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BUSINESS AND INVESTMENT FORUM
PRESS RELEASE No. 11
SUMMARY OF THE PLENARY SESSIONS VIII
City of Buenos Aires, Argentina - September 15, 2016.- The afternoon sessions of the "Innovation Day" of
the ARGENTINA BUSINESS AND INVESTMENT FORUM consisted of a number of panels formed by leaders of
the venture capital industry and managers of some of the most prominent Argentine companies in the field
of technology. In addition, officials from Argentina’s provinces presented investment opportunities in their
regions.
The first afternoon plenary was entitled "Venture Capital in Argentina." It was moderated by Facundo
Garretón, Member of the Argentine House of Representatives, and the issues discussed were the current
state of the venture capital sector in the country and its future challenges.
Nicolas Berman, Founding Partner of Kaszek Ventures, Argentina. "The local venture capital industry is still
small and emerging. The success stories like Despegar or Globant date back several years, but they were
funded by foreign capital. In the past five years, it has been difficult to start up a company in Argentina and
that has an impact on venture capital. We are based in Argentina and have 41 investments, out of which only
8 are local. We would like to have more of the latter and we started to see an increase in the number of
proposals over the past few months. We need better regulations, we need it to be easy to establish and close
companies."
Wences Casares, CEO, XAPO, United States. "In the information technology sector I see talent of a quality
that is difficult and expensive to get in Silicon Valley. It is easy for me to find it because I'm from here and
when I advise my friends in the United States they are impressed. The similarity of our time zones also helps,
of course. There are opportunities, but everything is handmade and I see that there is much interest in
transforming this massively. Today, Silicon Valley has issues because it does not understand new Internet
users. The first 2 billion users were very similar to them: they had a house, a car, and credit cards. But the
next 4 billion users are not like that, they're the exact opposite. And they still don’t get it.
Rosana Felice, Medical Director, Argentina & Southern Cone, GlaxoSmithKline, Argentina. "We have been in
Argentina for over 90 years and in recent years we innovated through a process of joint collaboration
between local scientists and GSK ones in our main labs abroad. In this case, we partnered with the Ministry
of Science through a process of joint research funding. But it is not merely a partnership of funds, it is also a
joint research effort. This agreement produced more than 50 documents and 70 presentations at
conferences. We are developing two patents that will be purely Argentine on which the company has a
purchase option. The quality of researchers in Argentina compares to that of scientists in any developed
country. The idea of a partnership between the industry and national science is working."
Ian Smith, Managing Director, Allen & Company, United States. "You have the ability to build very successful
companies such as Mercado Libre and it is only a matter of time before we see more of those, but you must
invest in human capital. Almost all major companies agree that there is a talent crisis in Silicon Valley, where
an engineer makes US$ 300,000 a year. If you have a major company then you have a problem, because they
must choose other countries to work from, such as India and Israel. On the other hand, we see companies
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increasingly looking at Argentina. They leave Silicon Valley and settle in Mendoza, for example, as a costbased decision. We wouldn't even have thought of that when we started the company. I am very optimistic
about the continuity of the trend if we work on human capital."
André Street, Founder, Arpex Capital, Brazil. "When entrepreneurs are successful, there comes a second
stage in the investment. Because those who have succeeded return to their country to look for more
entrepreneurs. That is the case in Argentina. With the transformation that is going on in the country, we will
start to see entrepreneurial spirit, because they will have that support. There are about 20 venture capital
companies in Brazil, but we have yet to complete a full investment cycle."
Following that session, a plenary entitled "Innovation Transforming Argentina's Regions II & III" was held,
where officials from the provinces of Río Negro and Buenos Aires pitched their presentations.
Hugo Josserme, Secretary of Science, Technology, and Development for Production, province of Río Negro,
Argentina. "The province has a history of more than 50 years promoting the scientific and technological
industries, an objective that is enshrined in the provincial Constitution and in several local laws. The
Productive and Technological Park in Bariloche bears witness to this, offering tax benefits and stimulating
new ideas through awards and with a business incubator and accelerator. The public-private partnership can
be seen at work in the construction of geostationary satellites and of a research reactor for Australia, in the
development of a yeast used to brew lager beer throughout the world, and in the manufacturing of magnetic
nanoparticles to control oil spills. Río negro has pioneered the establishment of technological companies and
INVAP is a landmark case, with 40 years of trajectory and the recognition of NASA."
Jorge Elustondo, Minister of Science and Technology, Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. "This Ministry
was only created 23 days ago. It represents the settlement of a historical debt with the province: it is the first
time the province has ever had a Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation. This decision is in line with
María Eugenia Vidal's work towards mending the province, which includes the cabinet of the Metropolitan
Area of Buenos Aires (AMBA.) The province has 50 universities, all of the country's science and innovation
institutes, 100 industrial parks, ports, a shipyard, and a petrochemical complex in Bahía Blanca."
