US Tech Companies That Have R&D Offices in Mexico (Google, Apple, Intel and more!)

American companies have been going south of the border for years for cheap outsourced labor. Obviously, that hasn’t changed. But the tech industry boom in the US is creating opportunities in Mexico that nobody expected.

What’s changed? And why are US tech companies and startups eyeing Mexico?

Since FAANG and other large corporations grab the best talent in the US, it’s hard to find qualified professionals. That’s why more and more US companies are looking south. It’s simple — Mexico is full of talented software engineers.

We looked through Linkedin, Glassdoor, and did some good old-fashioned Google detective work to put together a list.

US Tech Companies That Hire Software Engineers (and open R&D offices) in Mexico

Over the years, US tech has learned one of the biggest downsides of outsourcing — uninspired software engineers that don’t feel like they’re part of the core team (and that’s because they’re not).

Outsourcing companies have stayed with the agile times, they’ve adapted and become better at serving clients. However, there’s a better way, and many US tech companies are using it to their advantage.

Direct-hiring talented software engineers from Mexico (among other countries like Argentina and Ukraine). Furthermore, we’ve seen the trend gain popularity in recent times due to the 2020 you-know-what.

This is by no means a complete list — unfortunately, there’s no directory you can look up. But this is the next best thing.

Google

• What they do: Google creates Internet-related services, technologies and products.
• Location: Mountain View, CA
• Number of employees: 10,000+
• Last funding type: Private Equity
• Total Funding: N/A
• IPO Status: Public
• Website: google.com

What we know about Google’s activity in Mexico: Google opened its first R&D office in Mexico back in 2005. In 2014, they opened a brand-new state-of-the-art office in Mexico City. To take a glimpse inside, check out this video (tour starts @3:00). Currently, there are 26 openings in Engineering & Technology

Walmart

• What they do: Walmart is a multinational retail corporation that operates several chains of discount department and warehouse stores.
• Location: Bentonville, AR
• Number of employees: 10001+
• Last funding type: N/A
• Total Funding: N/A
• IPO Status: Public
• Website: walmart.com

What we know about Walmart’s activity in Mexico: Many Americans probably don’t know that the Mexico City Sam’s Club was the first market in Walmart’s International division. They are the region’s largest retailer with over 2,000 stores. As of this writing, Walmart is hiring for software engineering roles ranging from Junior to Tech Lead.

Microsoft

• What they do: Microsoft is a software and hardware corporation that develops and sells a range of products and services.
• Location: Redmond, WA
• Number of employees: 10001+
• Last funding type: Venture – Series Unknown
• Total Funding: $1M
• IPO Status: Public
• Website: microsoft.com

What we know about Microsoft’s activity in Mexico: Microsoft has a sizable office in Mexico City. They are currently hiring for almost 40 positions. Also, Microsoft is investing heavily in Mexico’s digital transformation. In February 2020, Microsoft announced a $1.1 billion investment plan to drive digital transformation in Mexico including its first cloud data center.

Intel

• What they do: Intel designs, manufactures and sells integrated digital technology platforms worldwide.
• Location: Santa Clara, CA
• Number of employees: 10001+
• Last funding type: Seed
• Total Funding: $2.5M
• IPO Status: Public
• Website: intel.com

What we know about Intel’s activity in Mexico: Intel has two offices in Mexico — Guadalajara and Mexico City. News sources say that Intel invested $229M to create the Guadalajara center. There are currently 60+ openings for software engineers.

Lyft

• What they do: Lyft is an app that matches drivers with passengers who request rides.
• Location: San Francisco, CA
• Number of employees: 5,001-10,000
• Last funding type: Secondary Market
• Total Funding: $4.9B
• IPO Status: Public
• Website: lyft.com

What we know about Lyft’s activity in Mexico: In January 2021, Lyft announced it was opening an engineering office in Mexico City. The press release states that “The new CDMX office will be another home for our engineering teams, tapping into the wealth of entrepreneurial and innovative talent from Mexico’s finest institutions.” As of February 2021, there are six engineering positions in the Mexico City office.

Oracle

• What they do: Oracle is a world leader in enterprise software and hardware systems.
• Location: Redwood Shores, CA
• Number of employees: 10,000+
• Last funding type: Venture – Series Unknown
• Total Funding: N/A
• IPO Status: Public
• Website: oracle.com

What we know about Oracle’s activity in Mexico: Oracle has a large office in Guadalajara. The corporation has over 200 job openings for product development and IT roles.

