This month: McKinsey’s State of Organization report, Pragmatic Engineer’s insights on AI tools developers actually use, plus major investments from MercadoLibre and HubSpot in Argentina and Brazil.

We’re also introducing Connect33 Advisory—more on that below. ¡Vámonos!

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• Pragmatic Engineer: AI Tooling for Software Engineering: Which AI tools are software engineers using, and what do they really think of them? Claude Code surged from near-zero adoption in May 2025 to the #1 AI coding tool by February 2026 (~65% of respondents), overtaking GitHub Copilot and chatbot-based tools in the latest developer survey.

  • Our take: This is one of the fastest shifts in developer tooling we’ve seen. Claude Code’s leap from virtually unknown to market leader in under a year, while GitHub Copilot and Cursor plateaued. The developer tooling market is moving faster than we’ve ever seen, and the gap between teams that adapt quickly and those that don’t is only going to widen.

• McKinsey: The State of Organizations 2026: McKinsey surveyed 10,000+ executives across 15 countries and 16 industries on the forces reshaping how organizations operate, lead, and create value. The headline: 88% of organizations are deploying AI in some form, but 86% of leaders say they’re not ready for day-to-day integration — and 81% report no meaningful bottom-line impact yet.

  • Our take: The gap between AI adoption and AI readiness is the defining challenge for organizations right now. McKinsey frames it as a “double transformation”—companies need to rewire both technology and the way work gets done across the organization. The report identifies nine shifts leaders must navigate, from building human-AI collaboration models to rethinking geopolitical strategy and resource allocation. The throughline is clear: the era of short-term resilience is over, and the organizations that treat transformation as continuous — not a one-off initiative — will be the ones that pull ahead.

• MercadoLibre (NASDAQ: MELI), the e-commerce and FinTech platform, announced a US$3.4B investment in Argentina to double its fulfillment capacity and enhance its fintech ecosystem. (Reuters)

• Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and the government of Uruguay launched an AI for Good laboratory, marking a new stage in public-private collaboration. (Microsoft)

• HubSpot (NYSE: HUBS) announced plans to open an office in São Paulo, Brazil, in Q4 2026, marking its first office in the country and its second in Latin America, after its Bogotá HQ. (Bloomberg Linea)

• Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) launched a LATAM-focused AI acceleration program for startups in Brazil and Mexico, offering up to US$10k in financial incentives, along with mentoring, hardware, and training. (BNamericas)

• AssureSoft, a nearshore software development company with over 500 engineers across 10 Latin American countries, opened a new engineering hub in Asuncion, Paraguay, and expanded its La Paz, Bolivia office. (GlobeNewsWire)

• Vela LatAm, a subsidiary of a Canadian global technology group, has acquired three Brazilian fiscal software companies — Alfasig, Alpino Tecnologia, and ERP Praeter — expanding its portfolio to over 20 acquisitions in Brazil. (Vela)

• XR Advisor, a Brazilian private equity & asset management firm, has acquired Domínio Financeiro, a Brazilian consultancy focused on the financial organization of SMEs. (Exame)

• Extreme Group, the EDS, Beyond, EDX, and Pointer, acquired GPS IT, a Brazilian IT consulting company, for US$9.5M. (Baguete)

Connect33 introduced the first advisory network designed specifically for LATAM IT services founders – connecting you with advisors who have scaled, exited, and done it in your market and revenue range. Learn more

Additional stories we’re following:

• Fast Company: The most innovative companies in Latin America for 2026

• Buenos Aires Capital Partners: Argentina Annual M&A Report 2025

• Ualá raises $195M at $3.2B valuation to expand across LatAm

• ARQ raises $70M Series B led by Sequoia and Founders Fund

LatAm-focused roles at top tech companies.

• Cognite is hiring a Sales Development Representative (Bilingual English & Spanish)

• Dataiku is hiring a Strategic Account Executive, LATAM

• Postman is hiring a Regional Channel Sales Manager, LATAM (Portuguese Speaking)

• CrowdStrike is hiring a Manager, Sales Development - LATAM, Spanish-Speaking

• Monday.com is hiring a GTM Regional Lead, NAM & LATAM

• Darktrace is hiring a Customer Success Director - LATAM

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Equiteq Global Buyers Report 2026: The 2026 Knowledge Economy Global Buyers Report shares a unique look at the trends likely to shape M&A activity over the coming year. Equiteq’s annual report combines proprietary data with the insights of the global team across the Knowledge Economy’s core sectors of management consulting, technology services, and outsourcing.

Our take: These charts are from a recent M&A buyer survey on digital services acquisition priorities. A few things stand out.

• AI and Data & Analytics are running away from the field — 40% and 37% of buyers, respectively, ranked them “Very High,” and both categories show a combined Very High + High score above 75%. If you’re a tech services firm not leaning into these, the market is telling you something.

• North America remains the clear priority at 57% Very High.

• Only 10% of buyers ranked LATAM “High” — but 24% ranked it “Medium,” putting combined interest at 34% and ahead of both APAC (29%) and ANZ (19%). That Medium proves buyers are watching the region–the deals we track each month are part of what’s moving that needle.

• Visa (NYSE: V), a global leader in digital payments, completed its acquisition of Prisma and Newpay in Argentina to modernize the country’s payments ecosystem. (Visa)

• Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), the global technology leader, announced it is on pace to invest $50 billion by 2030 to expand AI infrastructure, skills, and innovation across the Global South, including Mexico and South America, where it invested $8B+ in datacenter infrastructure in its last fiscal year alone. (BNAmericas)

• Visma, a leading European and Latin American provider of mission-critical business software, acquired MaisMei, Brazil’s largest mobile-first compliance platform for Individual Micro Entrepreneurs with 3.7 million registered customers. (Visma)

• Vesta Software Group, part of Constellation Software Inc. (TSX: CSU) and a buy-and-hold acquirer of vertical market software, acquired Suplos, a Colombian cloud-based digital procurement platform serving large enterprises across Colombia, Peru, and Panama, marking Vesta’s twelfth Latin American investment. (Vesta Software Group)

• Kavak, Mexico’s leading digital platform for buying, selling, and financing used cars, raised $300 million in a Series F round led by Andreessen Horowitz in its first-ever Latin American investment, with WCM Investment Management co-leading alongside Foxhaven Asset Management and others. (Bloomberg)

• H&CO, a global professional services firm operating in over 30 countries, acquired B2Finance, a São Paulo-based BPO company delivering financial, accounting, tax, and payroll services to enterprise clients, marking H&CO’s entry into the Brazilian BPO segment. (H&CO)

• Evertec (NYSE: EVTC), a leading fintech provider operating across 26 Latin American countries, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Dimensa, a B2B technology provider serving financial institutions in Brazil, its fourth acquisition in the country. (EVERTEC)

• Remote, a global employment operating system backed by SoftBank, Accel, and Sequoia, acquired Atlas, an AI-native expense management platform built for distributed teams featuring a global employee card and multi-country health insurance coverage across markets including Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina. (PR Newswire)

• Accenture (NYSE: ACN), a global professional services company, agreed to acquire Verum Partners, a Belo Horizonte-based infrastructure and capital projects management firm specializing in mining, energy, and transportation, expanding Accenture’s AI-enabled project management capabilities in Latin America. (Accenture)

• VEMO, a Mexico City-based clean mobility platform combining EVs, charging infrastructure, and fleet management technology, raised a $250 million commitment led by Vision Ridge Partners to expand its public charging network and EV deployment across Mexico, bringing total capital raised to over $500 million. (Business Wire)

• Nu (NYSE: NU), the Brazilian digital financial services platform, announced that Nu Mexico’s total investments are expected to reach $4.2 billion by 2030 as it approaches the launch of full banking operations, with nearly 14 million customers and unit economics outperforming Brazil at the same stage of maturity. (Nubank)

• Lightrock, a global impact investment platform managing approximately $800 million in Latin America, opened a Mexico City office — its eighth global location and second in the region — to deepen investment in growth-stage companies, building on existing Mexico investments including Konfio and SalaUno. (Lightrock)

• Asaas, a Brazilian fintech providing payment infrastructure for over 240,000 SMBs, acquired Mutuus, a Brazilian digital insurance broker, adding insurance distribution as a new vertical to its platform in its fourth acquisition in five years. (LatamList)

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If you missed our Inside the M&A Playbook: What Investors & Buyers Look for in LATAM Tech Companies, it is now posted to our YouTube channel below.

Additional stories we’re following:

• Bain: The AI Enterprise: Code Red

• ICONIQ: The Durability of SaaS in the Agentic Era

• Colombia, Mexico, and Argentina: A Comparison of Latin America’s Top Three Markets for Hiring Software Developers

• Chile launches open-source AI model designed for Latin America

LatAm-focused roles at top tech companies.

• Monday is hiring a Channel Partner Manager, LATAM

• CrowdStrike is hiring a Corporate Account Executive, LATAM

• Okta is hiring a Sr. Commercial Account Executive, North LATAM

• Anthropic is hiring a Strategic Account Executive, LATAM Financial Services

• Substack is hiring a Head of Partnerships, Brazil

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January brought continued investment in Brazil from Tata Consultancy Services and Dell, fintech expansion and acquisition activity, and Constellation Research’s first AI-first service firms list, which recognized LATAM’s Qubika and Atrium AI, our first client.

¡Vámonos!

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McKinsey: Latin America’s productivity opportunity: Amid a shifting global landscape, Latin America can capitalize on its competitive strengths and assets to jump-start productivity and unlock its full potential. This report analyzes seven sectors for transformative investment.

• Our take: This McKinsey analysis validates what we’re seeing in the market across IT services (referred to as digital services in the report): Latin America’s competitiveness in digital services isn’t just about low costs anymore—it’s about strategic positioning across multiple geographies that matter to global tech companies. The report highlights the established IT services ecosystems in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico, built around regional champions such as Globant, BairesDev, Stefanini, and Softtek, and also recognizes the promising contender outlined below.

  This explains the growing acquisition activity in the region—acquirers aren’t just buying technology; they’re buying into proven delivery ecosystems with deep local expertise and existing talent infrastructure. McKinsey estimates, based on low- and high-case scenarios, that Latin America is positioned to capture between 1–5% of the European market and 5–20% of the potential US market by 2040.

