Beyond Borders

December 2019

Beyond Borders: Scaling A Fintech Startup In Latin America

This playbook is based on our experience working directly with more than 50 fintech startups, and holding accelerator workshops and events in six Latin American countries, including, most recently, Chile and Brazil.

Fintech startups often need to build a large customer base in order to make their unit economics work — particularly when they are serving low- or middle-income consumers. We decided to write this playbook because we saw that fintech entrepreneurs in Latin America were asking us about international expansion with increasing frequency.

The playbook is organized into two sections:

• WHEN should you scale? The first section of the report will consider the timing of the decision to scale, including internal factors you should consider before you even decide to enter a new market.

• WHERE should you scale? Next, we will look at the pros and cons of scaling to a few different countries: Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Argentina.

Throughout, we will provide tips on how to make the move, highlighting obstacles you might face and things to look out for when securing funding and building a team.