Investments in Brazilian startups are surging, but high taxes and strict labor laws could hamper returns

By Spencer E. Ante

TECHNOLOGY

How Many Facebook Users Will Go Public?
Digital TV: Where Are All Those Eyeballs?
Brazil: Venture Capital's Next Hotbed?
An Academic's Labor Helps Fight H-1B Visas
Charging for Online Content Gets Closer
STORY TOOLS

post a comment
e-mail this story
print this story
order a reprint
suggest a story
digg this
save to del.icio.us
linkedin connections

Brazil is best known around the world for soccer, samba music, and supermodels. Now it's emerging as an attractive destination for investment capital.

At a June 25 conference in New York, a Brazilian venture capital trade group announced some impressive figures. As of the end of 2008, local and foreign investors had committed $28 billion in venture and private equity capital to Brazilian companies, said Luiz Figueiredo, president of the Brazilian Association for Private Equity & Venture Capital. That's up from $6 billion in 2004, amounting to a hearty 50% compound annual growth rate over the last four years. Investors have financed 500 Brazilian companies to date with venture or private equity capital, and there's $12 billion left to invest over the next few years from that $28 billion kitty.

Venture and private equity players see ample opportunity in Brazil, which boasts a stable financial system and a strong base of local investors. But the country's business challenges, including high taxes and restrictive labor laws, could hold back growth.

Link externo: Brazil: Venture Capital's Next Hotbed? - BusinessWeek

---

Os VCs brasileiros realmente acumulam um histórico invejável nos últimos 5 anos. Mas isso não é nada comparado aos próximos 5 anos.

Houve muitos avanços, para se vencer os entraves societários e regulatórios de várias sortes. É difícil apontar um único gargalo nesse desenvolvimento. O feito de um crescimento de 50% ao ano colocou-os todos à prova. Com a progressiva queda dos juros, esses entraves tem sido quebrados um a um. Esperamos ver um crescimento igual nos próximos 5 anos, sobre uma base muito maior e mais sólida.

---