• Tata Consultancy Services (NYSE: TCS), the global IT services and consulting company, started construction on its largest Latin American delivery center in Londrina, Brazil, with a USD 37 million investment expected to create over 1,600 jobs by 2027. (TCS)

• Dell Technologies (NYSE: DELL), the multinational technology company, started production of its first AI-dedicated server at its Hortolândia, Brazil, manufacturing facility, developed with AMD for intensive workloads, including generative AI and large language models. (BNamericas)

• Revolut, a UK-based digital banking platform, launched full banking operations in Mexico as the first independent digital bank to obtain a Mexican banking license through direct application, and applied for a full banking license in Peru, expanding to its fifth Latin American market after Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina. (Reuters)

• Numen, a technology solutions company specializing in SAP, AWS, Salesforce, and Celonis implementations across Brazil, Europe, and North America, acquired a 25% stake in Backlgrs, a São Paulo-based Salesforce partner with over 100 completed projects across Latin America. (Numen)

• Infoblox, a network security and DNS management company, announced its planned acquisition of Axur, a Brazil-based AI-powered digital risk protection provider. (GlobeNewswire)

• Capital One (NYSE: COF), a leading U.S. financial services company, announced its $5.15 billion acquisition of Brex, an AI-native finance platform founded by two Brazilian entrepreneurs serving over 25,000 companies in more than 50 countries. (Capital One)

• dLocal (NASDAQ: DLO), the Uruguay-based payments platform, announced plans to expand its presence in Asia throughout 2026 while maintaining its leadership position in Latin America, targeting 30% of payment volume from Asia over 3-5 years. (Bloomberg)

• RKTech, a Dallas-based subsidiary of Vietnam’s Rikkeisoft and affiliate of Sumitomo Corporation, made a strategic investment in Entropy, a Miami-based IT services firm operating across seven Latin American countries, including Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia. (Intelligent CIO)

• JumpCloud, a provider of unified identity, device, and access management platforms, acquired MacSolution, the largest JumpCloud managed service provider in the Americas, to establish a strategic go-to-market hub in São Paulo, Brazil. (JumpCloud)

• Valsoft Corporation, a Montreal-based vertical software company, acquired Fast Medic, a Brazilian public healthcare management software provider based in Curitiba, Paraná. (Yahoo Finance)

Discover how Braze (NASDAQ: BRZE) localized in Brazil and tripled the size of its engineering team in São Paulo.

Read the case study

Additional stories we’re following:

• Constellation Research’s 2026 AI-First Service Firms

• Crunchbase: LatAm Startup Funding Rebounds In 2025 As Mexico Sees Surge In Investment And VCs Remain Bullish On Region

• JPMorgan: Latin America in 2026: Between Promise and Pressure, the Answer is Optionality

• EY US M&A Activity Insights

LatAm-focused roles at top tech companies.

• Anthropic is hiring a Strategic Account Executive, LATAM Financial Services

• Vanta is hiring a Senior Manager, Sales - LATAM

• NinjaOne is hiring an Account Executive, LATAM (Spanish/Portuguese)

• Intercom is hiring a Senior Manager, LATAM Sales

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In 2025, we introduced our updated monthly newsletter format and launched our Scaling Engineering Teams in LATAM podcast in partnership with Envoy Capital Advisors, featuring interviews with software industry veterans who have built and scaled successful technology companies. Thank you to all our readers who like and share our content–I look forward to continuing to bring Connect33’s monthly updates to your inbox. ¡Vámonos!

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• Connect33 | Key Trends of 2025: Throughout 2025, Connect33 tracked the most significant technology investments and expansions reshaping Latin America. This year marked a historic turning point for the region’s technology landscape, with over $50 billion in announced investments from global tech giants. TikTok led the charge with a $37.7 billion data center commitment in Brazil, CloudHQ pledged $4.8 billion for hyperscale data centers in Mexico, and Amazon announced a $4 billion commitment to AWS infrastructure in Chile.

  The region also saw major operational expansions, including Salesforce’s $1 billion and $500 million commitments to Mexico and Argentina, OpenAI's opening of its first Latin American office in São Paulo, and Databricks' deepening of its Costa Rica and Brazil presence, collectively signaling Latin America’s emergence as a critical hub for global AI and cloud infrastructure.

• Key trends:

  • Nearshore Advantage: Continued M&A consolidation in the software services sector, particularly around US nearshoring

  • Data Center Boom: Over $50 billion in announced data center investments across Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Chile

  • AI Infrastructure Race: Major cloud providers (AWS, Google, Microsoft, Oracle) all expanded their AI capabilities in Latin America.

  • Fintech Maturation: Regulatory approvals and major acquisitions signaling sector maturity.

As we move into 2026, Connect33 remains optimistic about the region's growth potential. We look forward to sharing the latest developments with our readers.

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• ByteDance’s TikTok, the short-video platform, announced a $37.7 billion investment to build its first Latin American data center in Brazil. (Bloomberg)

• BairesDev, a nearshore software development company, acquired AI upskilling platform Modal Learning and appointed Modal founder Darren Shimkus as President of North America to strengthen its AI-enabled delivery capabilities. (BairesDev)

• Advent International, one of the largest global private equity investors with $100+ billion in assets under management, led Brazilian cloud and AI software company Skyone’s Series C funding round to support the company’s global expansion. (Advent International)

• Starian, a Brazil-based vertical SaaS company backed by General Atlantic, acquired corporate whistleblowing provider Contato Seguro for an undisclosed amount to launch its governance and compliance vertical. (Latam Republic)

• Atos Group, a global leader in AI-powered digital transformation, signed a binding agreement to sell its South American operations to Brazilian data platform provider Semantix. (Atos)

• Coforge, an India-based global IT services provider, signed definitive agreements to acquire Silicon Valley-based AI-native engineering firm Encora for $2.35Bn, significantly expanding Coforge’s nearshore delivery capabilities in Latin America. (Coforge)

• Nexo, a Switzerland-based digital assets wealth platform with over $11Bn in assets under management, announced the acquisition of Argentine crypto platform Buenbit to expand into Latin America. (Nexo)

• NTT DATA, a leading global IT service provider focused on SAP, signed an agreement to acquire SPRO IT Solutions, a Brazilian SAP provider specializing in agribusiness solutions across Brazil’s key agricultural regions. (NTT DATA)

• Visma, a Norway-based European business software leader, acquired Chilean property management platform ComunidadFeliz, marking its third Latin American acquisition in 2025. (LatamList)

• Bemobi Mobile Tech, a Brazil-based technology company providing digital payment and SaaS solutions across 12+ countries in Latin America and Asia, completed two acquisitions: embedded payments platform Paytime and PaaS fintech Celer. (Finsiders Brasil)

• Telefónica Tech, the digital services division of Spain’s Telefónica Group, reached an agreement with Spanish technology company hiberus for the acquisition of Telefónica Tech’s operations in Colombia, Mexico, and Chile. (Telefónica)

• TOTVS, Brazil’s largest technology company specializing in business management software, signed a contract to acquire agribusiness management platform TBDC for R$80 million to strengthen its specialization in Brazil’s agricultural sector. (TI Inside)

• Actis, a global infrastructure investor, launched Terranova, a new $1.5 billion Latin American hyperscale data center platform, with its first campus scheduled to begin operations in Querétaro, Mexico. (Mexico Business News)

Additional stories we’re following

• 10 of the biggest winners from 2025’s AI boom

• Seizing the moment: Latin America’s productivity opportunity

• Rediscover The Art of Business Building: Tanuja Randery, Managing Director EMEA, Amazon Web Services

• The war for minerals, oil, and AI

Connect33 is a consulting firm specializing in helping US companies build, buy, and partner with Latin America’s top software development teams. Our list of companies we’ve scaled with includes mid- to large-sized enterprises such as Atrium, Bain & Company, Braze, C3 AI, EPAM, phdata, and more.

LatAm-focused roles at top tech companies.

• Miro is hiring a Business Development Representative, LATAM

• Databricks is hiring an Enterprise Sales, LATAM (Spanish-speaking)

• GitLab is hiring a Strategic Account Executive - LATAM, Mexico City

• Dataiku is hiring an Enterprise Account Executive, Latin America (Colombia & Northern Mexico)

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Noteworthy headlines include Indicium, fresh off a recent investment from Databricks, merging with Mesh-AI to create a global data and AI powerhouse. Plus insightful reports from BCG, KPMG, McKinsey, and Thoughtworks on topics ranging from M&A in Latin America to the IT Spending Pulse. ¡Vámonos!

• A roadmap for M&A in Latin America Report: KPMG’s survey gathered insights from 400 C-level executives involved in significant M&A transactions across a range of industries, with private equity as the most represented sector. The companies represented have annual revenues of at least USD$100 million and are headquartered across multiple regions, including the United States, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, and other countries in the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

  • Our take: With global M&A deal count down 16% YoY but deal value up 28%, it’s clear buyers are shifting focus from volume to high-quality. In Latin America tech services, we’ve seen this play out with Nortal, Improving, and HTEC’s strategic acquisitions of LATAM players–deals that prioritized cultural alignment and complementary capabilities over scale alone.

    This quality-first approach makes the survey’s findings on due diligence even more critical: 75% of business leaders now make tax strategy a central part of their M&A decision-making yet legal, financial, ESG, and tax due diligence remain the hardest areas to obtain reliable information. For buyers, this highlihts the importance of partnering with advisors who deeply understand the complex tax landscape in the region.

