The Financial Times released its ranking of the fastest-growing companies in the Americas in 2021. The list was compiled with research firm Statista and ranks participants from across the Americas by compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in revenue between 2016 and 2019.

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Most of the list (nearly 17 out of 20 companies) are from the United States and Canada, but Colombia has 32 companies in the ranking, compared to 30 from Brazil. Featured in the list, the Brazilian fintech Pravaler (which operates with financing for universities) doubled the number of employees in two years, to 320, and had a turnover in 2020 of BRL 256 million. The expectation for 2021 is to increase this value by 20%, as Haroldo Carvalho, CFO of Pravaler, told LABS.

“We have three FIDCs (a type of fund composed of receivables from different types of issuers widely used in Brazilian credit market) with BRL 1 billion under management, bringing together approximately 60 shareholders, ” he said.

Although the company has been operating in the market for almost 2 decades, the accelerated growth in the last two years was due to the goal of reaching 1 million students by 2025 and surpassing the BRL 10 billion financed mark. To date, the company has financed 170,000 students and nearly BRL 4 billion.

To achieve the goal, Carvalho said that the company has invested in greater penetration of undergraduate funding, offering more credit to students who do not have enough resources to attend private colleges.

The fintech has also been working on solutions for the B2B market, with investment in the management and purchase of university-owned financing portfolios. “It is an option for educational institutions that are unable to manage their own financing, and for us, it is a path of rapid and solid growth.”

Another issue linked to its growth is the expansion of the product portfolio. “The idea is to expand the portfolio and offer more solutions that benefit students and educational institutions, such as financing free courses, which are shorter in duration and are highly competitive.”

And of course, mergers and acquisitions. Last year, Pravaler structured an internal team aimed at studying the education and technology market, intending to find new growth opportunities with M&A with companies that have fit and complement Pravaler’s product portfolio. “Being in this ranking for the second time shows that our strategies are in line with the needs of the market.”

LABS selected the new economy companies from Latin America that feature the list. Check them out:

1 – Shapermint (Trafilea Group) – Uruguay, E-commerce
2 – Light-It – Uruguay, Technology
3 – Zinobe – Colombia, Fintech
4 – Solo Network – Brazil, Technology
5 – Coru – Mexico, Fintech
6 – Haytek – Brazil, Health
7 – Plataforma 10 – Argentina, Travel
8 – Valemobi – Brazil, Fintech
9 – Aivo – Argentina, Technology
10 – DB1 – Brazil, Technology
11 – Mercado Libre – Argentina, E-commerce
12 – Daitan Group – Brazil, Technology
13 – BuySoft – Brazil, Technology
14 – Moove It – Uruguay, Technology
15 – Pravaler – Brazil, Fintech
16 – SMART – Colombia, Technology
17 – UruIT – Uruguay, Technology