Apple

• What they do: Apple is a corporation that designs and produces consumer electronics, PCs, and software.
• Location: Cupertino, CA
• Number of employees: 10001+
• Last funding type: Post-IPO Debt
• Total Funding: $6.2B
• IPO Status: Public
• Website: apple.com

What we know about Apple’s activity in Mexico: We couldn’t find much on the current situation in Apple’s Mexico City office apart from Senior Software Engineer openings

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

• What they do: Amazon Web Services provides cloud computing and IT infrastructure services to individuals, businesses, and governments.
• Location: Seattle, WA
• Number of employees: 10001+
• Last funding type: N/A
• Total Funding: N/A
• IPO Status: Private
• Website: aws.amazon.com

What we know about AWS’s activity in Mexico: AWS has a variety of job openings, ranging from Software Engineers to Android Engineers and Data Scientist roles.

Honeywell

• What they do: Honeywell International is a technology and manufacturing company that offers energy, safety and security solutions and technologies.
• Location: Morristown,, NJ
• Number of employees: 10001+
• Last funding type: Grant
• Total Funding: $11.4M
• IPO Status: Public
• Website: honeywell.com

What we know about Honeywell’s activity in Mexico: Honeywell is looking for both front- and back-end software engineers in Mexico. They have a modern office in Mexico City.

Stripe

• What they do: Stripe is a web, mobile payments, and financial services company.
• Location: San Francisco, CA
• Number of employees: 1001-5000
• Last funding type: Secondary Market
• Total Funding: $1.6B
• IPO Status: Private
• Website: stripe.com

What we know about Stripe’s activity in Mexico: Stripe opened an office in 2019 in Mexico City. The Mexican talent will be, “focused on building products for the most ambitious technology companies in Latin America.” Stripe is currently hiring across a wide range of roles including engineering.

Blue Yonder

• What they do: Blue Yonder is an end-to-end digital fulfillment platform.
• Location: Scottsdale, AZ
• Number of employees: 1001-5000
• Last funding type: Secondary Market
• Total Funding: $1.7B
• IPO Status: Private
  Website: blueyonder.com

What we know about Blue Yonder’s activity in Mexico: Blue Yonder has two offices — in Monterrey and Mexico City. Judging by their Careers page, Blue Yonder’s engineering teams are in Monterrey.

Nextiva

• What they do: Nextiva is a business communications platform that links phones, apps, AI, and automation.
• Location: Scottsdale, Arizona, United States
• Number of employees: 1001-5000
• Last funding type: N/A
• Total Funding: N/A
• IPO Status: Private
• Website: nextiva.com

What we know about Nextiva’s activity in Mexico: In addition to their Guadalajara office, Nextiva’s other global R*office is in Kyiv, Ukraine. Nextiva’s website currently has three openings for Software Engineers.

Brightcove

• What they do: Brightcove offers cloud-based digital media platforms for content creators and publishers.
• Location: Boston, MA
• Number of employees: 251-500
• Last funding type: Post-IPO Equity
• Total Funding: $143M
• IPO Status: Public
• Website: brightcove.com

What we know about Brightcove’s activity in Mexico: After acquiring Ooyala, a cloud video technology company, Brightcove gained an R&D office in Guadalajara, Mexico. There are currently 12 job openings for frontend/backend and mobile engineers

Banzai

• What they do: Banzai is a unique, cloud-based event management platform.
• Location: Seattle, WA
• Number of employees: 51-100
• Last funding type: Series A
• Total Funding: $7M
• IPO Status: Private
• Website: getbanzai.com

What we know about Banzai’s activity in Mexico: Banzai is looking for several Senior Software Engineers and it seems that a good chunk of their engineering talents hails from Mexico.

Paystand

• What they do: PayStand is a cloud-based B2B billing & payment platform.
• Location: Scotts Valley, CA
• Number of employees: 11-50
• Last funding type: Series B
• Total Funding: $23M
• IPO Status: Private
• Website: paystand.com

What we know about Paystand’s activity in Mexico: Paystand has expanded its teams in Mexico twice (as far as we know) — in 2017 and 2018. Paystand’s CEO, Jeremy Almond, has stated previously that he expects Silicon Valley to look south for talent.

Particle

• What they do: Particle provides software and hardware for IoT applications.
• Location: San Francisco, CA
• Number of employees: 101-250
• Last funding type: Series C
• Total Funding: $75.8M
• IPO Status: Private
• Website: particle.io

What we know about Particle’s activity in Mexico: Particle has an office in Guadalajara. They currently have three job openings in the engineering department.

