Equity crowdfunding in Latin America
Equity crowdfunding lets you buy a small stake in a startup through a regulated online platform — often for the price of a dinner out. Over the past decade, most major LATAM economies wrote dedicated rules for it. Here is how the regimes work and what to check before you back a campaign.
How a campaign actually works
The startup lists an offer
On a platform authorized by the local securities regulator, publishing a target amount, valuation or instrument terms, and mandatory disclosure documents.
Investors subscribe online
You commit an amount, sign digitally, and transfer only if the campaign reaches its minimum target. Fail to reach it, and your money comes back.
You become a shareholder (or note holder)
Depending on the country, you hold shares directly, through a nominee vehicle, or via a convertible instrument. The platform reports periodically while the company grows — or doesn’t.
The rules, country by country
Brazil
The most developed regime in the region. The securities commission (CVM) has regulated crowdfunding since 2017 — currently under Resolução CVM 88 — with per-company raise caps, per-investor annual limits for retail investors, and mandatory platform registration.
Mexico
Crowdfunding institutions (IFCs) are regulated under the 2018 Fintech Law and supervised by the CNBV. Platforms need a license, and both debt and equity crowdfunding operate under investor-protection limits.
Colombia
Financiación colaborativa is regulated (Decreto 1357 de 2018 and updates), with authorized platforms supervised by the Superintendencia Financiera and caps that scale with investor qualification.
Chile
The 2023 Fintec Law brought crowdfunding platforms under CMF supervision with a registration regime. Chile also has one of the region’s longest-running equity-crowdfunding scenes in practice.
Where the campaigns actually are
Every regime below keeps a public register of the platforms it authorizes. Start there — the register is the only list that is always current, and a platform absent from it is not a platform. The names beside each register are among the better-known operators in that market; they are examples, not recommendations, and we take nothing from anyone for appearing here.
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Authorized is not the same as safe
A live example worth keeping in mind: in April 2026 Colombia’s Superintendencia Financiera ordered the toma de posesión (regulatory takeover) of Bloom Crowdfunding S.A. — a platform it had itself authorized — citing net equity fallen below half of subscribed capital, serious inconsistencies in the information reported to it, and repeated non-compliance with its instructions. Registration means someone is watching and that rules exist. It does not mean your capital is guaranteed, nor that the platform will still be standing in three years. Diversify across platforms as well as across companies.
What to check before backing a campaign
Platform authorization
Is the platform actually registered with the regulator (CVM, CNBV, SFC, CMF)? Every regime keeps a public registry — check it. Unregistered "crowdfunding" is just wiring money to strangers.
What you receive
Direct shares? A nominee structure? A convertible? Each affects your rights, your taxes, and whether you can ever sell.
Valuation vs. traction
Campaigns set their own valuations, and optimism is free. Compare the implied valuation with the company’s actual revenue and stage before accepting the story.
Exit path
How do crowdfunding investors historically get liquidity on this platform — buybacks, acquisitions, secondary windows? If nobody can answer, assume your money is locked indefinitely.