• Indicium, a Brazilian data science and analytics company based in São Paulo and Florianópolis, and Mesh-AI, a UK-based data and AI consultancy, integrated to form Indicium AI, creating a global data and AI consultancy with offices in New York, São Paulo, and Florianópolis. (Mesh-AI)

• StackAI, a US-based startup focused on corporate automation with artificial intelligence, expanded into Brazil as its next major international frontier. (Startup Researcher)

• Digibee, a Brazilian integration platform company, acquired Vertify, a Texas-based Revenue Operations automation company, to strengthen its presence in the United States. (Digibee)

• Xal Digital, a Mexican digital solutions company, accelerated its expansion in Mexico and Latin America through strategic partnership with Amazon Web Services. (Contxto)

• X (formerly Google X) deployed four moonshot projects in Rio de Janeiro including supporting the city’s Rio AI City initiative. (X Company)

• Ripple acquired Palisade, a digital asset wallet and custody company, to expand its custody capabilities for fintechs, crypto-native firms, and corporates. (Business Wire)

• Exodus Movement (NYSE: EXOD) acquired Grateful, a Uruguay-based stablecoin payments orchestrator, to strengthen its merchant services capabilities in Latin America. (Globe Newswire)

• Semantix, a Brazilian data and AI company, acquired GAVB Consulting, a Brazilian technology consulting firm specializing in Big Data & AI that became part of Grupo Boticário in 2021, from Grupo Boticário. (Global Legal Chronicle)

• The Mobile-First Company, a mobile-first software startup with its main tech base in Buenos Aires, Argentina, raised $12 million in seed funding led by Base10 Partners and Lightspeed Venture Partners. (The Mobile-First Company)

• Applaudo, an El Salvador-based digital services company with over 800 employees across 20 countries, relocated its U.S. headquarters to Miami, Florida. (Refresh Miami)

• Delinea, an identity security company, expanded its global footprint to Mexico City, closing fiscal 2024 with annual recurring revenue approaching $400 million. (Intelligent CIO)

• Matera, a Brazilian market leader in technology solutions for financial institutions, acquired Fáciltech, a Brazilian ERP software provider. (The Latin American Lawyer)

• Vela Software, an operating group of Constellation Software Inc., acquired Gaudium, a Brazilian software firm focused on mobility and delivery. (Vela)

• Celcoin, a Brazilian provider of financial and banking technology infrastructure, acquired Vulkan Labs, a Brazilian AI infrastructure and resilient systems developer. (Startup Researcher)

• Google Cloud expanded its Startup Hub program to Salvador, hosting AI demos and training to support founders outside Brazil’s Rio–São Paulo axis. (Latam Tech Weekly)

• Globant (NYSE: GLOB) signed an expanded partnership to deliver digital services across FIFA’s ecosystem, with Globant becoming a Tournament Supporter for the FIFA World Cup 2026 and FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 in North America and Europe. (PRNewswire)

• Front, a US customer operations company, expanded in Chile and plans to hire more than 100 professionals in Santiago across engineering, design, finance, and human resources over the next three years. (InvestChile)

• Ankura acquired Omniscient Platforms to expand global digital transformation capabilities in data, AI, and technology advisory, bolstering its Latin America footprint, particularly in Argentina. (Ankura)

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Featured Case Study: Braze in Brazil

Discover how Braze (NASDAQ: BRZE) localized in Brazil and tripled the size of their engineering team in São Paulo. Read the case study here or get in touch if you’re evaluating LATAM for your software engineering needs.

Additional stories we’re following:

• BCG Report: IT Spending Pulse: With Rising Optimism, CIOs Pursue Targeted Investments in AI and Security Priorities

• Globant Third Quarter Financial Results

• McKinsey Report: Unlocking the value of AI in software development

• Thoughtworks Technology Radar Report

LatAm-focused roles at top tech companies.

• Algolia is hiring a Senior Enterprise Account Executive, LATAM

• CrowdStrike is hiring a Corporate Sales Engineer, LATAM (Remote)

• Miro is hiring a Mid Market Account Executive, LATAM

• NinjaOne is hiring an Account Executive, LATAM

• Aircall is hiring a Strategic Ecosystem Lead NA & LATAM

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During October, we observed a billion-dollar investment in Mexico by Salesforce, continued fintech expansion, the first Stargate project in LATAM, plus an exclusive conversation with Guillermo Ortega on Mexico’s evolution into a nearshore powerhouse. ¡Vámonos!

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• Scaling Engineering Teams in LATAM: Our latest interview features Guillermo Ortega, President of Mexico Operations at Improving and co-founder of iTexico, who shares his remarkable 25-year entrepreneurial journey building and scaling tech companies across Mexico, the US, and Brazil. From co-founding Aportia, Mexico’s first IT consortium, to leading iTexico through its 2020 acquisition by Improving, Guillermo has been instrumental in elevating Mexican tech talent on the global stage.

  As part of our Scaling Engineering Teams in LATAM series, Guillermo offers insights on the power of cross-border business partnerships, Mexico’s transformation into a premier nearshore destination, navigating M&A while maintaining growth momentum, and his advice for Latin American founders: find your local partner and focus on execution over perfect timing. Read the full interview.

1 big thing: Salesforce invests $1Bn USD in Mexico

• Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), the cloud-based software company, announced a $1 billion investment in its Mexican operations over the next five years to expand technical capacity and service delivery, including a new office in Mexico City’s Polanco district for up to 2,000 employees housing a Global Delivery Centre that will provide multilingual consulting in English, Spanish, and Portuguese to support clients throughout the Americas with its Agentforce AI platform. (Reuters)

  • Why it matters: This represents one of the largest AI-focused service delivery investments in Latin America, positioning Mexico as a key consultancy hub for the region and demonstrating Salesforce’s commitment to scaling its ecosystem through workforce development and technical AI training.

  • The bigger picture: Salesforce’s strategy leverages Mexico’s geographic and linguistic advantages to serve the entire Americas market, with companies in Brazil, Chile, and Colombia already engaged with Agentforce and set to access expanded consulting services, underscoring Mexico's importance as a nearshore delivery hub.

  • What to watch: Following the recent acquisition of Regrello, a company with a local presence in Monterrey, this $1 billion commitment signals Salesforce views Latin America as critical to its agentic AI roadmap—expect additional acquisitions or partnerships in the region as the company builds out its AI service delivery infrastructure beyond Mexico.

• Ness, a global full-lifecycle digital services transformation company, announced the inauguration of its Mexico headquarters in Guadalajara. (PRN)

• SumUp, a global fintech company specializing in payment solutions for small and medium businesses, launched operations in Mexico to provide affordable card payment processing and business management tools to Mexican entrepreneurs and SMEs. (SumUp)

• Brex, a US-based fintech company providing corporate credit cards and cash management services, expanded its presence in Brazil by moving into a larger São Paulo office with plans to grow its local team to 200 employees by year-end, with Brazil expected to account for 20% of Brex’s global workforce by 2026. (LatAm Tech)

• NetSuite (NYSE: ORCL), Oracle’s cloud-based business management software platform, announced the general availability of its first data centers in Brazil, providing local hosting, improved performance, and enhanced compliance capabilities for Brazilian customers. (NetSuite)

• Advent International, a global private equity firm, raised $2 billion for its LAPEF VII fund focused on Latin American private equity investments. (LAVCA)

• Bitso, a leading Latin American cryptocurrency exchange, launched a global stock-investing platform that allows users to invest in US and international equities. (Mexico Business)

• Nuvini, a leading serial acquirer specializing in consolidating SaaS companies across Latin America, signed a binding term sheet to acquire MK Solutions, Brazil’s leading ERP provider for internet service providers. (GlobeNewswire)

• Globant (NYSE: GLOB), a global technology services company, entered into a multi-year strategic collaboration agreement with AWS to provide clients worldwide with enhanced support for cloud migrations, generative AI adoption, and industry-specific solutions across Latin America and beyond. (PR Newswire)

• Ant International, the global payments and fintech arm of Ant Group, invested in Mexican fintech R2, which provides embedded lending infrastructure across Latin America. (Business Wire)

• Syonet, a Brazilian software development company specializing in business management solutions, acquired Campos Dealer, a local technology firm providing CRM and management platforms for agricultural and heavy-machinery dealerships, expanding its presence in Brazil’s agribusiness technology sector. (LatAm Tech)

• OpenAI, the global artificial intelligence company, signed a letter of intent with Sur Energy for a data center project in Argentina that could require up to $25 billion in investment, marking the first Stargate project in Latin America. (Reuters)

• Babel, a Spanish-origin multinational technology company specializing in digital transformation solutions, acquired Meraki Software Technologies SAS, a Colombian technology firm focused on cutting-edge banking technologies. (Babel)

• Revolut, the UK-based global fintech leader, received final regulatory approval from Mexico’s National Banking and Securities Commission to operate as a multiple banking institution in Mexico. (Bloomberg)

• Valor Capital Group, a US-Brazilian venture and growth equity firm, opened a new office in Mexico City to strengthen its presence in Latin America and support its cross-border investment strategy. (Scenius)

Additional stories we’re following

• State of the software engineering jobs market, 2025 (Pt. 2)

• Latin America Economic Outlook 2025

• Inside Bain’s 2025 Technology Report

• Argentina, U.S. sign $20 billion currency deal

• Brazil Back On Top in Q3 LATAM Venture Funding

• Brazil’s M&A scene turns inward as high interest rates deter foreign buyers

• Paraguay - the Silicon Valley of South America?

Connect33 is a consulting firm specializing in helping US companies build, buy, and partner with Latin America’s top software development teams. Our list of companies we’ve scaled with includes mid-to-large enterprises such as Atrium, Bain & Company, Braze, C3 AI, EPAM, phdata, Tekton, and more.

LatAm-focused roles at top tech companies.

• Algolia is hiring a Senior Enterprise Account Executive, LATAM

• CrowdStrike is hiring a Corporate Sales Engineer, LATAM (Remote)

• Datadog is hiring a Commercial Account Executive - LATAM (Spanish Speaking)

• Databricks is hiring an Enterprise Sales, LATAM (Spanish-speaking)

• Dataiku is hiring an Enterprise Account Executive, LATAM (Brazil)

• Intercom is hiring a Senior Relationship Manager, Mid-Market (LATAM)

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Q&A

Tell us about your journey and how you started iTexico.

I started my first company in 1998, and then another company, another company, always in the services side. My focus originally was servicing clients in Mexico, which gave me very good experience knowing the market—not only Guadalajara but Northern Mexico, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas, Nuevo León. That gave me this sensitivity about how to do business in Mexico.

