Colombia’s First Unicorn Keeps Delivering
Publicada en Americas Quarterly el 6 de enero de 2025
Rappi’s rise to a multi-billion-dollar company preparing for an IPO shows the potential for disruption in Latin America’s economies and job markets.
In 2023, the debate over what Rappi owes its rappitenderos in Colombia heated up as left-wing President Gustavo Petro pursued ambitious labor reform. That year, Rappi reported that around 130,000 rappitenderos, or delivery workers, used its platform in the country—a significant employment lifeline given Colombia’s 10% joblessness rate and 56% informality rate. Rappi also estimated that 40% are migrants, including many of the 2.8 million Venezuelans now in Colombia. “Rappi and other platforms like it probably saved the day for most of these migrant workers,” said Luis Fernando Mejía, the director of Fedesarrollo, a Bogotá think tank. Click here to access the full article.
