Mexican private equity: Government throws in its weight
FERNANDO FABRE HAS ambitious goals for private equity in Mexico. "We have entrepreneurs that start out with amazing passion – they are going to become the next Bill Gates – and then all the frustrations of running a small business in Mexico burn this passion out. We aim to make sure that doesn’t happen," says the country head of Endeavor. Fabre might be the only one that fears that the next Bill Gates has slipped through Mexico’s fingers but he is one of many involved in a renewed push to grow the private equity and venture capital market. "There are rock-star entrepreneurs out here that we aim to support," says Hernán Fernández, founding partner of Angel Venture Investors, the firm that hopes to link new entrepreneurs with angel investors in a similar style to BBC TV’s Dragon’s Den programme.
Fabre says: "Our basic assumption is that high-impact entrepreneurs are the basis of a developing economy. If the support is right then these start-ups will help drive Mexico’s capital markets and overall economy forward in the future."
Fund managers, academics, government officials and regulators all express the hope that private equity deals and well-capitalized entrepreneurs will give the Mexican capital markets and economy new momentum.