Later on, I started a joint venture with an automotive technology company building hardware and software for laboratory environments—hydraulic systems for testing, electronic systems. I’m a double E, I studied electrical engineering. But then 2008 came and I decided to go back to software development services and started looking in the US.

I met my partner Anurag in Austin—that’s why I’m in Austin right now and why we started in Austin and Guadalajara. He’s a very experienced Indian engineer who worked for TCS, Bell, IBM—all these big companies. In 2009, he was curious: Mexico? Software development services? I thought it was India. Even TCS had like 4,000 people in Guadalajara back then.

I told him, you don’t have to believe me, we just met, come over and I will show you. The merit is that he took a plane, landed in Guadalajara, met the team, had conversations with the people, and he was amazed. That was when we decided to start something together. At the beginning, it didn’t have the form or shape of a new company, but later on we started iTexico.

What were the key differences you noticed between engineers serving regional markets versus export markets?

We realized that our people in my previous company, DW Software, and the people in iTexico couldn’t mix because they were totally different. An engineer working in a company that exports services versus an engineer working in a company that services the regional market—they’re completely different profiles.

When you’re servicing US clients, you need different capabilities—better English, different communication styles, understanding of business context, ability to work across time zones and cultures. It’s not just about technical skills—it’s about being a true business partner to your clients.

How did you scale iTexico and what was the partnership dynamic with Anurag?

I think the key to iTexico’s success was the partnership structure. I remember Anurag telling me at the very beginning, “I’m worried about you being able to deliver this project,” and I told him, “I’m worried about you being able to scale the sales in the US.”

So we agreed: you worry about your stuff, I’ll worry about mine. You do your job, I’m going to do my job. And we both delivered. He tended to be more client-facing with the sales and marketing team in the States, and I focused on the operation side of things in Mexico. It was a very good setup for keeping an eye on both sides of the business.

What’s been your most rewarding moment in building nearshore teams?

The most rewarding moment is when you have a client telling you, “Oh my God, I can build my team here. I can scale here with great people, with great talent.” It’s like a moment of epiphany for them, you know?

Once again, we did it. We convinced another US company that Mexican talent is world-class. That’s very rewarding to me and to my team—proving that we can deliver at the highest level.

What’s your vision for Mexico’s role in global software development over the next decade?

Fifteen years ago when we started iTexico, we had to have more conversations about informing or educating people about Mexico and the benefits. Now you don’t have to have all these conversations. Mexico has gained mindshare, and it will keep increasing through the years.

Mexico is probably the most pure nearshore concept as a business partner for the US. We’re trying to be business partners of our clients, not just service providers. It’s something we’re doing to change the perception of the IT professional or tech professional in Mexico.

I don’t see anything but improvement coming—improvement in mindshare, in reputation. We’re full of success stories and referrals from clients. It’s like a snowball going downhill. It’s not going to be stopped by anything. The transformational force of business and conscious capitalism—the more human capitalism that is possible by working with your partner in Mexico—will keep the ball rolling.

Yes, 2023 and 2024 had some slowdown with the cost of money, but it wasn’t Mexico specifically—it was the world economy. We became a little more expensive because the dollar hit record lows around 16.40, but now it’s at a more reasonable level. The general trend is up, and we’re still competitive in the marketplace. I see a very positive landscape for the next five, ten years and more.

For founders looking to scale internationally, what’s the one piece of advice you wish someone had given you?

Partner with a local. Do not be naive thinking that the United States is a different country but somehow operates the same as Mexico. Can you imagine an American trying to come to Mexico and do the same things he’s doing in the US to sell to government or companies here? He will fail, even if he’s traveling to Mexico every other week. He will fail.

It’s the same from Mexico to the US—you need a local guy, a local partnership. For the US entrepreneur, find your Guillermo. For the Mexican entrepreneur, find your Anurag. These business partnerships are super important. In my opinion, that was the reason why iTexico was so successful, and why Improving has been successful—because we had that balanced partnership where each person focused on their strengths.

What advice would you give to service companies about growth?

This business is about growing. If you’re not growing, you’re shrinking. That’s a key piece of advice. I’ve talked with people who say they don’t want more people because managing people is difficult, all the labor liabilities and everything.

Well, man, if you’re in the services business, you need to grow. You need to scale. If you’re not scaling, if you’re not growing, you are shrinking. Don’t be afraid of growth. Build your company, grow your team. There’s space for more companies like iTexico in the world. We need more Mexico represented globally.

Any book recommendations that have helped you in your career?

The “Scaling Up” methodology from Verne Harnish—I think it’s a good methodology. “Exponential Organizations” is another one. But there’s one that has a funny title: “The Strategy and the Fat Smoker.”

Connect33 is a full-service consulting firm specializing in market entry, expansion, and software engineering team building in Latin America. With extensive experience in the region, we help companies scale efficiently by providing experience-based insights and services with on-the-ground experts.

Our list of companies we’ve scaled with includes mid-to-large enterprises such as Apexon, Atrium, Bain, Braze, C3 AI, EPAM, phdata, Terminal, and more.

This month: Databricks doubles down in Latin America, Improving makes an acquisition in Guatemala, CloudHQ makes a record investment, Amazon takes a stake in Rappi, and we break down the latest H-1B visa developments. ¡Vámonos!

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• Scaling Engineering Teams in LATAM: Our latest interview features Chris Cali, a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Newfound Equity, who shares his journey in scaling Spark Digital from 10 developers to a 400-person nearshore operation in Argentina, before its acquisition by intive in 2021. Chris offers insights on building high-quality nearshore teams, navigating mergers and acquisitions from both sides of the table, and how AI is reshaping the tech services landscape. Read the full interview.

• Trump’s H-1B visa fee to hit US employers with $14bn annual bill: US employers are facing a hefty annual bill for hiring skilled foreign workers after Donald Trump imposed a $100,000 fee on the cost of securing a visa for new employees to enter the country. Silicon Valley relies heavily on H-1B visas to hire engineers, scientists, and coders from overseas. The non-immigrant visa is also widely used by specialist industries, including accountancy firms and healthcare companies. Roughly two-thirds of 2023 recipients worked in the IT industry, according to USCIS.

• Our take: With over 40 combined years of building engineering teams across Latin America, Connect33 sees this policy accelerating a trend already underway.

  Over the past five years, major US companies, including Braze, Coinbase, Dropbox, Google, Lyft, and Pinterest, have expanded engineering hiring in the region. CBRE’s 2025 Tech Talent Employment Report shows an average 55% tech talent growth rate across eleven Latin American markets—and we expect this momentum to accelerate as companies reassess their global talent strategies.

Without visa uncertainty, lottery systems, or high six-figure fees, markets like Mexico City, São Paulo, and Buenos Aires offer competitive costs, overlapping US work hours, and direct flight access. If you’re exploring LATAM as a potential talent, get in touch.

What they’re saying:

“I’ve worked on H1-B politics for 30 years. Trump’s $100k per year tax is a great solution. It will mean H1-B is used just for very high-value jobs, which will mean no lottery needed, and more certainty for those jobs.”

-Reed Hastings, Netflix co-founder

“In the middle of an AI arms race, we’re telling builders to build elsewhere. We need American Little Tech to win — not $100K toll booths.”

-Garry Tan, CEO Y-Combinator

1 big thing: Databricks takes stake in Indicium

• Databricks, the data and AI platform company, made its first Latin American investment through Databricks Ventures by taking a stake in Indicium, a Brazilian pure-play data and AI services firm. Indicium generated approximately $6M in revenue in 2023, and currently, 40% of revenue comes from U.S. clients, with plans to flip that ratio to 60% by 2026, ahead of a potential IPO. (Reuters)

  • Why it matters: This marks a strategic shift in Databricks’ LATAM approach—moving beyond expanding its own operation to building a specialized partner ecosystem. It follows Databricks’ recent expansion of its São Paulo office and the launch of an office in Mexico City.

  • The bigger picture: Indicium’s pure-play focus and modern data stack expertise make it an ideal vehicle for Databricks to penetrate Brazil’s growing enterprise data market. With 60% of Indicium’s current revenue from Brazilian clients, Databricks gains immediate access to local relationships and market knowledge that typically take years to develop.

  • What to watch: Will Databricks replicate this partner investment model in other LATAM markets (Mexico, Argentina, Colombia)?

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• Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), the global e-commerce giant, acquired a stake in Rappi, the Latin American on-demand delivery startup, marking a significant investment in the region’s logistics and delivery infrastructure. (Bloomberg)

• Improving, a modern digital services organization with a significant presence in Mexico, acquired MangoChango, expanding its capabilities in digital innovation and technology consulting across Latin America. (Improving)

• CloudHQ, a leading data center and digital infrastructure provider, has announced plans to invest $4.8 billion in building multiple hyperscale data centers in Mexico, marking one of the largest digital infrastructure investments in Latin American history. (Reuters)

• SEK, a European technology and software company, acquired the Latin American subsidiaries of Dreamlab Technologies to expand its regional presence and enhance its technology solutions portfolio across multiple LatAm markets. (Global Legal Chronicle)

• Dropbox (NASDAQ: DBX), the cloud storage and collaboration platform, expanded into Mexico to strengthen its presence in the Latin American market. (Connect33)

• Kapital, a Latin American fintech company, raised funds at a $1.3 billion valuation, demonstrating strong investor confidence in the region’s financial technology sector and digital banking innovation. (Bloomberg)

• Cloudera, an enterprise data cloud company, brought AI to data anywhere by joining Amazon Web Services’ Brazil 2P program, expanding its artificial intelligence and analytics capabilities for Brazilian customers. (Cloudera)

• Google Cloud, the cloud computing division of Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG), brought a new era of AI innovation to Brazil with expanded infrastructure and artificial intelligence services designed to accelerate digital transformation across Latin America’s largest economy. (Google Cloud)

• SoftExpert, a Brazilian enterprise software company specializing in compliance, quality management and digital transformation solutions, increased its presence in Mexico while eyeing expansion into Argentina as part of its international growth strategy. (BNAmericas)

• Pisteyo, a global AI strategy and innovation consulting firm, has officially launched with its headquarters in Bogotá, Colombia, serving as a regional hub to support businesses across Latin America in generative AI, data strategy, and organizational transformation. (LinkedIn)

• Nuvini Group, a global technology consulting and digital transformation company, announced the acquisition of MK Solutions to expand its capabilities and strengthen its presence in enterprise software solutions and IT services. (Globe Newswire)

Connect33 is a consulting firm specializing in helping US companies build, buy, and partner with Latin America’s top software development teams. Our list of companies we’ve scaled with includes mid-to-large enterprises such as Atrium, Bain & Company, Braze, C3 AI, EPAM, phdata, Tekton, and more.

