As many as 2,000 Netrepreneurs and venture capitalists would cram into the upscale Ribera del Este club for an evening of extreme schmoozing. And judging from the absence of red badges, there are hardly any investors in the house. Around the world, investors are suddenly discovering what a profitless wonder the Net really is. Latin America boasts one of the fastest growth rates in Internet use on the planet. The number of Latins online is expected to soar from 16 million this year to 66.6 million by 2005, according to Jupiter Media Metrix Inc. in New York.
Trouble is, competition is heating up even faster, with new Web sites sprouting up daily.
The sudden reversal in investor sentiment is evident in the stock prices of the few Latin Net companies that trade publicly. Still, StarMedia is doing better than most. Countless smaller sites have been forced to merge with rivals or close down. Bonchristiano admits that Submarino's backers will have to kick in more cash to keep it afloat until the end of 2001, when he hopes to break even. Consolidation is all but inevitable.