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12 - Brazilian Unicorns and Their Triggers of Scalability

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2025

Veneta Andonova
Affiliation:
Universidad de los Andes, Colombia
Diego Finchelstein
Affiliation:
Universidad de San Andrés (Argentina)
Juana García Duque
Affiliation:
Universidad de los Andes, Colombia
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Summary

Start-ups are newly established companies often focused on technology and with the aim of creating innovative products or services. As they often begin with limited resources and a lean team, one of the biggest challenges for them is scalability. Untangling the triggers that help turn a start-up into a company valued at over US$ 1 billion is a pending task. In this chapter, we study three Brazilian unicorns and their scalability triggers by looking at the interaction between the start-up’s distinctive competencies and market opportunities as revealed by the Canvas business model tool.

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Chapter
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Unicorns from Emerging Economies
Creating Value through Technology and Innovation
, pp. 332 - 356
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2026

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References

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