South America
Continent / region · #18 region by EV
* C→Unicorn and Unicorn→Decacorn rates are derived from current counts (no founding-cohort data); the four mid-funnel rates use Dealroom's cohort tracking.
Largest rounds
Largest funding rounds in South America
A live treemap of the largest VC rounds. Each cell is one round into South America-headquartered companies, grouped by Dealroom sector.
Largest rounds in South America - 2026
VC investment
How much venture capital flows into South America
VC investment into South America-headquartered, VC-backed companies, broken down by round size, company location, sector and funding stage.
Country leaders
Which South America countries raise the most — and grow the fastest
VC investment by country across South America. Pick a year (the current year is year-to-date) and switch between the biggest markets and the fastest-growing ones.
Academia
South America's academic flywheel
Companies founded by university alumni or spun out of research, plus the institutions producing the most founders tied to South America.
Location comparison
How South America stacks up
Compare South America with peers from other continents / multi-country regions — switch between combined EV, EV growth, and a growth × size view. Expand the table for the full ranking.
Combined enterprise value of each ecosystem.
Top regions globally ranked by combined EV. South America's row is highlighted (#8).
| # | Ecosystem | Combined EV | EV growth | Unicorns | VC invested | Tracked startups |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | World | $43.6T | 5.4× | 4,033 | $450B | 294.4K |
| 2 | North America | $31.1T | 6.2× | 2,419 | $290B | 123K |
| 3 | Asia | $8.8T | 3.9× | 990 | $89.5B | 76.2K |
| 4 | EMEA | $4.5T | 4.7× | 906 | $87.4B | 92.4K |
| 5 | Europe | $3.7T | 4.4× | 730 | $71.6B | 77.7K |
| 6 | European Union | $2.2T | 4.4× | 434 | $37.8B | 49.7K |
| 7 | Nordics | $574B | 5.1× | 108 | $8.2B | 8,454 |
| 8 | South America | $503B | 11.1× | 71 | $4.8B | 8,874 |
| 9 | Oceania | $340B | 9.7× | 55 | $5.4B | 5,800 |
| 10 | Central Eastern Europe | $191B | 5.2× | 61 | $2.3B | 7,283 |
| 11 | MENA | $133B | 12.7× | 34 | $5.9B | 4,598 |
| 12 | Africa | $72.3B | 10.5× | 14 | $1.7B | 4,641 |
Sector concentration
Where South America punches above its weight
Sectors in which South America's share of the global unicorn pool is bigger than its overall share. A 5× over-index means South America is 5× more represented in that sector than in the global average. Source: top-hub aggregation across the 18 simplified sectors.
More data
Explore Dealroom data →Get the full South America ecosystem on Dealroom
Live company-by-company deal flow, full cap tables, founder pedigrees, hiring signals and revenue trajectories.