McKinsey 2025: How Latin American Companies Are Scaling New Business Creation

The State of New Business Building 2025 report from McKinsey shows a clear shift across Latin America: companies are increasingly prioritizing new business development to sustain growth, protect margins, and scale innovation.

Increased Priority for New Business Building in Latin America

McKinsey’s sixth edition highlights a significant rise in corporate focus across the region:

• 70% of Latin American leaders have increased the strategic priority of building new businesses.

Their motivations include:

• Capturing emerging market opportunities
• Reallocating capital toward innovative ventures

Another 70% launched at least one new business in the past year, showing strong momentum in corporate entrepreneurship. This confirms that new business creation is becoming a core competitive strategy for LATAM companies.

Revenue Performance Surpasses Global Averages

Even if Latin America’s prioritization level is slightly below the global average, where 58% of experienced executives rate new business building as a top-five strategic priority, the financial results are impressive.

Key performance highlights:

• 67% of Latin American new businesses exceeded US$10 million in annual revenue in 2025.
• This nearly doubles the region’s 2023 figure (34%).
• It also surpasses the global benchmark of 61%.

These results reflect a growing maturity in Latin America’s corporate venture-building ecosystem.

Faster Profitability Despite Higher Capital Requirements

Latin American companies are not only building more successful ventures—they’re doing it faster.

Speed to Profitability

• 76% of new units in the region reach break-even within two years.
• This is significantly higher than the 61% global average.
• It positions LATAM as one of the fastest regions to operational profitability.

Investment Needs

• The region’s ventures require US$113 million on average, much higher than the global US$77 million.
• Despite higher investment demands, Latin America leads global operational success, followed by Asia.
• Europe and North America trail with lower success rates.

Technology Gaps: Data and AI Adoption Still Lagging

Global corporate leaders are increasingly focused on data-driven and AI-enabled business models:

• 54% plan to build new businesses using data and analytics
• 84% expect to integrate artificial intelligence into future ventures

Latin America shows more conservative projections:

• Only 39% intend to focus on data-based business models
• 67% plan to incorporate AI—high, but still below global momentum

These gaps highlight a clear opportunity for LATAM companies to accelerate digital capabilities and AI adoption to remain competitive.

Outlook: Rising Opportunities in Priority Sectors

Despite existing technology gaps, expectations for future business contribution remain strong:

• Globally, new ventures are expected to generate 19% of corporate revenues in the next five years, compared to the historical 12%.
• Although Latin America may fall slightly below this global projection, the region is positioned for growth in:
  • Subscription-based models in advanced industries
  • Sustainability and energy solutions
  • Materials innovation
  • Data analytics and AI-driven businesses

These areas reflect the sectors where LATAM companies see the strongest potential for long-term value creation.