New F1 driver Colapinto shows off power of Argentina's 'unicorns'

Sometimes, there are sportsmen or sporting events that illustrate an era. Mosaics of a global vitraux. Franco Colapinto's arrival in Formula 1 can be included on that long list of milestones that have taken Argentina’s flag to the top of the sporting world: the Pilar-born driver has now reached the highest category of motor racing.

Colapinto, 21, does so with emerging members of the new economy, digital native companies, backing him. Cultural heavyweights are involved too: it was Bizarrap, the internationally known superstar DJ and artist who promoted and found him sponsors and funding, first for his exploits in Formula 2, and now in the big time with Formula 1.

The Pilar-born star's arrival is an example of how 21st-century companies and Argentina’s unicorns design and plan out their commercial strategies. Twenty days ago, when Colapinto was a racer in his lower divisions on the international circuit, Globant organised and sponsored, together with the 9z Team, its first Sim Racing Tournament (the virtual simulator of a race). The finalists were able to compete in the final against Colapinto and Facu Dudulec, the professional simracer for the 9z-Globant team.

A prominent figure that virtual and real space was Martín Migoya, the co-founder and CEO of Globant, a giant software engineering and information technology company that has grown exponentially in the last decade. It is considered to be one of Argentina’s four national unicorns together with Mercado Libre, OLX and Despegar. Globant is already twice as valuable on the New York Stock Exchange as other national symbols, such as the state energy firm YPF.

Migoya said that day: “This alliance between Globant and Franco is much more than a simple collaboration; it arises from a shared vision. We firmly believe in the power of Latin American talent – from the streets of Buenos Aires to the farthest corners of Latin America, we see the potential of talent that is ready to take the world by storm. We are confident that from LATAM we can lead and set the pace of what is happening in the world, be it in F1 or in the technology industry.”

Just weeks later, the prediction is already becoming come true. Bizarrap called Migoya, asking him to financially support Colapinto and, thus, turn him into a Formula 2 driver. Ever since that moment, the commercial relationship between the racer and the unicorn has been transformed. It is no longer just a simple act of sponsorship either, Globant has become a partner of the Williams team and also of Formula 1 on a global scale.

Being a partner means that the tech firm offers them a service in exchange for advertising: it develops the pit wall, an intercommunication system between the teams and the racer, and also new experiences for the mobile application used by fans.

Globant has established similar agreements with FIFA and the Los Angeles Clippers. In the case of the former, the development of its FIFA Plus platform; with the NBA franchise, the installation of a pioneering screen system that creates a hybrid experience inside the new stadium.

It is true, as journalist Marcelo Gantman wrote recently in his ‘Big Data Sports’ newsletter, that Colapinto not only embraces the new, but also the old economy (Quilmes or Celulosa Argentina, to cite two cases). But his strongest support has come from Argentina's leading companies from this century. The fact that Globant is a partner and not only a sponsor of Williams generated, almost immediately, the entrance of another unicorn like Mercado Libre into the economic structure that will support the Argentine driver throughout the rest of this season.

BigBox, the firm owned by Gastón Parisier (another businessman who has backed the driver since before), Ripio and Fly Bondi are also in the photograph that characterises an era: technology, fintech, logistics and business solutions – a far cry from the tobacco companies that put their logo on the Formula 1 cars at the end of the 20th century.