:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/bloomberglinea/IKAVCVVO5ZCFVCL2LNYCG3LQII.jpg "Bloomberg Línea")
Bloomberg Línea — E-commerce revenues in Argentina grew by 89% last year compared to 2020, almost 40% above the country’s annual rate of inflation, which was 50.9%, with purchases totaling $61.6 billion, and a 25% increase in transactions compared with the previous year, according to a study by Tiendanube.
During Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso’s visit to China, which began Thursday, the government will present an investment portfolio valued at $10 billion, and which is aimed at attracting investors for projects related to infrastructure, energy and the health sector, among others.
On the stock markets, losses were posted across the region, with Chile’s index (IPSA) seeing the biggest fall, of 2.20%, while Brazil’s Ibovespa (IBOV) slid 0.18% after Brazil’s Central Bank raised the key interest rate to 10.75%, the highest level since May 2017, on Wednesday. While the 1.5 point increase was widely expected, the statement surprised by indicating a slower pace of tightening in upcoming meetings.
The Mexican stock market’s IPC index closed with a loss of 1.71%.
Following is a roundup of Thursday’s news from Bloomberg Línea and Bloomberg reporters across Latin America.
Argentina
- A study by Tiendanube, Nubecommerce 2021, reveals that last year e-commerce turnover grew by 89% compared to 2020 in Argentina, almost 40% above the country’s annual rate of inflation, which was 50.9%, and totaling $61.6 billion in purchases, with 25% more transactions carried out than during the previous year. The study compiled data from 45,000 companies across the country.
- President Alberto Fernández said Thursday before his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that “Argentina has to leave behind the great dependence it has on the International Monetary Fund and the United States”. According to the Argentine head of state, the country must “open the way to other places, and that is where Russia has a very important position”.
:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/bloomberglinea/TQZQM23FVVHXPEZYYTY4GG4VZE.jpg "Argentina's President Alberto Fernández and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Credit: Casa Rosada")
Brazil
- Brazil-based unicorn Gympass announced on Thursday two new executives for C-level roles, as the company “enters its next phase of growth”. Carolee Gearhart, former VP of Global SMB Sales and Global Channel Chief of Google, will be Gympass’ new Chief Revenue Officer. Ryan Bonnici, a former leader at Hubspot with stints at G2 and Salesforce will have the role of Chief Marketing Officer at Gympass.
- Rental values in São Paulo, Brazil’s most populous city, continue to rise. In January, the average price of new residential rent rose for the sixth consecutive month and reached a record, with the largest increase (2.16%) recorded in a month since June 2019.
Chile
Colombia
- Eleven Colombian startups are set to become the country’s new unicorns in sectors ranging from technology for the real estate sector (proptech) to education (edtech) and e-commerce, according to the Colombia Tech Report 2021.
- Colombian fintech Bold, which allows access to electronic payments to thousands of businesses in Colombia, announced Thursday that it raised $55 million in its Series B investment round, and Colombian startup Keybe, which allows businesses to get to know their customers with big data, deep learning and artificial intelligence, received an investment of $1.7 million from executives of firms such as Rappi and La Haus, among others.
Ecuador
- Ecuador will present an investment portfolio in China valued at $10 billion. President Guillermo Lasso’s visit to the country, which started Thursday, is aimed at attracting investors for projects related to infrastructure, energy and the health sector, among others.
Mexico
- BBVA México’s Vice Chairman and CEO Eduardo Osuna said Thursday that the sale of Banamex will force greater competition in the Mexican financial system and will bring about a reconfiguration of the country’s commercial banking space. He warned however that any potential buyer must have the capacity to manage a bank of such a size, and be able to incentivize investment in the country.
- Tribal, a Mexican payment and financing platform, announced its arrival in the Brazilian market as part of its expansion strategy.
Peru
- President Pedro Castillo met with his Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday to discuss binational trade and border cooperation. The two leaders signed agreements on health matters, to promote a bilateral healthcare cooperation program, and discussed the possibility of promoting the commercial exchange of products such as tomatoes, flowers and the opening of agricultural and fruit markets between the two countries. They also discussed the possibility of developing infrastructure to reduce freight costs for foreign trade transportation, and the expansion of pork and cheese exports from Brazil to Peru.
:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/bloomberglinea/4MEKE2DMNFEC3NGPV5YPKII3HA.jpg "Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro met with his Peruvian counterpart Pedro Castillo in Brazil on Thursday.")
Uruguay
- Uruguayan e-commerce startup Tiendamia has raised $30 million in a Series B round led by Cartesian Capital Group. Under the deal, the US fund is now committing $20 million, plus another $10 million to the startup, raising the company’s valuation to $80 million. This is the second time the marketplace receives investments. The first round took place in 2016 when it secured $1.8 million.
