Interview with Matías Peire (Argentina)

Co-founder and CEO of GRIDX, a fund for science-based ventures.

“Climatetech is a great opportunity to invest in Latin America”

There is a boom in climatetech, both in the number of entrepreneurs and in the number of funds that want to invest in those startups. Are we where we wanted to be?

In Latin America, at least in the fund I am in, we are starting to encourage scientists to develop their scientific careers by creating their own company. The number of investors in the stage of transforming a scientist into an entrepreneur has increased, but I think we still have a long way to go in our region to have the investors that come after that process from 0 to 1, from that scientist who wants to become an entrepreneur and wants to transform his line of research into a startup.

Where should we focus to get to that point?

I think there are many funds in Latin America and the Caribbean that have grown a lot in recent years. There is an opportunity for them to start adding in their investment theses the possibility of investing in these startups. They will need to have special mandates, because these startups are different from the ones they are used to in the digital world, they have a different approach to the market, a different funding pathway. There is now an opportunity for nearly 200 Latin American venture capital funds to start adapting their theses to invest in these startups. And also, for venture capital funds to start to emerge from scratch to invest in these early stages, already focused on this type of startups.

Is Latin America and the Caribbean a land of opportunities in climatetech issues?

Yes, absolutely. When we focus on deeptech, climatetech is a great opportunity because Latin American startups that go from 0 to 1 must go to the world to look for capital, there are no investors in Latin America. We see a great opportunity for more funds or for investors from the world that are looking towards our region to be able to capture early those opportunities and gain value.

Where should innovation laboratories such as IDB Lab focus in this area?

IDB Lab has, in general, led the investment processes in funds that have this type of focus. I think it is doing a great job in that, it is looking for funds that have these investment theses. That is very important for the conversation because the IDB is one of the main investors, if not the main institutional investor in Latin America in venture capital. The fact that IDB Lab is expressing its interest in this type of verticals will make these venture capital funds react.

How was your experience in the last IDB Lab Forum?

Excellent. It is a great space to articulate the conversation at the regional level, in Latin America, and to meet and exchange experiences.

Learn other inspiring stories like Matías Peire's, who reminds us that there is still a long way for deeptech and climatetech in our region, and about our latest initiatives on climatetech. We look forward to seeing you at the next edition of IDB Lab Forum 2024 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from October 31 to November 1. For more details, visit: IDBLabForum.org