MARCOS ARAUJO

Founder/CEO, Esportudo

Age: 27

Heritage: Brazilian-American

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Notable Accomplishments:

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●     Sales rep of the year, Goji

●     Top Development Rep, HubSpot

 

By: Alejandro Ramirez

 

Marcos Araujo is out to capture the online market for Latin American sports fans with his website, Esportudo. Since its 2016 launch, the outlet has grown from 2,000 visits to 2,000,000, as of September 2017. The site aggregates sports news across Latin America, allowing users to create custom profiles to efficiently follow their favorite teams and athletes. He also leads a team of 75 content writers.

 

The idea for Esportudo has roots in Araujo’s love for Brazilian soccer, and the gap he noticed between U.S. sports coverage and that of Brazil.

 

“I compared the tech and content being produced here in the U.S. to the content in Brazil,” said Araujo, himself Brazilian-American. “I always wanted something better, not just for myself, but also for all the fans in Latin America.”

 

Prior to the site’s launch, he gained experience reaching out to Latin American markets during his time with HubSpot – a Boston-based inbound marketing firm – where he and two coworkers opened the company up to the Latin American market. A salesman at the time, he developed Esportudo on the HubSpot platform and, in 2015, he started running the website full time.

 

The model was inspired by Bleacher Report, one of Araujo’s favorite sports sites.

 

“I was always a big Bleacher Report fan growing up… because it was the best way for me to stay up to date,” he said. “That’s the model we’re adapting for Latin America.”

 

Born to Brazilian immigrants, Araujo grew up in Marlborough.  He earned a bachelor’s degree in Finance and Operations from UMass Amherst in 2012.

 

Araujo, who now lives in Boston, helps other startups at the Northeastern University accelerator.

 

“There’s a lot of good talent here,” he said about Boston’s startup scene. “A lot of the people we’ve met that work with us are from the surrounding schools–it’s helped us out a lot.

Going forward, Araujo said Esportudo is already on track to become the top sports website in Latin America. The site will also begin producing content in Spanish at the end of 2017 (it’s currently a Portuguese language outlet). Beyond that, he’s eager for new endeavors.

 

“I do want to branch off into new things. Deep down, I always felt I was a creator, a creative person in general,” he said.

 

He also hopes to find a role where he can help Brazil develop in terms of tech and leadership.

 

“I really want to position myself as someone who is really pushing the country forward and innovating.”