Additional stories we’re following

• State of the Software Engineering Job Market in 2025

• Atlantico Digital Transformation Report 2025

• CBRE Scoring Tech Talent 2025 Report

• Bain: From Pilots to Payoff: Generative AI in Software Development

• Tercera The AI Era Playbook by Tercera

LatAm-focused roles at top tech companies.

• Stripe is hiring an Account Executive, Enterprise (São Paulo, Brazil)

• Zendesk is hiring a Manager, LATAM Renewals

• Forcepoint is hiring a Manager, Customer Success NAM/LATAM

• Dataiku is hiring an Enterprise Account Executive, LATAM (Brazil)

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Q&A

Tell us about your journey with Spark Digital and how you built the business.

I started my career in software engineering, working at Sony Music and then Maven Networks, which Yahoo acquired. After that experience, I started my first business, Panvidea, an early Amazon-based SaaS company doing video transcoding and distribution for large media companies. We sold that in four years - not a huge success, but a ton of learning.

Importantly, that was the first time I had built an engineering team in Argentina. I’m a dual citizen - my mom was born and raised there - so it was the first place I looked, and it turned out to be a really great source of talent.

After we integrated Panvidea into the acquirer, the 10 developers in Argentina and I started looking for consulting work and very quickly landed a gig with Verizon, who was launching their first media services division. We became their core development team, and we thought, “We have something here, why don’t we try to find the next client?”

So we started Spark Digital and really leaned into the vertical expertise, doing custom product development for media companies. Over 10 years we built that to about 400 people - 350 of them were in Latin America and about 320 were in Argentina. We had customers like NBCUniversal, Major League Baseball, Dow Jones, and WWE.

What were the critical elements to scaling from 10 to 350 people, and what were the biggest challenges?

People businesses are hard, no matter where they’re located. Externally, client-facing, you need to understand the client’s business, deliver high-quality services with people the clients want to work with, and do the right thing whenever mistakes are made - because they’re going to be made. The bar was shockingly low in all these areas in the market.

Internally, there are some specifics to Latin America. There’s inflation, and engineers are getting offers in dollars on a daily basis from companies that aren’t exactly playing by the rules all the time. You have to do the right thing when it comes to money - cost of living increases might be quarterly or monthly.

But outside of that, you have to build and foster an environment where high quality is rewarded. As a former developer, I know how developers want to be treated - you have to listen, let them bring ideas forth, provide a clear career path and growth plans. Treating them like they’re worthwhile is half the battle. So many companies look at their nearshore location as “less than” versus a core part of their business.

How was your team distributed between the US and Argentina operations?

We were both involved in all sides of the business as founders, especially in the earlier days. But to keep it easy, I tended to be a little bit more client-facing with the sales and marketing team here in the States. We did have project management and some key architects here as well. But my partner Francisco was from Argentina, lived in Argentina, and focused a lot on the operation side of things. It was a very good setup for keeping an eye on both sides of the business.

How did you attract and retain talent as the market became more competitive?

I think the quality of client matters a lot. Smart developers want to work on great projects. We really focused on product development for our clients - we didn’t want to be the outsourced team working on periphery, non-mission-critical stuff. We said no to a lot of that type of work, and that served the purpose of attracting developers who wanted to be a crucial part of the business.

We also tended to skew pretty senior level, even when we sold the business. We weren’t that perfect pyramid where you have a few seniors at the top and lots of juniors at the bottom. We never hired anyone we would have considered junior right out of school. It was great for clients, and the people in town that other people wanted to work with were working with us.

Having the thought that anything you do as a leader is going to get down to people who are trying to join your company matters. By treating your developers well, doing the right thing with cost of living increases, and providing clear career paths, word gets out that you’re not “the other guy.”

What would you do differently now, having gone through the transaction process?

We never thought about the business as something we were building to transact. We wanted to build a profitable business that we didn’t have to raise money for, because raising VC money for our previous company was not a great experience.

We had a maniacal focus on profitability, but also the balance of profitability to reinvesting in your company. Because we were building with the idea that we’re going to do this forever, it made the investing easier. We were long-term thinkers about it.

When you have to sacrifice utilization for new training or do a cost of living increase before the exchange rate catches up, you do the right thing knowing that in the future it’s going to be okay. Turns out, you actually build a really healthy business by doing that. When it came to transaction time, we were in a good spot.

The transaction itself was a huge learning experience. Working with a bank and learning how to talk about your business in ways you’ve never thought about before was super interesting. It’s a lot of the same conversation over and over with different buyers, so it can get tedious, but if you’re proud of what you built and have a great business, you’ll find the right buyer.

We were very much convinced that we were willing to not take the highest price for our people to have a really good place to land. In fact, we didn’t take the highest offer because of that reason. As a founder-owned business, you kind of have that luxury.

Now that you’re on the investment side with Newfound Equity, what do you look for in companies?

If you’re a founder looking to run a process and go out for sale, you really have to start thinking about that a year or two in advance. That’s from a preparation perspective, making sure you have the right team in place to tell the right story for the ongoing success of the business.

We’re really looking for founders that want to continue on, that want to build a big business. Our case is unique in that we are independent sponsors - we don’t have a committed pool of capital, we’re raising money deal-by-deal. We’re much more open to situations where the founder wants to continue and doesn’t want to move fast with a traditional private equity firm that’s going to put a lot of debt on the business and do aggressive M&A that might break culture.

They might have 10 more years to give and want to continue sharing in profit dividends. We have the ability to find the right investors for the right situation, and we’re very open to that.

Are there any technology trends that have caught your eye, particularly around AI?

Every conversation we’re having has some AI component these days. How it impacts development services firms depends on their level of specialization, their business model, and their ability to use it.

If you’re specialized with intimate knowledge of a certain vertical or the nuances of a particular solution, you’re going to have defensible pricing and can use AI tools to your advantage. But it’s going to be harder to be just a staff aug, price-forward arbitrage company going forward.

To capture the efficiency benefits, it might make more sense to fixed-price a project. You’re going to have to quote projects with value pricing because you’re going to finish much faster or with less manpower. If you just charge hourly rates for bodies in seats, you’re going to have a challenge justifying that.

On the investor side, they’re going to have to be willing to accept and value recurring revenue, but if things are more fixed price and value based, you’re going to have to look at whether they did this project for this large company, then the next one, and they’ve been a client for five years - that’s just as good as a recurring revenue model.

You have to make the decision to invest in AI, and that’s harder than it sounds. You’re going to have to maybe reduce some utilization for trial and error and training time. Those who make that investment are going to benefit in the long term.

What other trends are you seeing around partnerships and alliances?

Something I learned from one of the investment firms that looked at Spark heavily is around alliances and partnerships. That’s an area we never looked at - we always wanted to be the objective third party. We thought that if we were getting some sort of referral fee from a partner, it was unethical, but it’s just not true. I’ve completely turned the corner on that.

I’m seeing so many companies balancing partnerships well these days, especially around data and AI. Microsoft, Databricks - these companies are really leaning into their ecosystem and investing in AI themselves. You want to benefit from their investment versus thinking you can develop it on your own.

If you have a strong partnership with one of these companies, you get early access to their new AI tools and have the necessary time to work that into your process. There are tons of benefits from partnering.

How are you sourcing deals at Newfound Equity?

We took a thematic approach from day one. We laid out three themes of areas we wanted to source businesses in. First is e-commerce services firms, specifically around the Shopify ecosystem - that’s a wave going up and to the right. Second is managed service providers and cybersecurity firms, which becomes even bigger with AI coming. Third is what I call “AI readiness” - companies that used to be called big data. Big enterprises know they have to use AI but still don’t know where their data is. These are your Databricks partners, your Snowflake partners.

We’re generally looking in the 2 to 10 million EBITDA zone. My partners Mike and James are experienced private equity investors with a lot of banker relationships. I think we stand out because I built a real business, and a lot of independent sponsors don’t have that track record.

Mike jokes that there was a business we really wanted to meet in New York - the hottest thing in AI services - and when I reached out cold with a little blurb about my story, I was having drinks with the guy the next day. If he as a PE guy had reached out, there’s no chance the founder would have returned his call.

We’re leaning into the fact that I can relate to founders better. I’m honestly happy to help them even if we’re not the right buyer - let’s just stay in touch, I’ll make connections, and think long-term about the situation. It’s clear when we talk to founders that we really want to roll up our sleeves. I’m not just an operating partner brought in for one deal - I’m an owner in the firm.

I can lean into areas I was successful at prior, like establishing nearshore operations, helping them build a verticalized go-to-market strategy, investing in thought leadership marketing, and protecting culture at all costs. We’re more flexible on hold times, don’t want to kill the business with debt, and don’t want to do M&A that doesn’t make sense.

Are you open to mentorship and helping other founders?

I’m always very willing to meet new people, and I learn from them as much as I hope they can potentially learn from me. I’m always happy to be helpful to anybody in this space, and who knows, maybe there’s something we can do together in the future.

You can reach me at ccali@newfoundequity.com or on LinkedIn.

Any book recommendations that helped you in your career?

100% - “Managing the Professional Services Firm” by David Meister. It’s like the Bible in this space. I read it very early on in starting Spark and referenced it almost like a dictionary. I’d remember, “Oh, now we’re at this point where we should be investing in middle management - how do we do that?” I found myself continuously going back to that book.

Connect33 is a full-service consulting firm specializing in market entry, expansion, and software engineering team building in Latin America. With extensive experience in the region, we help companies scale efficiently by providing experience-based insights and services with on-the-ground experts.

Our list of companies we’ve scaled with includes mid-to-large enterprises such as Apexon, Atrium, Bain, Braze, C3 AI, EPAM, phdata, Terminal, and more.

