes of Monashees and Kaszek Ventures as backers, Zap owns the two largest real estate marketplaces in Brazil and provides a range of data-driven services to the industry.
By Angelica Mari via Forbes
Flying to South America from the U.S. often means an overnight flight and multiple stops. In other words — no sleep.
LATAM Airlines Group, Latin America’s biggest airline, is aiming to change that and, in the process, attract more U.S. visitors to Latin America. Along with more flights, the airline also is adding more comfortable seats.
By Barbara Redding via Travel Weekly
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd on Tuesday launched two high-end smartphone handsets in Brazil, making its second attempt to penetrate the world’s fourth-largest smartphone market, broadening its footprint in Latin America.
“We are in a very different market share position than we were five years ago and we’re seeing tremendous brand momentum,” Ketrina Dunagan, Huawei’s vice president of marketing for the Americas, said in an interview on the sidelines of the launch event in Sao Paulo.
By Gabriela Mello via Reuters
Brazil has taken another step towards further developing its financial services ecosystem by approving the implementation of open banking.
The country’s central bank has also approved and issued guidelines to be considered while the model is implemented.
By Angelica Mari via ZD Net
