Success Factors in Latin America Startup Ecosystems

The diploma thesis aims to determine how the startup ecosystem in certain countries in Latin America could help a startup to be successful or not. It is focused on the accelerator and incubator programs, how accessible they are to Latin American startups, and whether the programs offered in the market really provide the best conditions making a startup grow in Latin America.The theoretical section explains some general concepts and applies determinants of success factors in Latin America. These Latin America factors have been utilized before in Success Factors in Europe Startup ecosystem, thesis by Ing. Bilgehan Arslan, in order to explain the general entrepreneurial environment among Latin American countries.The practical part uses comparative research methodology supported by an observing technique and mix method research survey (quantitative and qualitative questions). This methodology is followed step by step, in order to respond to the thesis’ main questions.The hypothesis about the thesis’ main questions were validated. This validation required analysis of documents, comparison between accelerator programs in Latin America, divided in 3 groups: comparison between accelerator programs from foreign origins (outside Latin America), countries with more access to high-quality education and other Latin American countries, and countries where it is difficult to get access to high-quality education. This is followed by a comparison between Latin America and Czech Republic accelerator programs. Also a survey was conducted among 46 co-founders of Latin-American startups in order to get their perspective about the programs.Results indicate that if a startup is based in a country where there is access to high-quality education, there is a high probability for a startup to get into these programs and that there will be a good quality accelerator program that provides the best conditions in order to grow their company. Otherwise, for a startup based in a country where it is difficult to get access to high-quality education, the probability to get into a program is low, and although there could be access to some high-quality incubator programs, it could be not enough in an early growth stage of the company.