1.1 Introduction
Companies from developed countries have pioneered technology-driven and high-tech entrepreneurship worldwide. The most important highly intensive technology companies are headquartered in developed countries, with a heavy concentration in the United States (US). For example, companies from the US West Coast such as Apple , Google , Facebook , and Uber have created the most important center for the attraction of today’s high-tech world. However, numerous entrepreneurial high-tech businesses have lately come out and grown in countries like China , India , Russia and Brazil. In the last two decades these prominent emerging markets , taken together, have become the largest share of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and enhanced their economic growth, infrastructure improvements, social development and higher education . In addition, some regions of these countries have taken on a new level of importance in promoting high-tech entrepreneurship .
There is a growing body of research related to high-tech entrepreneurship in recent years. While an accepted definition does not exist, in this book we are discussing high-tech entrepreneurship as the capacity to create and manage a high intense technology-based business venture. The most apparent way of discussing high-tech entrepreneurship is focusing on the start of new high-tech businesses, here referred to as high-tech startups . Another way is discussing how the local innovation ecosystem can promote high-tech entrepreneurship .
Innovation ecosystem is defined by complex relationships between diverse types of actors and institutional entities that enable technology development and innovation (Jackson, 2011). The actors include the human capital (entrepreneurs , investors , researchers, university faculty , industry representatives , etc.) and also material resources such as funds, equipment and facilities. The institutional entities include the universities, colleges of engineering , business schools, companies, venture capitalists (VC), research institutes , business assistance organizations, funding agencies, policy makers , etc.). The development of high-tech startups often depends on the relationships formed within their innovation ecosystems . The innovation ecosystem approach has emerged as a useful context to structure historical evidence and investigate technological development (Oh, Phillips, Park, & Lee, 2016).
High-tech startups are nascent companies in the first stage of their operations. These entrepreneurial companies are heavily concentrated in developed countries, but they are blooming in various regions of emerging markets . Beijing and Shanghai, in China , are examples, Bangalore in India , Mexico City, Moscow, in Russia , and São Paulo state in Brazil. High-tech startups are found in knowledge intensive industries such as aeronautics, pharmaceuticals, electronics, information and communications technology, optical and precision, and digital businesses , e-commerce , Internet platforms , Internet applications, digital games.
Emerging markets are not only generating high-tech startups but also unicorns (startup companies with a valuation of $1 billion or more). Examples are India’s Paytm (digital transactions), and Ola Cabs (taxi service company); Argentina’s Globant (software solutions), MercadoLibre (Latin America’s number one e-commerce platform), Despegar (an online travel company); Brazil’s Nubank (fintech company that launched a series of banking product innovations ), B2W (e-commerce platform), TOTVS (software solutions). More than half of all unicorns in the world are based in the United States, and China has the highest number of unicorns outside the United States. This includes giants such as Alibaba Group (an e-commerce platform), Baidu (Internet services and products and artificial intelligence), Didi Chuxing (taxi service company), Tencent (Internet-related services , entertainment, artificial intelligence and owner of WeChat, which is the largest messaging, social media and mobile payment app in China ) (Cahen & Oliveira, 2018).
Besides of all these unicorn examples, scholars and practitioners have often overlooked high-tech companies from emerging markets , particularly from those countries that have not yet gained worldwide recognition for high-tech sophisticated products and services . Generally, the discussion on entrepreneurship in emerging markets focuses on low-tech sectors such as agribusiness, food, natural resources and mining. High-tech entrepreneurship , which is much more representative for the degree of technology development in emerging countries, has been discussed insufficiently, and concentrated in examples from China . Rich in natural resources, one of the most prominent emerging markets , Brazil has established itself in the international markets as a commodity exporter. However, high-tech startups are consistently growing in the domestic market , and some Brazilian startups are increasingly influencing the international marketplace. The rise of high-tech entrepreneurship and the growing movement of high-tech startups in certain regions of the country is the result of the establishment of a business-friendly environment with scientific base, investors and a financial sector interested in making investments in high-risk projects for this type of business (Cahen & Oliveira, 2017).
As high-tech entrepreneurship in emerging markets has been growing and developing, we cannot assume that it will follow the same patterns as entrepreneurship in developed economies. GDP in emerging countries is growing faster, compared to traditional developed economies. The business and institutional environment setting are significantly different. Important drivers of high-tech entrepreneurship , such as investors , technology parks , and research-based universities in emerging countries are far more constrained than in developed economies. Moreover, high-tech startups may face economic and political instabilities in their home countries, which can mean barriers for potential investors (Siqueira & Bruton, 2010). For example, Brazil just faced its worst corruption scandal and deepest economic slowdown in decades.
In the context of emerging markets , this book examines the behavior of high-tech startups and important aspects of innovation ecosystems in Brazil. More specifically, the book contains a complete discussion on the experience of Brazilian high-tech startups with regard to innovation , sustainability , funding , background of the entrepreneur , and their efforts ...