Written by Monique Powell, Founder of QuickCart
The Caribbean region is often ignored and undervalued by tech startup founders and the investors who support them. When I talk about the Caribbean here, I’m not referring to the LAC. I’m talking about the actual Caribbean region.
Take the food and grocery delivery market as an example. The Caribbean is home to 46.4 million people and has a conservatively estimated SAM (Serviceable Addressable Market) of 4.9 million, representing an annual opportunity of $820 million.
This means that strong players have a good chance of reaching unicorn status simply by focusing on the Caribbean. And of course, once you find success in the Caribbean, you don’t have to stop there.
Many years ago, I read an article about Irish entrepreneur Dennis O’Brien and his decisions about where Digicel should operate. That stuck with me. They first considered acquiring a mobile operator license in the US, but then decided that even if they had access to significant amounts of capital, they would still be able to outspend their existing telecom giants in the US. I found it difficult to try to compete with. Probably not the best decision.
But he recognized that if you looked at the Caribbean region as a whole rather than as small individual markets, there was a huge opportunity to build a giant company on it, and he did. Recent struggles aside, what they have built is remarkable, and their decision to focus on the then-underserved Caribbean has been a key part of their success. Ta.
Gemstones of opportunity exist in often underserved and overlooked markets, but only those willing to be forward-thinking and willing to take risks can reap the benefits. .
