Introducing MentorMate Paraguay

Just over one year ago, I enjoyed a much cherished escape from Minnesota winter to the Southern Hemisphere. While it wasn’t my first time venturing south of the equator, it was my first visit to Paraguay and I was so excited for the opportunity at hand. The reason for the trip was to explore a new strategic partnership between MentorMate and Software Natura, a custom software development company based in the capital city of Asunción. 

My first trip like this was over 20 years ago and to a different country, but the outcome was the same. We sought a successful partnership based on finding the strong technical and English skills we knew we needed. In this case, our exploration proved even more fruitful. With Software Natura, we found a mature, thriving engineering services company with client and cultural ties to U.S. clients in the Midwest.

We were also struck by the similarities between the origins of our two companies. An entrepreneur (Björn Stansvik for MentorMate, Sebastian Ortiz-Chamorro for Software Natura) connects with technical talent in another country and discovers that they have the will and skill to build things for U.S. clients. From there, a services business based on connecting U.S.-based clients to talented technologists who use Agile methodologies to deliver great products takes shape.  

After the trip, the most common comment among our group was: “They remind me of us 10 years ago, smaller and more focused serving a few clients, but also in some ways more capable because of those tight relationships.”

Having spent most of my career seeking out and creating sustainable partnerships like this, we were all thrilled at the opportunity to reshape our global approach with a much closer timezone.  We had tried options in Asia but all failed under the strain of insufficient overlap to sustain a good Agile practice. When we initially realized the potential of Bulgaria in Eastern Europe, we knew we had a formula for success that we again recognized in Paraguay. Both have a great university system that produces students skilled in math and science, and has been for many years. They both have a growing and thriving technical community, a willingness to offset their work day to provide more than enough overlap with the U.S., and a group of committed leaders who are passionate about building software.

Software Natura has a proven track record of successful long term relationships with clients in both the U.S. and in Paraguay. One of those relationships even extended to their client trusting Software Natura to fill roles like product manager, scrum master, and architect and providing production monitoring and support. While this speaks volumes of the skills of the team and the trust they’ve had built with the client, it also reflects one of the natural advantages that additional timezone overlap creates.

MentorMate is on a mission to expand our geographies, skillsets, and services in order to become a valued partner for digital transformation and broaden our systems integrator capabilities. Last year, we set out on two important investments. The first was to extend our skills in strategy and consulting, deepen our commitment to Enterprise Design Thinking and Human Centered Design, and mature our already significant engineering capabilities. Second, we sought to expand our geographic footprint into a new delivery center that would open up new opportunities for us, particularly in the western U.S. timezones. We also set out to expand our skills with new practices for DXP/Content and Data.

We are thrilled and proud to have made progress in all of these areas, and see great opportunity in 2023 as we continue to work to address the worldwide shortage of technical talent. We recently deepened our partnership by acquiring and merging Software Natura into MentorMate’s operations. With this acquisition, we now have delivery centers in two countries representing both the Eastern European and Latin American markets and the opportunity to grow twice as fast as a result.  

We’re also pleased to see the breadth of skills available in Paraguay and the greater Latin American region including design, engineering, and data. With team members in 25+ countries being managed from our delivery centers in Bulgaria and Paraguay, we are well positioned to have another record growth year.