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Peru Venture Capital Conference: An eye-opening opportunity for regional investors and stakeholders.

Events such as the PVCC put Peru in the map of investors of the region. Read about the highlights of the event and the opportunity it represented for the Peruvian ecosystem.

The 7th edition of the Peru Venture Capital Conference (PVCC) was presented by the Peruvian Association of Seed Capital and Entrepreneurship (PECAP) in 2022. This annual event is the most important venture capital forum in Peru, and after two years in a virtual format, it was held in-person with over 800 attendees from Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, and Paraguay.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the steady growth of the Peruvian startup ecosystem has been bolstered by the increase of funding raised by Peruvian entrepreneurs. In 2020, 46M USD were invested in 21 transactions. In 2021, the numbers rose to 124.3M USD and 27 transactions, which represented a 170% increase for investment and 28.5% for transactions. Despite a challenging year in 2022, a total of 87M USD in investments and 41 transactions were registered.

Although there has been a significant increase in VC and startup activity in Peru over the last few years, which is consistent with the trend in the rest of the region, the country's ecosystem is still in the developmental stage and therefore vulnerable. To address this, PECAP decided to showcase Peruvian entrepreneurial talent aiming to continue nurturing the economic and social recovery of Peru through innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship by connecting them with potential investors.

The event demonstrated the potential of Peru as a great starting point for launching regional tech businesses and highlighted the quality of local startup founders. Our Swiss EP program was instrumental in connecting PECAP with relevant keynote speakers that took part in the PVCC.

“PVCC 2022 was a demonstration that Peru can overcome its own problems and become a favorable ecosystem to capture the attention of both investment and business opportunities. The event was able to translate our diverse culture, our desire and ability to get ahead in the challenges we set for ourselves, and above all, a lot of value in what Peruvian entrepreneurs are working on. I want to take this opportunity to invite all the international key players to see how there can be world-class initiatives from Peru. This is only the beginning,” explains Luis Chau, CEO Preauth.

With 93 speakers and 33 sessions, including fireside-chat panels, keynote speakers, workshops, pitch competition, and investor speed dating, the PVCC event had something for everyone. The agenda had an extensive range of topics available for attendees, such as angel investing, limited partners, investment vehicles, web3 & the metaverse, corporate venture capital and more. One topic that stood out for its recent relevance was diversity in the industry and the need to invest in diverse teams. The event felt like an official re-opening to live gatherings giving the opportunity for everyone in the ecosystem to interact in person and deep dive into venture capital trends.

SwissEP, a partner since the conference’s creation, identified three esteemed keynote speakers who shared their experiences and created long-lasting connections with PECAP and entrepreneurs. Carolina Huaranca, Co-General partner at First Close Partners, discussed the requirements of limited partners seeking to invest in Latin American VC funds. Ana María Aristizabal, Managing Partner at Winnipeg Ventures, reflected on the challenging times that ecosystems have crossed, answering the question: Is there a VC winter in LATAM? The presence of multiple stakeholders representing different stages of the startup lifecycle bodes well for the future of the ecosystem.

"There is an opportunity for Peru to make the country a more investment-friendly environment, that means that there is clear and concrete legislation around incentivizing the development of new business and attracting talent from different parts of the LATAM," explains Gustavo Vizcardo, SwissEP Peru country manager. "Investment opportunities are inside and outside Peru; therefore, fund managers need to keep an eye on the rest of the region and create connections in each market to be able to join the opportunities in those markets."

The PVCC enabled over 210 connections between investors and startups and stronger pathways for collaboration and knowledge sharing. Attendees also witnessed the last round of the second edition of the Pitch Competition held on the last event day. This second edition saw an impressive 147 startups from 11 countries and 11 industry sectors take part in three rounds and a final "Pitch Day" round. Luis Chau, CEO Preauth. & the winner of the PVCC 2022 Pitch Competition, explained what this meant to him:

“We are all winners! The impact of the award brought us new contracts, new investments, and opportunities throughout the region.”

He added that, above all, he and his team felt that their humble history could be inspiring to entrepreneurs who struggle to carry out their initiatives.

The 7th edition of the Peru Venture Capital Conference successfully showcased Peruvian entrepreneurial talent to potential investors. As the ecosystem continues to give way to more fluid cross-border collaborations and key Peruvian players make long-term commitments to strengthen its dynamics, we look forward to seeing what the future holds for Peru's startup ecosystem.