In 1999, four entrepreneurs kicked off with a project to revolutionize financial trade and services through technology in Latin America. That is how Mercado Libre was born. The company has been operating for 25 years, and is running in 18 countries, ranking among 100 companies in Nasdaq,  without forgetting about its startup culture and essence.

Developing innovative products, generating genuine work, promoting inclusion, tearing down barriers and bridging inequality in the region are the essential values that led Marcos Galperin and a bunch of entrepreneurs to change the lives of millions of people in Latin America, while they were studying in the United States of America, in Stanford University.

The story about the growth of  Mercado Libre is seeded in the entrepreneurial culture at the core of our DNA and its huge multiplying effect. From its beginnings as a marketplace and an online auction site, its value proposition keeps growing through an ecosystem which increases positive impact opportunities significantly in the socio-economic development of the region .

Technological development and knowledge-based innovation are our main focus, as the driving forces of positive change, which we encourage to improve people’s present and future, providing them with new ways to buy, sell, grow their business, entertain and connect.

In our early beginnings, business units such as Mercado Pago and Mercado Envíos were not even in mind. We have encountered obstacles which we could turn into challenges and generated solutions. We ran risks with each of them. We succeeded and failed. We’ve learnt and innovated and we have achieved an impact which has led the way to new paths.

We are optimistic about the future, and we are always challenged by what tomorrow may bring. Our entrepreneurial energy encourages us to become active players and to give our best to capture the best opportunities. We are strongly committed to overseas communities and that’s why we like to say that, “The best is yet to come.”

That is how Mercado Libre was born. Like Minded people got together with an idea in common: to think about what could be generated, not in the coming months but in the coming years. We wanted to push our limits a bit further and take risks all the time. We never wanted to give up. We wanted to believe that there was always something that could be done better in relation to our users’ experience.

Nowadays, more than one million families get their main income through our company. We have changed one million lives and we want them to grow even more.

We dream big. That 's who we are.