I came to Latin America with a plan. I had studied the market, read the reports, talked to people who knew the region. Some of that preparation held up. A lot of it didn’t.
My first mistake was assuming the pace would be slower. Latin America’s digital economy jumped from $148 billion in domestic e-commerce in 2019 to $255 billion by 2023. Brazil alone holds 32% of regional e-commerce. There are 300 million digital buyers across LATAM, growing 20%+ by 2027. Anyone who shows up expecting time to ease in is already behind.
But the market demands patience in return. Getting our EMI license from the Central Bank of Brazil meant committing to a process that doesn’t bend to your timeline. Regulatory conversations move at their own pace. Trust builds slowly. Trying to force European-speed execution onto Brazilian regulatory timelines creates friction, not progress.
What genuinely surprised me was the people. The fintech builders here solve problems with fewer resources and more ingenuity than most teams I’ve worked with in Europe. That changed how I think about this market entirely.
If you’re a European founder considering LATAM – come prepared, come humbly, and come for the long term.
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