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Guadalajara could become Mexico’s first smart city

Located in the western Mexican state of Jalisco, Guadalajara is known for its colonial squares, neoclassical buildings and for being one of the country’s largest cities. It is a sprawling metropolis of Mexican culture wedged between the traditional yet also the foreboding modernisation that comes alongside tech development. Despite its colourful past, the city also

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Colombia Fintech News

Colombian emeralds to make the case for receiving coveted ‘appellation of origin’ status

Colombia is seeking to bring the country’s emeralds within the coveted status of appellation of origin, a status conferred to products associated with unique territories like Italy’s parma ham and Grana Padano parmesan cheese. Cognac, champagne and darjeeling all belong to this exclusive club of products that are afforded a certain “heritage status” if accepted.

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Uncategorized

Venezuela to present Petro to Opec as unit of account

Venezuelan Minister of Petroleum Manuel Quevedo stated on Wednesday that Venezuela will present it’s national cryptocurrency – the Petro – to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as a unit of account for the trading of crude oil in 2019. The move was announced via the twitter account of the state oil company, PDVSA.  It’s

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Brazil News

Brazil is home to 33% of Latin America’s fintech companies

In the last 12 months, the number of fintech startups in Latin America has grown from 703 to 1,166, according to the Inter-American Bank of Development (BID) study “Fintech in Latin America: Growth and Consolidation.” Just five years ago, however, fintech was a relatively unknown concept in the region. But, thanks to rapid advances in technology

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Colombia Startups

#KnittingACountry: The startup selling knitted boots whilst making a social impact

At the age of 24, Linda Castro was diagnosed with an autoimmune genetic disorder called Graves’ disease whilst studying gastronomy at university. Aside from physically preventing her from ever being able to work another full-time job again, the disease also meant that she systematically lost her memory from time to time, sometimes a few days

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Cryptocurrency News

Brazilian banks relent on anti-crypto actions following court decision

According to Brazilian news outlet Portal do Bitcoin, two retail banks in the country have stepped back from the abyss and reopened the accounts of local cryptocurrency exchange, Bitcoin Max.   The country’s Federal District Court has made a preliminary judgement requiring both banks – Banco do Brasil and Santander Brasil – to reopen the accounts. The court gave notice that

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South America

Latin America could be “closing its veins” with a digital tax

Mexico and Chile are among a host of countries that may follow the European Union’s lead in playing hardball on taxes with big tech companies like Facebook, Alphabet, AirBnB, and Uber. In March, the EU proposed a “digital tax” that would affect the revenue of major digital companies like Facebook and Google. Inc, but the

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Non Starters

StreetBa: The startup cleaning the city of Lima with automated vacuums

We’ve all seen them before — the circular, automated vacuums that bounce around homes cleaning carpets and entertaining cats. Rumbas were seen as futuristic back in the 70s, but as time progressed, we slowly saw them being purchased by cool friends, and people who considered themselves ahead of their time. Yet they stopped there. People

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Brazil Mexico Startups

Amidst controversy, Bird electric scooters break into Latin America

Electric scooter startup Bird has announced its expansion to the continent of Latin America. Launched in the US in 2017, the company has raised a total of US $415M in funding over five rounds and, in September 2018, reached its 10 millionth ride. With scooters already available across the US and in several European cities,

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Brazil Startups

Could Bolsonaro’s victory inadvertently benefit the startup environment across Latin America?

Bolsonaro’s recent victory in the 2018 Brazil election is still on everyone’s mind. It has created an environment of uncertainty for companies of all sizes across the country, and while the country’s elite and companies like Banco de Santander have benefited from the buzz around the controversial elections, others are a bit skeptical of what

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