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In this edition, we explore HTEC's M&A deal in Guatemala, OpenAI's Brazil expansion, and sit down with LatAm industry veteran Daniel Lopatin to discuss his scaling journey as well as his experience being on both sides of the M&A table. If you enjoy this newsletter, please share it with your colleagues. Vámonos!

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• Scaling Engineering Teams in LATAM: Our latest interview features Daniel Lopatin, co-founder and former CEO of United Virtualities, one of the largest e-commerce suppliers out of Latin America before its acquisition by Argano. Daniel shares insights on his unique entrepreneurial journey from building a digital agency in China 20 years ago to scaling a 170-person enterprise technology consultancy, plus candid advice on M&A processes, the "buy and build" strategy for LatAm expansion, and his mentorship approach for the next generation of Latin American entrepreneurs.

It's hard to buy scale in Latin America. It's difficult. There are just simply not that many large companies in Latin America. So I always say it's not buy versus build, it’s more of buy and build to me, right? It's like buying the right LatAm partner and building. If you find a smaller partner and they're really good and they can help you–buy them and build through them that's what I always advise to do.

• Our take: Daniel's rare dual perspective—having both sold his company and now evaluating acquisitions—provides valuable insights into the realities of LatAm tech services M&A, from valuation gaps to integration challenges that most founders never discuss publicly. Read the full interview.

1 big thing: HTEC acquires Cognits

• HTEC, a global technology consulting and software development company, expanded into Latin America through the acquisition of Cognits, a Guatemala-based technology solutions provider specializing in digital transformation. (HTEC)

  • Why it matters: Often overlooked, this acquisition establishes Guatemala as a hub for emerging tech talent. In speaking with Cognits’ founder, he emphasized the deal’s significance for the country’s tech ecosystem, as he believes it will attract additional investment and partnerships.

  • What to watch: Given that Cognits is seen as the seed for HTEC’s expansion across Latin America, HTEC’s future M&A moves across the region will be worth watching closely.

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• OpenAI, the leading AI research company, announced its first office in Brazil, located in São Paulo, to host AI training and community events. (CNBC)

• Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) outlined plans for a strategic expansion into Latin America, identifying Mexico and Brazil as future hubs for AI infrastructure development. (Mexico Business)

• BRQ, a Brazilian digital transformation and technology consulting company, acquired Weme to accelerate generative AI-driven innovation and enhance its artificial intelligence capabilities for enterprise clients. (Nearshore Americas)

• Visma, a leading Nordic provider of business software across Europe and Latin America, entered Brazil with the acquisition of Conta Azul, a leading cloud ERP provider for SMBs. (Visma)

• Tata Consultancy Services (NYSE: TCS), a global leader in IT services, consulting, and business solutions, launched a new AI-enhanced operations center in Mexico City. (TCS)

• TietoEVRY Create, a Nordic digital engineering and technology services company, opened an Argentina office to strengthen its global delivery capabilities. (TietoEVRY)

• Starian, a Brazilian technology services company, secured over $115 million in investment from General Atlantic to accelerate growth and expand its technology solutions across emerging markets. (General Atlantic)

• Ubits, a Colombian corporate learning and development platform, acquired ValuHR, an HR technology company, to strengthen its workforce development solutions across Latin America. (Crunchbase)

• Incode, a global identity verification and authentication platform, acquired AuthenticID to enhance its AI-powered identity solutions and strengthen its position in the market. (Incode)

• Vesta Software Group, a specialized software investment firm, acquired Geocom, expanding its portfolio of vertical market software companies with a focus on Latin American operations. (Vesta Software Group)

• Payroc, a global payment processing and technology company, completed the acquisition of Agilisa Technologies, headquartered in Santo Domingo, DR, to enhance its payment solutions and expand capabilities in emerging markets. (PR Newswire)

• NielsenIQ, a global consumer intelligence company, acquired MTRIX, a Latin American market research and analytics firm, to strengthen its data capabilities and market insights across the region. (NielsenIQ)

• Olist, a Brazilian e-commerce enablement platform, acquired Flip, a Brazilian fintech company, to integrate financial services into its marketplace ecosystem for small and medium enterprises. (Latam Republic)

• Symetri, a global provider of design and engineering software solutions, accelerated its global growth with the acquisition of FF Solutions in Brazil. (Symetri)

• Zendesk (NYSE: ZEN), a US-based customer service software company, has increased its investments in Latin America to capitalize on momentum in AI agents and expand its customer experience platform across the region. (BNAmericas)

• Foxconn, the Taiwanese electronics manufacturing giant, announced significant investments in Mexico to expand its manufacturing capabilities and strengthen its presence in the North American supply chain. (Mexico News Daily)

• Odata, a leading data center and digital infrastructure provider, launched its fourth hyperscale data center in Mexico to support growing cloud computing and digital transformation demands across Latin America. (Odata)

Connect33 is a consulting firm specializing in helping US companies build, buy, and partner with Latin America’s top software development teams. Our list of companies we’ve scaled with includes mid-to-large enterprises, including Atrium, Bain & Company, Braze, EPAM, phdata, Tekton, and more.

Additional stories we’re following

• Argentina M&A Market surged in H1 2025 (Bloomberg Linea)

• BTG Pactual agrees to buy HSBC's Uruguay operation (Reuters)

• Databricks to buy Sequoia-backed Tecton in AI agent push (Reuters)

• PwC US announces agreement to acquire Kunai (PWC)

• Latam-GPT: Meet the Open Source AI of Latin America (Wired)

• A Chinese E-Commerce Glut Is Meeting Resistance in Latin America (Bloomberg)

LatAm-focused roles at top tech companies.

• Confluent is hiring an Enterprise Account Executive LATAM

• Harvey is hiring a Mid Market Customer Success Manager, LATAM

• Datadog is hiring a Commercial Account Executive - LATAM

• Intercom is hiring a Senior Relationship Manager, Mid-Market (LATAM)

• Supermetrics is hiring an Account Executive - Latam

• Aircall is hiring a Strategic Ecosystem Lead NA & LATAM

• Dataiku is hiring an Enterprise Account Executive, LATAM (Brazil)

• Sprout Social is hiring a Channel Account Manager (LATAM)

• Okta is hiring a Regional Sales Manager, Brazil

• Zendesk is hiring a Manager, LATAM Renewals

• Staffbase is hiring a Corporate Sales Development Representative - LATAM

• CrowdStrike is hiring a Sales Development Representative - LATAM

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Q&A

Tell us about your background and how you ended up in the founder's seat to begin with.

I was born in Argentina, but I spent many years living in various different countries. I lived in the US for a while and graduated from school there. Then I decided to pack my suitcases and move to China for a while - I spent over four years living there. That's where I took my first steps as an entrepreneur after dropping out of the academic world. I was thinking about pursuing a PhD at one point in the US, but decided not to. I packed my suitcases, dreamed big, and moved to China. This was about 20 years ago.

I spent about four years there, had the time of my life, built a company, lost it all. That was my first taste of entrepreneurship. I tried to build a digital company for the local market in Chinese and Mandarin Chinese. Just a wonderful story that has a very entrepreneurship flavor - foreign country, language barriers, cultural barriers, as a LatAm founder in China doing digital work 20 years ago.

I gained a lot of experience from those four or five years, then spent a few years in Mexico, built one company there, sold it. That was my first taste of a small scale exit. I wasn't really sure what an exit was until that point. Then in about 2015, I started United Virtualities with my brother.

About United Virtualities

How did United Virtualities evolve from its initial concept?

We started off basically as a team extension service because we were coming from the digital advertising world. That was my background - what I did in China was trying to build the first foreign-owned digital agency in China. We had a ton of contacts and decided to break out from that original thesis and build a technology company servicing digital agencies in the US.

We contracted with some major digital agencies and started selling Latin American resources when that was a new thing 10 years ago. Globant was doing that with a different target, and there were a few others, but not much other than that.

We did that for a few years, but we realized there were challenges to the model. Digital agencies were constantly evolving, building their own teams, acquiring tech shops that had in-house development. It wasn't really scaling at the speed we wanted. It was profitable - even more profitable than it is now because there was the ability to acquire talent for a more efficient cost than today in the market. The spreads were larger, but the scale was smaller.

Near-shoring wasn't really a term then. We were always struggling with introducing near-shoring as a benefit and explaining why it was an additional positive way of enhancing delivery teams in the US.

How did you pivot the business model?

We started shifting away from that particular angle and began trying to get direct clients. We kept basically the same stack for a while and then shifted again to a more corporate tech or what we call enterprise tech stacks, especially around the Salesforce industry. By that time, we were about 160-170 people. Then the pandemic came. We were growing rapidly with no plan to exit at the moment, and then we met some guys who said they were interested. We said, "Let's hear what you're interested about." That's how things turned out. It was about a six to seven year ride total from beginning to end.

Scaling Challenges

What were some of the biggest challenges you faced as you were growing and scaling the company?

You face challenges every day as an entrepreneur - it's never ending. If you're not being challenged, then you're doing something wrong. If things seem easy, something's got to be wrong because by design, you have to be challenged continually.

Some of those challenges included that we weren't growing initially the way we wanted to grow at the speed we thought we should grow. It was a go-to-market decision - we had to shift our go-to-market strategy.

We also had geographical challenges because we had most of our team originally in Argentina, and Argentina was a fluctuating market due to FX situations. We were facing continuous instability. Now things are much better - whether they're more expensive or not is another matter, but it's more stable. We ended up with offices in Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico, all over Latin America. Although we speak the same languages, each comes with its own set of challenges - financial, cultural, and legal.

Also, we were one of the early entrants who entered first to the market, and near-shoring wasn't as popular as it is now. We faced an uphill battle just trying to sell the positive aspects of working with Latin America at that point in time.

Lessons from M&A

What have you learned from the M&A process, both sitting as a seller and sitting as a buyer?

First is you're not worth what you think you're worth. You're worth what somebody's willing to pay for your company. I've had conversations with entrepreneurs where most P&Ls in startups are off - they don't use the right methodology to build P&L. There's a big deficiency in the startup world with the financials of business and the correct methodology of how to assess the value of your company.

