It was the news that marked the MasterConference XFranco on Saturday. Bolivia is finally getting ready to join the big leagues of technological innovation with the development of the first fintech companies. Juan Pablo Velasco, CEO of OrdensYa, gave the scoop at the solidarity event.
Velasco said that after resigning from the well-known delivery app, his next step will be a fintech. “I consider that this is the ideal time to work on this initiative, before the age of 40,” said the founding partner of the startup Mobi.
The term fintech is the contraction of the words finance and technology, and refers to the trend of implementing advanced digital technologies to optimize the activities of the financial industry.
To get an idea of the impact of this trend in Latin America, in Brazil there are some 498 companies specialized exclusively in financial technologies, in Mexico some 249, in Colombia 128, in Argentina 118 and in Chile 82. This according to the Latam Fintech Report 2020.
However, in Bolivia there is still no fintech development due to the lack of a regulatory framework. However, Velasco admits that they are working on it.
In addition, in the intervention of Susana Harriette, general manager of PagoExpress, a fintech is also glimpsed in the medium-term plans.
The firm already has experience in this type of activity. Pagos SRL is a beneficiary company of the Pago Express product franchise; that operates throughout the country with own and outsourced collection spaces.
Harriette recalled that Bolivia became number two in the world in microfinance, so there is opportunity.
Regulatory framework is key
Startups dominated the MasterConference XFranco and it became clear that the regulatory issue in Bolivia is the one that keeps entrepreneurs awake the most.
When asked by the organizer of the event, Amples Regiani, about what would be the laws that should be changed in Bolivia to develop the technological ecosystem, Ariel Revollo, CEO of Mobi, said the Labor Law because it limits the creation of new jobs.
While Cristhian Daher, executive director of Datec, considers that tax incentives should be provided to facilitate the development of new ventures in the sector.
The MasterConference xFranco is a solidarity event that seeks to raise funds for the operation of Franco Encinas (13) that has a cost of $80,000. On Saturday, $30,000 was raised.
More opportunities to continue helping
Video. The organizers list the complete video of all the conversations of great executives from various sectors.
In edition. The video is pending, but it can be obtained in the following days for a donation of Bs 350 if you are a professional or Bs 150 if you are a student.
Record. If you are interested, register your data at: https://bit.ly/OnDemandXFRANCO or the fanpage @XFrancobo
