Vertical Software Series - Post #2: Vertical Software will take LatAm by storm
At Polymath Ventures, we are excited about the Vertical Software solutions that are beginning to take hold in LatAm, but it is still early days, and we are even more excited about what's to come over the next few years for the following reasons:
- Blue Ocean. In other regions, such as the US, a vast majority of foundational industries consolidated and modernized decades ago, adopting technology in the process. The new Vertical Software opportunities in these regions are therefore limited, with most new opportunities in very niche industries such as Roofing, Extermination, Airplane Maintenance, etc, with limited TAMs. Meanwhile, in LatAm, there are many $100B+ foundational industries that have yet to modernize and/or consolidate. They remain fragmented, traditional, and analog. Vertical Software as a business model is very good at dealing with the modernization and consolidation of industries, representing a generational opportunity to build software solutions that modernize foundational industries such as Manufacturing, Trucking, Construction, and Health Care.
- LLMs. In earlier tech eras, Vertical Software was exclusively adopted by companies in consolidated industries with modern tech stacks - structured data in systems of record and databases. Very few industries in LatAm fit this bill, which is one of the main reasons that scarce Vertical Software solutions have taken hold to date in the region. Today’s Vertical Software business model can use LLMs to handle workflows with unstructured data, meaning AI can be the missing piece that finally brings complex, legacy industries into the modern era.
- From SaaS to Software. Low ACVs are a Vertical Software killer, making it very difficult for the unit economics to work. Most industries in LatAm suffer from this problem given MSMBs' limited willingness to pay ("WTP") for software. The evolution from offering pure software and charging a simple SaaS fee to a much wider ecosystem of solutions solves this problem. Through embedded finance, advertising, transaction fees, charging a commission for demand generation, and payment fees, among others, Vertical Software solutions are able to significantly increase ACV, which is critical for the success of this model in LatAm.
- Enablers. Evolving from pure SaaS fees to alternative monetization strategies requires many enablers. Those enablers are taking form in LatAm, including SMB digitization, open finance, and payments and banking infrastructure, among others.
What's next?
Please be on the lookout for post #3 which will be released next week and will reveal our framework for evaluating an industry's likelihood of adopting Vertical Software solutions.
We want to build with you!
If you are a founder who is building or thinking about building a Vertical Software solution for the LatAm market, we would love to hear from you. Please reach out via email at [email protected] or via LinkedIn by writing our Investment Director Drew Hallman.