People think they're worth whatever they think they're worth by some kind of formula that doesn't necessarily apply in the real world. Once you hit the real world and go to market, you realize there are variances to your assumptions, and those variances are meaningful. You're going to be faced with a dilemma that not everybody's prepared for - you're not worth maybe what you think you're worth.

Being on the buying side for a few years and having experience in integration, I think the second moment of truth for entrepreneurs is how challenging and difficult integration is as a whole process. I call it similar to marriage. You're going to be day in, day out with the person you're married to, so you have to make a smart choice about who you're marrying.

Due diligence is not just a one-way street - it's a two-way street. You're doing it to them as well. Do your due diligence. You're getting married, you're cashing in, but there's a cost and you're getting married. Integration is hard culturally. It can be hard for you and your employees, and your employees are your friends. They built a company with you for the last 10 years, worked weekends and nights, and suddenly you throw them into this different culture. You have to be smart about it.

For companies evaluating buy versus build expansion strategies in Latin America, what's your advice?

It's hard to buy scale in Latin America. There just simply aren't that many large companies in Latin America. I always say it's not buy versus build - it's more of buy and build. Are you going to find a company that has 400 people already working with the revenues? It's hard. There are not that many and most of them have been acquired.

If you find a smaller partner and they're really good and they can help you, buy them and build through them. That's what I always advise. Which is what they did with us - we were the first company in our group that had footprint in Latin America. Now we're up to about 600 employees in Latin America through subsequent acquisitions.

I recommend laying the foundations first with a really solid partner, buy through that, and build. You could do it organically, but I would fast track it if you can.

Building Enterprise Relationships

What's your approach to building long-term relationships with large enterprises?

It's a great and complicated question. It's very personal. I don't know if there's a formula that works for everybody that you can just rinse and repeat.

For myself, being Latin American was challenging to build those relationships in the beginning - having to travel to the US continually to build the relationship. The perception of a Latin American provider back in the day was challenging.

How did we overcome that? Just through hard work, honestly. Reliability, showing that we were there whenever it was needed, that the quality of work was really good. I'm a big sponsor overall of Latin America. I think the quality - now everybody knows it's not a surprise. Everybody knows how great Latin America is.

I believe in work. I don't think there's any shortcuts. You have to build a quality team. There's no shortcuts to that. Don't cut corners ever, because I've seen unfortunately some entrepreneurs cut corners in service to build scale, and I think it impacts the image of what we're trying to build as a whole. Don't cut corners. Don't sacrifice quality ever, reliability ever, and make sure that you deliver what you promise. If not, just be transparent about it.

We made so many mistakes in so many projects, but so does everybody else. Don't hide them. Just be transparent. That's how you build reliability and relationships.

When I moved to a US-based corporate role after the acquisition, I wouldn't say it's easier, but there's a level of relationship that gets built and leverage that I just didn't have on my own. Finding the right partner to fast track your own growth and your ability to get through to some clients that before seemed impossible - it's a real thing. We grew a lot after the acquisition.

Current Market Observations

What differences do you see from when you were building to today's entrepreneurial ecosystem?

The young entrepreneurs I'm meeting now are miles ahead of where I was when I started. They have exponentially more tools, resources, and technical understanding at their disposal. When I moved to China, I did it purely on gut feeling without any business plan or analysis - I was jumping in completely blind.

Today's founders are incredibly well-prepared and have access to AI, mentorship, and information that gets synthesized instantly. But there's a trade-off: they may be missing that emotional, gut-feeling component that's critical for entrepreneurship. They need to balance all their tools and knowledge with that instinct about seizing opportunities urgently. The technical abilities come naturally to them, which I had to build from scratch, but they need to develop their emotional resilience more.

Revenue Focus

Was your client split between the US and Latin America when you sold your company?

I would say 100% to zero. We had no Latin American clients. That was a decision from day one. In my previous digital agency business, my clients were multinational companies, but it was always the Latin American office of multinational companies that we were serving - whether Argentina, Mexico, mostly.

When we built United Virtualities, decision one was US market. That was the first decision. We didn't even know what to sell from a tech perspective yet, but we knew we wanted to focus on the US market. That was the right decision for us all the way through because it's hard to grow with Latin American clients for many different reasons, and it's risky. My experience is to focus on the US market.

Parting Advice

Any parting thoughts or words of encouragement for LATAM entrepreneurs?

Entrepreneurship is the best thing in the world. I wouldn't trade my history for anything. The success wasn't even the best part of the journey - I still miss my early days in China and those first 10 years of building.

For anyone going through challenges in scaling their company, know that there's a way to overcome it. I failed countless times - 10 years ago I didn't know how I was going to survive the next month. It's a wonderful journey where you never know what's going to happen.

Trust your gut. Gut feeling is critical for entrepreneurs. And if anyone ever needs advice or wants to talk, I'm always available to help other entrepreneurs in our network.

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Connect33 is a full-service consulting firm specializing in market entry, expansion, and software engineering team building in Latin America. With extensive experience in the region, we help companies scale efficiently by providing experience-based insights and services with on-the-ground experts.

Our list of companies we’ve scaled with includes mid-to-large enterprises such as Apexon, Atrium, Bain, Braze, C3 AI, EPAM, phdata, Terminal, and more.

Carlos Quirarte (00:00:31):
For me, it comes down to three things. One is cultural alignment with global leadership. The second one is talent strategy. And the third one is scalable operations.

So like, for example, in terms of cultural alignment with global leadership is understanding the company's expectations and translate those into locally in Mexico, right? So as I was saying, how is it culturally speaking, is it that we can merge and make this work? Because the company already has its own culture and coming to a brand new region with, again, a different culture, different language, different ways of thinking and doing things. That's the piece that is also, like, very, very important for me in acting as a kind of like a mediator and as a translator in terms of how is it that things work in Mexico and how things work with the company in other regions or if it's coming from America. How is it that we can combine the strengths and the abilities from both sides and make it work, right?

Then in terms of talent strategies, building strong new grad programs and partnership with the universities, which is something that I did with these three companies — with Uyala, EPM, and C3AI. Because this gives the companies the opportunity to work with this talent that is eager to learn and to apply everything that the students learn when they were at the university. And how is it that we can kind of help them just go through the right processes and the way that the companies really work and how's the real life from a professional standpoint, right?

And then in terms of scalable operations, establishing processes early that can grow with you — like KPIs, delivery governance, documentation, and strong onboarding frameworks — are key. This helps us to build a very strong foundation, and then from there we can grow, and this will help us to scale. If you don't have these components, it would be challenging or harder for the company to be successful in any landscape.

Manuel Martinez Herrera (00:00:08):
Yeah, we debated that a lot internally and that was at a board meeting that we decided with the entity because we were looking at the two models, right? Do we just like hire them through like a third party — like a Deel or a Remote or whatever one of those? Or do we go full-fledged and open our own entity and all that?

And because we knew we were going to hire, we were going to grow very quickly. We wanted to have like 40 people within six months. Talking to the board, one of the board members was very adamant. She said: “If you're hiring five people, whatever, then yeah, you can do either and it's going to be fine. But if you're going to have so many people and you want to have your culture and you want them to feel like they're part of the company, you're better off doing your subsidiary and they're not employed through someone else. You can kind of give them the same packages that you give in the US, just makes them feel better.”

And then the other thing is, if you do the contractor model, if after a while you want to turn into your own entity, you're going to have to pay the fees of the breakup fees. So knowing, like, you know, that's a long-term thing for you guys and you want to grow quickly, it makes more sense to do it that way.

And it took us like four months to be ready to hire someone with the entity and the social security number and the tax number and the whatever. But because we started in December of ‘22 and we wanted to be able to hire by May, June of ‘23, it was all within the timelines we had. So that worked out very well for us. Great.

My advice would be, I think it's similar to that. If you're just testing the waters and for now you're just going to hire one engineering team and you're going to have seven to eight people, then I think doing the third party thing is fine. If you are all in and you know it's gonna be important for you, then I think the sooner you have your own entity, the better it's gonna be for you.

Juan Pablo Chapa (00:01:59):
Sure. Yeah, I agree with that 100%. I think we, at Connect 33, we see a lot of companies that go into it with the contractor model and say like: “Well, if it grows to a certain number…” But I don't necessarily... I think you're working at a disadvantage by going. I think if you just commit to the entity up front, you're likely to hit that 10 much faster than if you don't.

Manuel Martinez Herrera (00:02:26):
And you put the pain up front and then it's smooth sailing versus in the middle of like having to switch everybody from one thing to the other and explain what's going on. And it just becomes more burdensome, I think, in the long term.

So what we call L1s and L2s. We divide our engineers as kind of like L1, L2, L3, then you become a senior, then you become a staff, and then you will become a principal — kind of like L4, L5, L6.

So that L1, L2, we were very successful very quickly. Same with managers — very good pool of managers.

Where we struggle a little more — and there's good talent, it's just harder to find, you have to pay more — is that mid to high level individual contributor: those senior, staff, principal level. And I think that's... there's again there's the talent.

Where we struggle is because, A, we have a requirement of: you have to be in the office three days a week. Which for us was very important in order to open the office, create the culture, enable the teams quickly as we were hiring a bunch of people together at the same time.

And some of these more mid to senior talent, many of them don't want to come to an office.

I think that's changing again — more in office. I think especially, obviously, in the US, it's become very prominent now in office again. And I think Mexico, little by little, more people are getting comfortable coming to the office.

But yeah, the sheer number of software engineers in Mexico is huge, right? You have UNAM, where like 5,000 of them graduate every year. There's a bunch of American companies coming here. So the talent exists. You just need to make sure you have a successful proposal for them — I mean, attractive proposal for them.

Carlos Vela (00:00:35):
That's a good question. First, what we are trying to do is we are trying to build these new capabilities, right? Because as a software firm you cannot say “I can do everything,” because — I don't know — maybe the client will be like: “I don't believe you.”

But if you have different capabilities — “Okay, I'm an expert building integrations or Gen AI or with Cloud” — I can sell those services. You know, it's going to be expensive, because that is like a — you're an expert in that specific area. I think that is one thing that we are doing very good right now.

