The Brazilian stock market's battle to retain its startups

Competing with the US's finger-licking valuations and liquidity, Brazil's bourse is doing what it can to get the country's tech champions to list locally.

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A new economic organ

The recent emergence of startups worldwide has rattled many countries’ economies, previously used to the dominance of incumbent financial, telco, and commodity-based behemoths. The arising of insolent tech companies vowing to disrupt entire industries is increasingly recognized as the evident next step in the world’s economic makeup.

The creation of this new “economic organ” if you will is accompanied by an additional difficulty: these startups, powered by exit-seeking venture capitalists, have dreams often way bigger than the countries they are based in. The final step of these startups’ fundraising cycle, the IPO, is thus often more attractive abroad, the United States to be more precise.

However, the expatriation of these new economic champions doesn’t fare well for the host country. Their local stock market doesn’t benefit from their success, and local investors have a harder time gaining a stake in what constitutes a significant part of their country’s economic future.