Tech Startups Learn to Soar in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires, the riverside metropolis where the tango is danced and the passion for soccer overflows on the weekends, is also gaining global recognition as a launch pad for high-tech companies.

The Argentinian capital of 3 million has been dubbed Latin America’s Silicon Valley, a place where many promising startups are born and where some have transformed into successful “unicorns”— companies whose valuation exceeds $1 billion.

One such unicorn is Globant, a software and data services provider based in La Plata, just south of Buenos Aires. With just $5,000 and a borrowed office, co-founder Martin Migoya and three partners opened for business in 2003 when Argentina was just emerging from a severe financial crisis. Fourteen years later, Globant has grown into a truly global giant with offices in 17 countries and total annual revenues of $400 million.