• The activities were led by InvestChile Managing Director Andrés Rodríguez and the head of the Investment Promotion Division, Salvatore Di Giovanni. Among the companies visited were Netflix, Amazon Web Services, Synopsys, EdgeConneX, ViacomCBS and KKR Global. 

As part of a packed agenda of activities in San Francisco and Washington DC, InvestChile Managing Director Andrés Rodríguez and the head of the Investment Promotion Division, Salvatore Di Giovanni, met with US-based companies to discuss the various business opportunities Chile has to offer, mainly in global services, technologies, entertainment and venture capital.  

“Historically, the United States has been the main foreign investor in Chile, with its stock of investments in the country exceeding US$35 billion, according to Central Bank figures. In addition, the country regained the top spot in InvestChile’s project portfolio in 2020, with initiatives for US$4.5 billion, which meant a growth of 61% compared to 2019,” said Andrés Rodríguez. 

During the tour, InvestChile also presented the new version of its Investment Guide in English. This is a tool that provides companies with step-by-step information on legal, regulatory, administrative and practical issues for setting up operations in Chile. 

Activities in Washington DC 

The roadshow began in the US capital, Washington DC, with a visit to the offices of the consulting firm McLarty Associates, where they met with Gabrielle Trebat, the firm’s Managing Director and leader of the Brazil and Southern Cone practice. Among its clients, the firm has various Fortune 500 companies, such as Walmart and IGT.  

“It was an honor to host the InvestChile team this week in our office at McLarty Associates! Thank you so much for the visit!” Ms. Trebat published on her LinkedIn account after the meeting.  

Afterwards, InvestChile executives met with Edmund Wilson, Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder of EdgeConneX, a pioneer in the development of edge data centers and member of Oracle PartnerNetwork.  

Mr. Wilson noted that Chile is among the most active markets globally for the company and it plans to continue expanding its investments in data center infrastructure in the country. He also thanked InvestChile for its support since 2016.  

The company has two projects in the environmental assessment system for US$350 billion and expects to continue growing in Chile with clients from the technology industry. 

The activities continued at the offices of Amazon Web Services (AWS), another large company with investments in Chile, where they met with Shannon Kellogg, Vice President of AWS Public Policy – Americas. During the meeting, they discussed a series of business opportunities in Chile’s booming technology sector, as well as market trends in the country. 

The InvestChile team later met with James King and Antonio Ortiz-Mena, both Senior VPs at Albright Stonebridge Group. During the meeting, the executives discussed investment opportunities in telecommunications and digital infrastructure with emphasis on the development of data centers, fiber optic deployment, and the growing business opportunities in e-commerce.  

Council of the Americas event for companies  

In another of the tour’s principal activities, Andrés Rodríguez and Salvatore Di Giovanni participated in a business breakfast organized by the Chilean Embassy in the United States and the Council of the Americas. Companies such as Freeport-McMoRan, Fluor, Mars, Intesa Sanpaolo, Raytheon, RELX and AES were also in attendance. The discussion revolved around opportunities in sectors such as renewable energy, green hydrogen, the digital economy and global services. They also discussed the challenges and opportunities that lie behind artificial intelligence in Chile.  

Entertainment and telecommunications business opportunities 

They also met in Washington DC with Keith Murphy, Senior VP of Government Relations and Regulatory Counsel at ViacomCBS, which owns the Chilean TV network Chilevisión. The executive said that the company is interested in expanding its business in Chile and added that there are opportunities to create more content in Chile, which is attractive for all Spanish-speaking countries.  

Later, they met with Neil Brown, Managing Director at KKR Global Institute and KKR Infrastructure. The firm recently signed an agreement with the Spanish telecommunications company Telefónica to set up Chile’s first open access wholesale fiber optics company.  

KKR has acquired a 60% share in Telefónica Chile’s existing fiber optic network, the largest in Chile. Mr. Brown said that the company aims to grow its domestic coverage and serve smaller cities, while promoting the arrival of fiber optics to various parts of Chile. He also indicated that the company has an interest in the opportunities available in the energy and infrastructure sectors (concessions). 

After the meeting, Mr. Brown wrote on his LinkedIn account that “KKR & Co. Inc. is honored to be investing in Chile’s digital future.”  

Meetings in San Francisco and Silicon Valley: Netflix has its eye on Chile 

After traveling across the country to the West Coast, the InvestChile team visited Netflix’s headquarters in Los Gatos, California. There they met with Joshua Korn, Director of Global Innovation and Technology Public Policy at Netflix, and they also had the opportunity to meet the co-founder and co-CEO, Reed Hastings. 

The company, which offers streaming services and currently has offices in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Colombia, recognizes business opportunities in Chile’s local film productions and in the development of infrastructure to support its operations in the country. 

In San Francisco they met with Max Rencoret, Vice-President of Growth and Marketing Operations at Samsara. The company, which provides Internet-connected sensor hardware and software solutions for industrial IoT applications and fleet management, has been named to the Forbes Cloud 100 list, the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 list, and it is among the fastest growing companies in the Americas, according to the Financial Times. Samsara is currently exploring new markets for investment. 

While in San Francisco, they also met with Dr. Chi-Foon Chan, President and co-CEO of Synopsys Inc., who highlighted the importance of its development center in Chile and the high level of local mathematicians. The CEO noted that Synopsys is starting a new customer support service that will conduct global operations from Chile and that the company is constantly seeking new opportunities for growth. 

The company provides software, intellectual property and services used to design integrated circuits and electronic systems. It also offers electronic design automation software for designing and testing integrated circuits. 

In the heart of the Silicon Valley, Palo Alto, the InvestChile executives met with Charlie Chu, Vice-President of Global Sales at Vizru, the company that developed the world’s first zero-code digital transformation platform.

The Vizru executive said that the company is exploring business opportunities in Latin America, where it hopes to deliver its digital transformation services using zero-code development, artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, predictive analytics, deep learning, automation, cloud and blockchain. 

“[It was] a pleasure meeting Andrés Rodríguez and Salvatore Di Giovanni during [their] visit in Silicon Valley. Next time we’ll have to do this in Santiago de Chile with the rest of the InvestChile team,” Mr. Chu published on his LinkedIn account.  

In Menlo Park, the team had a meeting with Scott Ransenberg, a partner at Riverwood Capital. The private equity and venture capital firm invests in high-growth companies in the technology and services industries. The company is seeking investment opportunities in technology companies globally, with a particular emphasis on North America, Latin America and other emerging markets. 

Once back in San Francisco, Andrés Rodríguez and Salvatore Di Giovanni met with representatives of Catapult VC, a global investment fund focused on early-stage companies that develop disruptive technologies and underserved technology ecosystems. The company said it is eager to explore business opportunities in Latin America. 

On the same day, they visited the law firm K&L Gates, which also provides services for advertising and marketing, tax advice, dispute resolution, arbitration, litigation, acquisition and portfolio management, among others. It has offices in Asia, Europe, Australia, the Middle East and the Americas. 

Lastly, they met with Valor Capital Group, which has already invested in some Chilean companies although its main focus is Brazil. Meeting participants discussed the opportunities presented by Chile’s dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystem. 

Between November 21 and 26, InvestChile’s Managing Director will lead a new investment and business opportunity roadshow in Europe with the aim of promoting Chile as a business destination in Latin America. The agenda includes meetings and investment workshops in the Netherlands, Spain, France, Italy and Germany. For more information, please click here.  

InvestChile US Tour