Mexico’s Startup Mirage: Impressive Numbers, Weak Defenses, and the Race to Build Something Real
Mexico’s startup scene looks impressive in pitch decks: tens of thousands of startups, billions raised in recent years, more than a thousand fintechs, and an ecosystem valued at $30 billion. But beneath the surface, the country is running a fragile experiment: it’s over-indexed on fintech, under-invested in real technology, and structurally dependent on capital and ideas that originate elsewhere. This is a teardown of the myths, the uncomfortable math, and what would need to change for Mexico to stop being a “launchpad for others” and start keeping the upside for itself.
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