On April 18, 2013 AS/COA and Latin American Venture Capital Association hosted a forum on venture capital and entrepreneurship in Latin America, corresponding with the release of the 2013 LAVCA Scorecard. Distinguished investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs explored what governments are doing to promote venture capital and offer an update on startup activity and investments in the region—particularly in the booming tech sector. Topics included the growing number of new companies receiving funding in the region, the importance of connections between U.S. investors and Latin American companies, and the challenges to fostering a more sophisticated ecosystem for venture capital in the region. Cate Ambrose, president of LAVCA, cited Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico as the four markets where one finds the most support from governments and development banks, but stressed that it takes decades to build a venture ecosystem and the level of sophistication among companies that is expected by investors. All speakers agreed that regulation presents one of the biggest hurdles to expanding companies across borders.

In a panel moderated by Endeavor Mexico's Pilar Aguilar, Softtek's Blanca Treviño, Wayra Mexico's Marcus Dantus, and Google Mexico's Pablo Slough discussed and debated the panorama for innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship in Mexico. Speakers identified a number of hurdles to innovation in Mexico and Latin America as a whole. Treviño noted that, as opposed to disruptive technologies, Latin American innovation tended to focus on business and operations.

Panelists:

• Blanca Treviño, President and CEO, Softtek (confirmed)
• Marcus Dantus, Director, Wayra Mexico (confirmed)
• Pablo Slough, CEO, Google México (confirmed)
• Moderator: Pilar Aguilar, CEO, Endeavor Mexico (confirmed)

Partipicants of the second panel during AS/COA's Rio conference came to the conclusion that the Brazilian city doesn't necessarily need to become a Silicon Valley, but that it should embrace entrepreneurship. Felipe Matos, chief operations officer of Startup Brasil, said that Brazil's Y Generation is more entrepreneurial, which will help build startup networks.

Speakers:

• Kevin Efrusy, Partner, Accel Partners
• Scott Cutler, Executive Vice President, Global Listing, NYSE Euronext
• Felipe Matos, COO, Startup Brasil
• Juliano Seabra, Managing Director, Endeavor Brasil (moderator)