The new millionaire bet on Wall Street of the founder of one of Argentina’s unicorns

Argentinian entrepreneur Alec Oxenford played another strong card in his successful international career by raising $ 230 million in a public offering on the Nasdaq for his company Alpha Capital, with the intention of merging with a technology-focused company. ‘Latin America.

In dialogue with Infobae, Oxenford and its partner, Rafael Steinhauser, told the details of this project, which points to a little exploited niche in the region: the development of technological projects with significant funding.

“We have identified that in America there are very successful companies such as Mercado Libre or Globant, but at some point they have their cap due to capital. Those who need more than $ 100 million have a hard time getting it. For this reason the Spac mechanism is very successful in the United States and ours is the first in technology for Latin America and we have had great success. Now begins the interesting part, which is to find the best entrepreneurs so that they develop their maximum potential and that they are not limited by the lack of capital, ”he explained.

We identify that in America there are very successful companies such as Mercado Libre or Globant, but at some point they have their capital limit. Those who need more than $ 100 million struggle to get it (Oxenford)

On the other side of the line, Steinhauser added that “This IPO modality for tech companies is not new, but in recent years it has improved and now more than 50% of initial public offers are made with Spac (Special purpose acquisition company), which differs from the IPO because it has fewer requirements and is more efficient ”.

“The IPO takes a lot of effort and money, compared to something cheaper and more efficient in Spac. It’s easier than the IPO. Once you have the money, you merge and the new company automatically goes public, with less complexity than the IPO, ”he explained.

In addition, he stressed that “this mechanism offers more security because, unlike the IPO, which does not provide certainty about the subsequent value in the market, in this case the value is predetermined. This makes a lot of sense for Latin America because there is no last step development in the value chain to get capital, because there are not so many funds that want to contribute to a business in these conditions and the region’s institutional investors are not there. so used to technology yet ”.

“The funny thing is that we are the first to bring such a product to the capital market and because of this condition there was skepticism before it was launched in the market as to whether it would work. or not. But it was great for us, so much so that the next day the banks raised the duty from $ 200 million to $ 230 million, “he said enthusiastically.

On an initial field of 20,000 companies in which they could potentially invest, the focus has been reduced to 50 in the region, between financial services, e-commerce, software and state-owned enterprises, among others.

– Aren’t you afraid that with so many changes in the economic cycle of the region, there will be no point in investing in a long term project like this?

“No, because here the takeover is immediate as soon as a company with potential is identified”, underlined Steinhauser.

“Argentina in particular produces great companies, despite the fact that the situation of the local economy is not glorious; startups continue to emerge, because there is a lot of talent. And these ideas can be carried beyond the borders of the country», Subrayó Steinhauser.

Oxenford lamented the situation in the country. “It’s a shame, beyond discussing when the problem started, whether it was two or seven decades ago, but the reality is that the country has lost positions. 25 years ago the country had four big unicorns which were the most relevant in the world and today there are 37 and Argentina has five, so he lost a significant relative weight. It is a shame because ultimately the country’s wealth depends on its ability to generate quality private jobs ”.

“All countries are developing with this formula: higher wages and we hope that things can happen to make that happen”, he claimed.

Now begins the interesting part, which is to find the best entrepreneurs so that they can develop their maximum potential and so that they are not limited by the lack of capital (Oxenford)

According to PRNewswire, the company announced that it was able to close its IPO on the famous Wall Street capital market.

“There are over 20,000 technology companies in the region, according to Crunchbase. Although they have typically been funded by a growing local network of early stage investors, later stage capital is very scarce in the region, which severely limits opportunities for growth. Alpha seeks to resolve this dilemma by creating access to capital with a higher cost benefit for companies at this late stage, ”he explained.

“Alpha Capital’s goal is to leverage our experience to help some of Latin America’s most motivated and talented entrepreneurs unlock the full potential of their ideas,” explained Oxenford, who joined there years the Association of Argentine Entrepreneurs (AEA). .

Meanwhile, Steinhauser said that “our experience, our relationships and our deep ties to the technology sector in Latin America put us in a privileged position to partner with the most extraordinary companies in the region.”

Alpha co-sponsors include Innova Capital, FJ Labs and Dr Irwin Jacobs. In turn, Alpha’s management team includes CFO Rahim Lakhani, Chief Strategy Officer Alfredo Capote and Vice President of Strategy Kirill Matalov in its ranks.

The firm, which will trade under the symbol “ASPCU”, will use “the funds to seek a merger with a Latin American-focused tech company.”

Oxenford is a leading tech entrepreneur and serial internet investor in Latin America, with over 20 years of experience in developing, growing and operating tech startups around the world ”

In recent times he has founded and chaired Let go, which grew to over 100 million mobile downloads before merging its US operations with its competitor OfferUp Last year.

In addition, he confused and was CEO of S $, which “has become the largest online market of its kind in Brazil and other emerging markets.” Let go Yes S $ They were unicorn startups, with valuations over a billion dollars. Oxenford also co-founded the online payment platform DineroMail and the online auction platform Deremate.com in Latin America.

The IPO takes a lot of effort and money, compared to something cheaper and more efficient in Spac. It’s easier than the IPO. Once you have the money, you merge and the new company goes public automatically, with less complexity than the IPO (Steinhauser)

Steinhauser has led the Latin American operations of some of the largest technology, media and telecommunications companies, with more than 35 years of experience in the high-profile international business sector. He was President of Qualcomm Latin America from 2011 to 2020, contributing to Brazil’s digital inclusion and the commercial launch of the world’s first smartphone based on SiP technology in Brazil. He also led the effort to create Qualcomm Ventures in the region, one of the region’s largest corporate venture capitalists, which has been involved in several unicorn startups. Steinhauser was previously president of Nortel Networks and Cisco Systems in Brazil.

“Alpha Capital’s goal is to leverage our expertise to help some of Latin America’s most motivated and talented entrepreneurs unleash the full potential of their ideas,” said Oxenford.

Steinhauser added that “Our experience, our relationships and our deep ties to the technology sector in Latin America place us in a privileged position to collaborate with the most extraordinary companies in the region.”

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