Scale AI

• What they do: Scale AI is a data platform for AI that helps machine learning teams level-up their skills.
• Location: San Francisco, CA
• Number of employees: 101-250
• Last funding type: Series D
• Total Funding: $277.6M
• IPO Status: Private
• Website: scale.com

What we know about Scale AI’s activity in Mexico: Scale AI has around 25 employees in their Mexico City office and is hiring for various roles including software engineers.

MSIGHTS

• What they do: The MSIGHTS Platform is an automated data management built for marketers.
• Location: Charlotte, NC
• Number of employees: 11-50
• Last funding type: N/A
• Total Funding: N/A
• IPO Status: Private
• Website: msights.com

What we know about MSIGHTS’s activity in Mexico: MSIGHTS has an R&D office in Monterrey. Considering MSIGHTS’ CTO is from Monterrey, this doesn’t come as a surprise. MSIGHTS is hiring for 30+ roles at the moment, which shows that they’re investing heavily in expanding their Mexican teams.

YaloChat

• What they do: Yalochat develops an AI-based CRM platform aimed at helping businesses serve customers better.
• Location: San Francisco, CA
• Number of employees: 51-100
• Last funding type: Series B
• Total Funding: $23M
• IPO Status: Private
• Website: yalochat.com

What we know about Yalochat’s activity in Mexico: Yalochat is still considered by some to be a Mexican startup. However, their headquarters are in Silicon Valley. The company raised a $15 million Series B in 2020. The majority of Yalo’s team is based in Mexico.

Skycatch

• What they do: Skycatch builds tech that captures, processes and analyzes 3D drone data.
• Location: San Francisco, CA
• Number of employees: 11-50
• Last funding type: Secondary Market
• Total Funding: $46.6M
• IPO Status: Private
• Website: skycatch.com

What we know about Skycatch’s activity in Mexico: Skycatch is hiring in Guadalajara. It’s unclear if they have a physical R&D office in Mexico, but judging from the number of job openings, it’s likely they do.

One Inc.

Acquired by Great Hill Partners

• What they do: One Inc. develops a digital payments platform for insurance providers.
• Location: Folsom, California, United States
• Number of employees: 101-250
• Last funding type: Series B
• Total Funding: $52.2M
• IPO Status: Private
• Website: oneinc.com

What we know about One Inc’s activity in Mexico: One Inc was acquired by Great Hill Partners in February 2020. From what we found on their website and job listings, One Inc has an office in Puerto Vallarta.

Verato

• What they do: Verato provides cloud-based patient matching and identity resolution services.
• Location: Mclean, VA
• Number of employees: 51-100
• Last funding type: Series C
• Total Funding: $35M
• IPO Status: Private
• Website: verato.com

What we know about Verato’s activity in Mexico: Verato employs over 30 engineers in Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico. They’re expanding and looking to hire more engineering roles.

Bonus: Companies Outside the US That Hire in Mexico

SAP

• What they do: SAP develops enterprise software for a diverse range of industries.
• Location: Walldorf, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany
• Number of employees: 10,000+
• Last funding type: Post-IPO Equity
• Total Funding: $1.3B
• IPO Status: Public
• Website: sap.com

What we know about SAP’s activity in Mexico: SAP has an office in Mexico City. They’re hiring for various roles related to software engineering and support.

VIQ Solutions

• What they do: VIQ Solutions develops AI-based voice and video capture tech and solutions.
• Location: Markham, Ontario, Canada
• Number of employees: 11-50
• Last funding type: N/A
• Total Funding: N/A
• IPO Status: Public
• Website: viqsolutions.com

What we know about VIQ Solutions’ activity in Mexico: Most likely, VIQ has an office in Guadalajara. They list Guadalajara in the site footer, and the majority of their Mexican engineering team is based there.

Takeaways — Why are US tech companies opening R&D offices in Mexico?

Mexico is advancing at the speed of light.

They have so much to offer, both in quality and quantity, that it’s a no-brainer to look for talent there.

Key Facts:

• 160k+ tech talent pool.
• Companies like Google, Microsoft, Intel, Lyft, Stripe, and startups such as Paystand, Skycatch, Particle, Scale AI, and many others are already set up in Mexico.
• Mexico has tons of software engineers with Fintech domain expertise thanks to the recent Mexican Fintech Revolution.
• With the recent adoption of USMCA (NAFTA’s successor), Mexican IP rights and digital assets laws have become aligned with US laws — a welcome sight for US tech.
  Talented engineers are turning into successful entrepreneurs, creating change and driving innovation to digitally transform the Mexican middle class.