"The Up-and-Comers" was the title of the following plenary, headed by Silvia Torres Carbonell,
Undersecretary of Creative Economy and Innovation of the Government of the City of Buenos Aires. Several
success stories of emerging companies from the country were presented there.
Germán Dyzenchauz, CEO and Co-founder, GOintegro, Argentina, a company that provides technology for
human resources. "Companies change, shift, and evolve, and we learned what we could do on-the-job. After
10 years of operations we opened up to investors. We were positive that that was the way to go and that it
would take us to the next level. As regards the country, we hope it will continue moving forward and expect
we will be able to avoid wasting time on matters that do not add value, as is the case with many
administrative issues."
Diego Luque, Partner and CSO, The Picnic Argentina. "At Picnic we are prototyping business models for the
future. If you do not become a useful brand for people, it is extremely difficult for you to survive. As a
company it is not just about knowing what you want to be or what you can be; it's also about being what
people let you be. Companies must ask themselves what they are going to do for people's lives, and from
there, consider how to create products, services, or experiences to get people to interact with them." He
further added, "the entrepreneurial spirit is to offer solutions. From Argentina we can sell creativity to the
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whole world." When asked 'What are you willing to do for Argentina?,' he said "give people jobs, formal jobs
with excellent conditions, and exporting local talent. I could help establish the Country Brand in the world, I
would be proud to do so."
Matías Woloski, CTO and Co-founder, Auth0, Argentina. "The talent and creativity we have here is not
available elsewhere. Since we started the company we have worked with telecommuters; our programmer
is in Córdoba. He has a fantastic brain and there are many others like him. It is a competitive advantage of
ours. With the money it costs to hire a developer in San Francisco, you can pay five here. Local resources are
dying to make a product that many people can use. It is a nice challenge we have as a country: to encourage
all our thinkers."
Santiago González Venzano, Director and founder, S4, Argentina. "We create instruments to enable the
world's producers to continue investing in order to provide for the sustained satisfaction of the population's
needs. The creative process was intense. We had configurations and reconfigurations. We need to develop
speedily and companies such as ours need investments to accelerate their business and to give it the
necessary dynamism to position themselves at the global level as quickly as possible."
During the session entitled "Innovation Transforming Argentina's Regions IV", Walter Carlos Robledo,
Minister of Science and Technology of the province of Cordoba, presented the opportunities of his district.
"Cordoba has a long-standing tradition. It is about 500 years old and its University was founded 400 years
ago. It is known as an intellectually rebellious province; it was the driver of many of the country's changes.
We have a very important scientific and technological profile, with biotechnology and genetics of a very high
level. We have metalworking, food processing, electronic, software, and satellite information industries.
Many companies are established here due to the capacity of our human resources and because of the
infrastructure we have."
The following plenary was entitled "Bringing Argentine Innovation to the World I" and was moderated by
Martin Bidegaray, feature journalist of the newspaper Clarín. There, five executives of non-ICT start-ups
shared their experiences.
Darío Antonio, CEO, MZP Tecnología, Argentina. "Although in Argentina there is a software production base,
which is reflected in the four unicorns, the sector of hard sciences is not as mature. But we are bold. The
Instituto Balseiro has scientific excellence and the country has world-level laboratories. We are used to
playing in the big leagues. That is where we got the idea that 'we are capable of generating knowledge.' In
our case, we can diagnose cardiovascular diseases by analyzing the physical properties of blood. We want to
transform the way in which these diseases are treated. Aside from that, I think the local entrepreneur
ecosystem has many shortcomings, especially in terms of funding."
Daniel Burman, CEO, Oficina Burman, Argentina. "After 20 years of producing films, I began to see a huge
paradigm that was related to the contents we see and not to the way we see them. Today, the audience is
much more sophisticated and content producers have stopped underestimating it. In the world of content it
is key to interpret the audience. I realized that the more power you have, as an entrepreneur for example,
the further away from reality you are. That is why the market does not know what it needs. That's a key
aspect when you work with contents, because my characters reflect the audience's emotions and
experiences. You need to have a deep conviction about what you are doing, you cannot be persuaded of
what others intend to impress upon you."
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Nicolás Carnevaro, Co-founder, Semtive, Argentina. "Six years ago we started developing a vertical axis wind
turbine. We thought of a global, simple, accessible, and durable product. Those were aspects that seemed
basic to us, but no other product had them. We faced a challenge with electricity. It took us a while, but we
managed. We are part of Singularity because we share the wish to have a global impact, but from Argentina.
Today, the United States Embassy is partly supplied with our equipment, that is a sign."
Graciela Ciccia, Director of Innovation, Grupo Insud, Argentina. "I will resort to the President's slogan
because I am feeling it: the place is here, the time is now, and it is possible. I have been in the biotechnology
sector for 30 years, half in the public sector and half on the private side. As a company, we are a successful
public-private partnership. We develop companies that work internationally, but we also do it by establishing
private consortia. It can be done from Argentina, as you can see from the first vaccine against the Zika virus
in the entire world which we are developing."
