2012.08.08
500 Global Team
(McClure: “No Chihuahuas Were Harmed In The Making Of This Deal.”)
Today we are thrilled to announce that Mexican.VC, the most famous and handsome startup accelerator in all of Mexico, is joining global internet superpower 500 Startups to help fund and launch more startup companies in Latin America. Mexican.VC Founding Partners César Salazar and Santiago Zavala will be joining 500 Startups as Venture Partners in Mexico.
Mexican.VC and 500 Startups have a shared vision: talented entrepreneurs can be found all over the world, and the most exciting growth opportunities are coming from web, mobile, and internet startups in emerging markets. In particular, we are enthusiastic about the state of Mexican entrepreneurship and the country’s growing trillion dollar economy.
500 Startups Founding Partner, Dave McClure kindly provided the following statement: “Mexican entrepreneurs: We’re coming for you, bitches!!!”
Traditionally an overlooked market, many are surprised to hear that Mexico is the 12th largest economy in the world. At 3.9%, it’s growing faster than Brazil and, unlike the US, has had a manageable debt for more than a decade. In terms of online penetration, Mexico has the 5th largest Facebook user base and the 7th largest Twitter user base in the world. And Mexico is only the beginning. Spanish-speaking Latin America is a 400M speaker market where e-commerce is growing roughly 30% each year.
Taking advantage of their battlefield expertise, Mexican.VC will continue to be led by César Salazar and Santiago Zavala. However, they’ll now be able to fully leverage the entire 500 Startups network and knowledge base and most effectively tap into the amazing opportunity that Mexico presents.
César Salazar
Santiago Zavala
The investment criteria for Mexican.VC will remain the same. Find the most passionate and scrappy entrepreneurs; those willing to hustle their way out, build their own ideas, fail over and over, and learn to reshape their assumptions until they get a strong market indication that their product doesn’t suck. The focus in Mexico will be the same as anywhere else: Design, Data and especially Distribution.
For those who still don’t know what 500 Startups is, check out last week’s Wildfire Interactive acquisition by Google. We were an early investor in the company, as well as others like Twilio, SendGrid, TaskRabbit, Zencoder and more. We have also been an active investor in the Latin American market, with investments in Mexican companiesWowzer, Yogome, and Fontacto; Welcu from Chile; Murally from Argentina; and VivaReal,Conta Azul, & Rota dos Concursos from Brazil.
One more thing…
Think we’re going too slow? After checking out more than 140 Mexican startups in the last few months, we’re pleased to share we’re investing in 10 more starting next week. If you’re not one of them, you might want to check out the application process. Regardless, stay tuned for more…
¡Ay, papi!
2. AS OF 30 JUNE 2023 AND INCLUDES PRIVATE, PUBLIC AND EXITED COMPANIES. FOR EXITED POSITIONS, VALUATION DATE IS DATE OF EXIT. THESE FIGURES ARE ESTIMATES, AGGREGATED ACROSS ALL PORTFOLIO COMPANIES HELD ACROSS ALL FUNDS ADVISED BY 500 STARTUPS MANAGEMENT COMPANY, LLC AND ITS AFFILIATES, AND ARE BASED ON INTERNAL DATA THAT HAS NOT BEEN EXTERNALLY VERIFIED AND RELIES ON PORTFOLIO INFORMATION SUPPLIED BY EXTERNAL SOURCES WHICH HAS NOT BEEN VERIFIED, MAY NOT BE ACCURATE OR UPDATED. THESE VALUATIONS ARE ESTIMATED IN ACCORDANCE WITH 500 GLOBAL’S VALUATION POLICY. SEE 500.CO/COMPANIES FOR A FULL LIST OF PORTFOLIO COMPANIES. PAST PERFORMANCE DOES NOT GUARANTEE FUTURE RETURNS. PORTFOLIO COMPANIES DISPLAYED ON THIS PAGE ARE NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENTATIVE OF ALL INVESTMENTS IN VEHICLES MANAGED BY 500 STARTUPS MANAGEMENT COMPANY, L.L.C. (TOGETHER WITH ITS AFFILIATES, “500 GLOBAL”) AND THERE CAN BE NO ASSURANCE THAT THE INVESTMENTS WILL BE PROFITABLE OR THAT OTHER INVESTMENTS MADE IN THE FUTURE WILL HAVE SIMILAR CHARACTERISTICS OR RESULTS. THIS LIST INCLUDES CURRENT AND FORMER 500 GLOBAL PORTFOLIO COMPANIES WHICH HAVE BEEN ACQUIRED AS WELL AS COMPANIES WHICH HAVE UNDERGONE AN INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING. THIS LIST IS UPDATED PERIODICALLY AND AS SUCH MAY NOT REFLECT RECENT 500 GLOBAL INVESTMENTS. PAST RESULTS OF 500 GLOBAL INVESTMENTS, POOLED INVESTMENT VEHICLES, OR INVESTMENT STRATEGIES ARE NOT NECESSARILY INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RESULTS. NO CONTENT ON THIS PAGE SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS AN OFFER TO SELL OR SOLICITATION OF INTEREST TO PURCHASE ANY SECURITIES, CONSTRUCTED AS FUND MARKETING MATERIALS BY PROSPECTIVE INVESTORS CONSIDERING AN INVESTMENT INTO ANY 500 GLOBAL FUND, OR USED AS THE BASIS FOR ANY INVESTMENT DECISIONS. ALL LOGOS, NAMES, AND TRADEMARKS OF THIRD PARTIES REFERENCED HEREIN ARE THE TRADEMARKS AND LOGOS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. ANY INCLUSION OF SUCH TRADEMARKS OR LOGOS DOES NOT IMPLY OR CONSTITUTE ANY APPROVAL, ENDORSEMENT OR SPONSORSHIP OF 500 GLOBAL BY SUCH OWNERS.
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