While the political scenario in Latin America keeps on the news worldwide because of the unstable moment in Argentina, Bolívia, and Chile, the tech market in the region didn’t slow down and keeps growing at a fast pace. Nubank is a great example of it, the company already has more app downloads than Revolut, Monzo, and N26 together. Yes, you understood it right, the Brazilian fintech alone reached more app downloads than the three main European digital banks. 

And Nubank wasn’t the only company that received great news this week, Mercado Livre, the Brazilian operation of the Argentinean brand, revealed its latest results and even with strong competition keeps leading the marketplace industry in Brasil. 

But not only Latin Americans companies are taking benefit from the local market, WhatsApp has just released a new feature for the Business version of the app targeting emerging markets, among them Brazil and Mexico. Now, small entrepreneurs will be able to create a product catalog to share with costumers inside the app, allowing them to add price, photo, description, and purchase link.

It already seems a lot for one week, but we aren’t even talking about our highlights yet. Busy week for Latin America, huge business opportunities. Take a look into this edition of LABS+1:

5- Disney’s own streaming service launches next week: Here’s what to expect

If these are busy days for the streaming industry, imagine for Netflix, who, at least for now, leads the sector. Less than a week from today, Disney’s own streaming platform arrives officially in the US and a few other markets, right behind Apple TV+ launch, which took place on November 1st.

But before the official debut of the media giant in streaming lands, what should we expect from the new platform? LABS gathered some context regarding this market to shed a light on what is at stake with Disney+ release.

4- The Brazilian unicorn Gympass announces new CEO in Mexico

After announcing Gympass’ expansion to Mexico, Argentina, and Chile, now the company is really putting efforts to won the new markets, starting for Mexico. 

Gympass announced the hiring of Lucas Melman as the new CEO of Mexico’s operation, according to Contxto. The executive has years of experience in scaling business in Latin America and has already worked in other huge projects in the region, such as SinDelantal and Mensajeros Urbanos. “We’re focused on continuing to grow our local operations at a rate above 100 percent per year,” revealed Lucas Melman about his challenges and goals in the Mexican market in the press-release. 

3- Reggaeton and streaming, a powerful feat

We are pretty sure that you already heard the song Despacito or Mi Gente, right? And probably your first contact with those songs happened on a streaming platform, doesn’t it? That’s not that difficult to guess since reggeaton became a huge global phenomenon in the music industry mostly thanks to streamings. 

LABS went deep into the reggeaton era and interviewed Deezer’s Artist Manager, Fabio Santana, to truly understand what the revolution of urban rhythms means to this industry that for decades was dominated by North America. Check out the full article!

2- Brazilian Central Bank promises instant payment system for 2020, before the US

In an interview with Estadão, also published by Gazeta do Povo, the Brazilian Central Bank President Roberto Campos Neto promised a system of instant payments for 2020, even before the United States. According to Campos Neto, the instant payment system will work seven days a week, 24 hours a day.

The regulation and implementation of instant payments in Brazil, currently underway within the BC, is expected to reduce cash transactions and bring even more agility and cost savings to general financial and commercial operations.

1- How Latin American women are becoming entrepreneurs thanks to other Latin American women

Entrepreneurship in Latin America is booming, we never had so many people fighting to see its business winning the market or creating new solutions for old problems in the region. But disruption isn’t just opening room for new business, but also for gender equity. 

It is the first step of a long road until Latin America really could achieve gender equity, but we already have the chance to know several inspiring stories of Latin American women developing huge projects in the region. Get to know 3 of them by reading the full article!

LABS +1: The new generation of Brazilian pop music

Iza is one of the most highlighted pop singers at the current music industry in Brazil, she achieved the goal of bringing the inspiration of global pop divas, such as Rihanna, to songs with real Brazilian identity. That makes her a unique artist in Brazil and drive her fast to the spotlight.

And now she is bringing international artists to contribute with her Brazilian soul in pop songs. Today, Iza released her new single called “Evapora” featuring Diplo and Ciara, the music video was a huge production recorded in Los Angeles, check it out!