Federico Trucco, CEO, Bioceres, Argentina. "Argentina has a peculiarity in the context of Latin America: it is
the only country in the region to have been awarded Nobel prizes for Life Sciences. In a way, this is proof of
the country's advance in biotechnology. We wish to transform that innovation of the scientific system
through production. That is the challenge we face from the inside. We try to solve problems in the
agribusiness sector, seeking to transform raw materials into molecules of greater added value. The great
lesson to be learned from is how to make money by failing. It is possible with intangible goods because even
if the business fails, the lesson learned can be capitalized."
This discussion was followed by the plenary session "Innovation Transforming Argentina's Regions V," which
was presented by Andrés Freire, Minister of Modernization, Innovation, and technology of the City of Buenos
Aires. "In the City of Buenos Aires we are innovating through the EcoParque. You'll wonder how we can
innovate with something that started in the 18th century. We started by defining our premises:
environmental education had to be based on interaction with technology and not with animals in captivity.
We wanted to remove all the animals who were in that situation, to integrate the park with the streets, to
rehabilitate and release the animals, to showcase the value of the place and to recover it. We received 31,500
proposals from the neighbors and finally decided on three that will be available next year: an animal
interactive and educational center, a hospital for wild animals and a historical heritage pathway."
"Bringing Argentine Innovation to the World II" was the last session of the Forum and was led by José del
Río, Editor in Cief of Diario La Nación. The panel was formed by the founders of the "four unicorns" of
Argentina, which is the name given to ventures valued at US$ 1 billion or more, and included Susan Segal,
President and CEO of Americas Society / Council of the Americas from the United States.
Marcos Galperin, Co-founder and President, MercadoLibre, Argentina. "It takes two qualities to be an
entrepreneur: perseverance and risk-taking. You need to think differently. If you are convinced of something,
you have to follow your vision. We put together a good team, that always helped us overcome all types of
problems. I saw an opportunity at the time, there being very little competition. The key is being resilient,
being humble when you do well and working hard when you're doing badly. In this industry you can never
get distracted. There are many such examples. We must be changing constantly, innovating; we are always
thinking of what can be improved."
Martín Migoya, Co-founder and CEO, Globant, Argentina. "We are four partners who complement and make
a very solid team. We think in the long term. We never considered selling the company. We were very focused
and loved our business throughout the whole development stage of our company. That defines who we are
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today. Our two main axes are innovation and culture. Our business plan was one line: to sell in the United
States and Britain. Fortunately we got there and even exceeded that goal. The view from Argentina was
always good in spite of the crises we went through. I would recommend investing here because it is a great
place to invest in. We have an emerging entrepreneurial sector and much talent."
Alec Oxenford, Co-founder, OLX and Letgo, Argentina. "If we look back on our plan to be based in India it
was crazy, but it is about being daring, not being scared, thinking big. If I had to choose an issue Argentines
have to solve I would say we should work on getting rid of our complexes. We should be able to think big.
There are no limits to how big you can think."
Roberto Souviron, Co-founder and CEO, Despegar, Argentina. "Sometimes I am scared. The brave are not
those who do not fear but those who dare to face their fears. I am driven by fear. Our main virtue is our
ability to adapt to circumstances quickly. We had many competitors and I think we survived because we
adapted well. In Argentina we need to further our talent develop and the challenge lies in education. We
have plenty of it but it is very under-developed."
Susan Segal, President and CEO, Americas Society / Council of the Americas, United States. "They all had a
vision. They are leaders, they know how to manage a team and how to take their team to the next level on a
daily basis. They are all persistent. They will stop at nothing, they are not afraid to fail or make mistakes. And
they also hold a degree in surviving crises. They are much more successful than entrepreneurs from other
countries because here you always have much volatility and little predictability, which gives you much
training towards being entrepreneurs."
ABOUT THE ARGENTINA BUSINESS & INVESTMENT FORUM,
SEPTEMBER 12-15, 2016
Hosted by the Argentina Investment and Trade Promotion Agency and taking place over 3 days at the Centro
Cultural Kirchner (CCK) in the center of the City of Buenos Aires.
The Forum will include plenary sessions, thematic roundtables, bilateral meetings and networking
opportunities across several economic sectors earmarked for growth:
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Oil & Gas
Power & Renewable Energy
Agribusiness
Industrial Goods & Services
Mining
Transport & Logistics
Public Works & Infrastructure
Technology & Telecommunications
Financial Services
Tourism
Pharma & Biotechnology
Urban Development & Real Estate
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An additional day dedicated to Entrepreneurship & New Technologies will be held on September 15.
#InvestArgentina
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www.argentinaforum2016.com
Twitter: @invest_ARG
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Contact:
Victoria Azar [email protected]
Paula Rodriguez [email protected]
Dolores Biocca [email protected]