And also we are partnering with different clients. For example, we are building a couple of AI projects in which we help them to build the product. What we also try to — how can I say this? They have a lot of AI engineers, and they are training our engineers with AI. It's like: “I will give you this and you will give me that.”

And that is great for us, because sometimes it is hard to find AI engineers or to train them. Sometimes you can see a job description: “I'm looking for an AI engineer, 10 years of experience.” AI is not 10 years — like Gen AI and stuff like that. So sometimes it's difficult to train, but you can ask for help from different companies that maybe they have that expertise and then can help you.

So I think that the capabilities are great. I think that we are trying to improve our recruitment process, because maybe in the beginning we were more like: “Okay, we need to fulfill this position and we will hire anyone that could fit that position.”

But right now we are looking more for specific skills, because sometimes a senior developer is not about knowing how to code or be the best coder in the world. It's about soft skills. You need to have communication skills. You need to have leadership. You need to know how to communicate your ideas with the client. It's not about coding. That's something the AI cannot do right now.

So we are trying to improve different areas inside the company in order to become that 500 developers in five or seven or three years — I don't know. That's our goal. But yeah, it's going to be hard, but I think that we can do it. We are very confident that The Codes has a lot of potential.

So we are trying to encourage them to learn new technologies. Even if the client is not willing to pay for that, we push a lot, because this is an investment for us. Because for us, it would be great to have 200 developers with great AI experience, because we can sell that. You know, it's expensive to hire someone with that AI background.

So for us right now, it's about training developers. It's about implementing AI solutions. And maybe at the beginning, we found some pushback. They don't like to change the way they work. But right now, they understand that this is the future.

Today, they have a job that maybe in five years will not exist anymore.

So for example, we do a lot of training for developers, for project managers. We try to use ChatGPT, for example, to — I don't know — analyze RFPs, for example. Or we use Copilot to improve the code from some developers. Sometimes you can improve the performance 2x, 3x time, you know, the time that the developer needs to develop something. So that's what I'm doing right now.

We are also working with a lot of clients with GenAI. So they have this problem inside the company that they don't know how to solve it using AI. So they come to us and they say: “Okay, help me solve this kind of solution.” Or we can build a chatbot, we can build an AI automation, or we can build something that could give value through GenAI.

So right now for us, GenAI is one of the most important things that we need to do inside the company. Because I think that right now we have 10 leads, for example — half of them is about AI. And if you are not well prepared, someone else is going to take that for you.

So we are trying to — for example, we have weekly sessions with developers to talk about new trendings, to talk about new models. For example, OpenAI just released this new version of the API — how we can apply that to this client or to that client of evolution. We compare: “Okay, OpenAI has these advantages, but maybe Anthropic has these advantages, and maybe, I don't know, Cloud or whatever.”

So you need to be always, you know, trying to understand how AI is evolving.

Kenneth Lopez (00:06):
So that goes to kind of like what we provide as an Equals11. We are a post-implementation and optimization consulting firm, which means that we do not implement. So we like to take the current implementation and take it to the next level. This could be optimization, automation, and fixed implementation.

And now in these cases, as you said, what's next? For example, all the AI wave. And I'm not saying this just as a flop — I mean, we're going very tangible, like with Agentforce. So what we're creating right now is how they can apply it.

Because of course, you have the huge companies that they need a very complex implementation because their needs are different. And then you have the small ones that they cannot afford and they can just use out of the box.

But in the middle, you have a huge market space for you, because those are the companies that they cannot hire one of the Big Fours and they have the budget. So that's our sweet spot, because with those clients is where we can leverage the effort of Salesforce.

Which means they need things almost out of the box, but with an implementation. That's where we add value to our customers.

Because this is chicken and the egg: they are too small for the big ones, but they are too big for the small ones and too small for the big ones. So nobody wants to work with them in a very efficient way. And we were able to master that.

Kenneth Lopez (00:11):
I think every single one in different ways. For example, one of the last areas where we're seeing a lot of requests is from digital marketing agencies. Just because they realize that, yeah, they are getting data from all the social media, but they don't know how to process that. They don't know how to work with the CRM.

And at the end, if you're paying for social media, you need to have an accountability of like: “Yes, I'm seeing a number here, I need the same number here. Otherwise, who do I believe — the CRM or the campaigns from Google?”

So that's one of the areas. As I mentioned to you, in every aspect, Agentforce — that's the objective. It's trying to put it in every single vertical.

Now, saying more, we have again the big players that they need something specific. But in general, all these Agentforces that we can implement, we can do it in different ways for all the other verticals.

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• Scaling Engineering Teams in LATAM: Our Connect33 leadership conversation series continues with Manuel Martinez-Herrera, who discusses his experience in establishing and scaling BetterCloud's engineering operations in Mexico, from zero to a team of over 40 engineers. Manuel discusses how they decided to expand into Mexico, the engineering talent market, and talent scaling strategies that were pivotal in the company’s growth in Mexico City.

• Our take: Manuel reveals how BetterCloud successfully built their Mexico City engineering office from the ground up. Unlike most US companies that rely on contractor models in Latin America, BetterCloud established a full entity and developed effective strategies for recruiting both junior talent from top universities and senior engineering managers—an approach that has proven highly successful for their scaling goals. Full interview.

1 big thing: Nearsure acquisition

• Nortal, an Estonian digital transformation company, acquired Nearsure to expand AI enterprise solutions across the Americas, strengthening its nearshore capabilities. (Globe Newswire)

  • Why it matters: Nearsure, a software services firm with operations across Latin America, successfully executed the software services roll-up strategy by joining technology services firms Conexio, Tero, and UruIT under one parent company, Nearsure, in 2024 and implemented a successful rollout under Nearsure Studios. The now LA-based company has achieved significant success with an aggressive sales push in the US over the last 12 months. It will now begin to integrate into Nortal’s global operation.

  • What to watch: Expect to see this roll-up strategy continue to be used across the technology services sector in Latin America as small to medium-sized firms consider consolidation to achieve faster growth and access to larger US enterprise accounts.

• Databricks, the data and AI company, expanded its São Paulo presence with a larger office to support growing demand for its data intelligence platform across Brazil and Latin America. (Databricks)

• Canopy, a Brazilian private investment software firm, raised $100 million from Bessemer Venture Partners and Cloud9 Capital to enhance its AI-driven platform and explore potential acquisitions. (LatamList)

• Andersen Consulting, a global technology consulting and digital transformation firm, continues global expansion with the addition of Azurian Consulting, enhancing its capabilities in digital strategy and implementation. (Business Wire)

• Watershed, a climate technology platform helping organizations measure and reduce their carbon footprint, expanded its global presence with its first Latin American office in Mexico City. (Globe Newswire)

• Kraken, the global cryptocurrency exchange, announced local funding initiatives for Argentina and Mexico to support digital asset adoption and financial inclusion across Latin America. (Kraken)

• Thredd, a global payments processor and card issuing platform, partnered with Inswitch, a Latin American fintech infrastructure provider, to enhance digital payment solutions across the region. (Thredd)

• Veritas Prime, a business process as a service (BPaaS) provider, scaled its delivery model with strategic expansion in India and Argentina to enhance global service capabilities. (PRN)

• Block AI Labs officially launched as a new company specializing in affordable, full-stack development and AI integration services, leveraging top-tier engineering talent in Medellín, Colombia. (Yahoo Finance)

• TOTVS, Brazil's leading business management software company, agreed to buy StoneCo's Linx unit to strengthen its retail technology offerings in the Brazilian market. (Reuters)

• Squadra, a technology investment firm, invested $3.6M in AI platform Genius to fast-track digital transformation initiatives across Latin America. (Intelligent CIO)

• TELUS Digital, a global digital customer experience and IT services provider, expanded capabilities with the addition of Gerent, a U.S.-based Salesforce-focused consultancy. (Business Wire)

• Mercado Libre (NASDAQ: MELI), the leading e-commerce platform in LATAM, announced a $65M investment in a logistics center in Buenos Aires. (BNAmericas)

• Track.co, a Brazil-based CX management platform, announced its merger with IndeCX, a Brazilian software development company, to expand their presence in the customer experience market. (Exame)

• FiT, a business ecosystem specializing in technological solutions for the financial sector, announced the acquisition of Neurona Tecnología, a Colombian company specializing in payment solutions and transactional infrastructure development. (Vanguardia)

• BigID, a global data intelligence platform, announced the acquisition of illow, an Argentinean company specializing in data privacy and consent management solutions. (iProup)

• Claro, a leading telecommunications and technology services provider in Latin America, partnered with Nestlé to streamline connectivity across the region, enhancing the company's digital infrastructure and operational efficiency. (PRN)

• Integrātz, a business process automation and integration solutions provider, expanded to Chile, marking the company's strategic entry into Latin America. (Integrātz)

83% of B2B buyers prefer a self-navigated, digital buying process over sales-led interactions, according to Gartner. LatAm Partners addresses this by creating a marketplace where buyers can discover and evaluate software partners at their own pace, improving deal quality before any sales conversation begins. Get started today at latampartners.io

Additional stories we’re following

• Mexico Surpasses Brazil In Venture Dollars For First Time in Over A Decade (CB)

• dLocal CEO Sees “Spike in Interest” for Argentina, Eyes M&A in 2025 (Bloomberg)

• Why Is Trump Targeting Brazil (BBC)

• How’s MELI Using Argentina’s Economic Recovery to Fuel its Growth? (Yahoo)

• Mastercard (MA) Divests Mexico Digital Payment Unit (Yahoo Finance)

LatAm-focused roles at top technology companies.

• Canva is hiring a Senior Product Manager, LATAM

• GitLab is hiring a LATAM Strategic Account Executive - Southern Cone

• Amazon is hiring a Sr Compensation Consultant, LATAM Compensation Team

• StackAdapt is hiring a Director of Sales, LATAM

• Rippling is hiring a Global Payroll Operations Specialist - Argentina

• Samsara is hiring a Senior Product Manager - Fleet Security and Mexico Growth

• Okta is hiring a Regional Sales Manager, Brazil

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