How Latin America’s largest IT provider made the jump to the U.S. market
Sonda was among the first Chilean companies to provide IT services across Latin America, where today it has a presence in 10 countries. With more than 23,000 employees, including 14,000 engineers and tech professionals, it provides consulting for corporate IT infrastructure, applications to support clients with its own or third-party software, and platforms through a network of regional alliances with firms like Cisco, IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle. Until recently, however, it shied away from the U.S. market.
Now celebrating its 50th anniversary since starting in 1974– when it launched to provide IT services to Chilean energy and forestry company Copec – Sonda expanded into the U.S. market in 2022. It was, in many ways, the final chapter of a remarkable growth curve that last year saw revenues reach nearly $1.5 billion.
“Expanding into the U.S. market was a natural progression for us. While the competition is fierce, our solid value proposition and focus on hiring local talent has been instrumental in our growth,” says CEO of Sonda USA Maurizio Rinaldi. “When we started the operation in Chile, the founder understood very quickly that it was important to have to compete on size and geography. So, we quickly opened operations in other countries.”
Sonda’s clientele today spans North and South America, including customers in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, the U.S., Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and Uruguay, catering primarily to major multinational corporations operating in diverse sectors. “We work with some of the largest clients in each market, often global companies with operations spanning multiple countries,” says Rinaldi.
With offices strategically located in several U.S. cities, including Miami and Dallas, Sonda has set its sights on expanding that footprint, aiming for its U.S. operations to represent at least 15 percent of its global business. “Our U.S. operation, although relatively young, has been growing rapidly. We currently have over 200 dedicated employees serving clients across five states,” says Rinaldi. The IT provider says that revenue has grown more than 20 percent annually since expanding to the U.S.
The company followed the trend of many Chilean tech firms moving to Miami with the intention of scaling up. “Miami offers a strategic location and a vibrant tech ecosystem,” explains Rinaldi. “And it’s a melting pot of industries, from finance to healthcare, making it an ideal hub for our operations.” While he remains tight-lipped about specific U.S. clients, Rinaldi hints at partnerships in the banking, healthcare, and government sectors.
Sonda’s competitive advantage is to offer a comprehensive approach to technology solutions for business processes. Rinaldi elaborates, “We provide a wide range of services, blending cutting-edge technology from our partners with our innovations. Whether it’s software development for banking or smart city solutions, we cover it all.” Now a publicly traded stock on the Santiago exchange, the tech firm reported revenues of $1.483 billion last year, with pre-tax earnings of $143 million, and more than 5,000 clients in 3,000 cities in the Western Hemisphere. Rinaldi said Sonda will likely pursue acquisitions of local service-provider companies in the U.S. market as part of its expansion. “The journey has just begun, and the best is yet to come,” he says.
