But in the midst of great changes, one of the aspects that has disappeared the most from the innovation sectors is the idea of achieving unicorn status, rather to favor not ending up as a dinosaur, that is, a company in danger of extinction.
An interesting second half of the year
2022 has been marked by a series of crises derived from the overheating of the global economy, largely due to the series of post-pandemic reactivations and the interest in alternative assets amid the health emergency in stock markets.
Coupled with a series of problems due to the war in Europe and interruptions in supply chains -even due to weather issues-, the perfect scenario has been created for inflation across the planet to be through the roof.
The response to this inflationary pressure, on the part of the governments, has been the increase in interest rates to try to get a little money out of the market and stop the rise in prices. On the part of the private initiative, there is an increasing reluctance to invest in the short and medium term, to the extent that the uncertainty in the markets leads venture capital to be more conservative, due to the possibility of a recession that extends to middle of next year.
From abundance to survival
Startups are currently having to operate at this juncture: with decreases in their liquidity—derived from less money in the market—and a negative impact on their ability to acquire risk capital through direct investment. The idea of the unicorn quickly disappears to give way to the fear that a company will become a dinosaur, with slow processes and less than optimal for the future.
The change in logic has gone from abundance to survival. In the first half of 2022, for example, venture capital in Latin America has dropped by almost 70% compared to the previous year. And only the most audacious startups will be able to overcome these complexities, not to mention that they will soon reach valuations above $1 billion in markets that are no longer the same as they were a few years ago.