Mercado Libre

Mercado Libre was founded in 1999 in Buenos Aires by Marcos Galperin and a few partners, inspired by the online auction sites of the time. It grew into the biggest e-commerce company in Latin America, operating in many countries of the region, with Brazil, Mexico and Argentina as its largest markets. Like Amazon's marketplace, most products are listed by independent sellers, from people clearing out their garage to large brands, who pay a commission on each sale.

To make online shopping work in a region where many people had no credit card and trusted strangers little, it built the missing pieces itself. Mercado Pago started as a way to pay safely inside the marketplace and became a fintech of its own: a digital wallet, QR payments in shops, card readers for small merchants, transfers, savings and loans. Mercado Envíos is its logistics network, with warehouses, sorting centers, delivery fleets and cargo planes, so a package can arrive the next day or even the same day.

It makes money from sale commissions, shipping fees, payment processing fees, interest on loans and ads that sellers buy to appear first. Behind all of it is a large technology operation: Mercado Libre builds most of its own software and is one of the biggest employers of software engineers in Latin America.