Argentinean e-commerce firm, Mercado Libre has opened another innovation centre in Colombia.

The latest innovation centre has been opened in Medellín. The 2,400-square-meter facility will be staffed with 400 professionals equipped with technology solutions developed for the company’s retailing and financial services.

The Medellín innovation centre is the second such enterprise that Mercado Libre has opened in Colombia with the other located in the capital city of Bogotá.

“We are sure that the ecosystem of digital entrepreneurship and the innovative approach that positions Medellín as the city of the fourth industrial revolution is the right place for this second centre,” Nearshore Americas quoted Jaime Ramírez, Director of the Andean region for Mercado Libre as saying.

The innovation centre will serve as a hybrid office, meaning employees can even choose to work from home. Ramirez said the flexible working options incentivise employees to become more innovative.

With technology advancing with each passing day, the retailer is doubling its technology workforce in Colombia, from the existing 1,100 employees to 2,000.

Operating in the country for more than 20 years, Mercado Libre claims to have created 1,500 jobs in the past two years alone. Its business volume is also growing largely due to the travel restrictions imposed in response to the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the region.

The Buenos Aires-based company reported US$1.7 billion in revenue for the second quarter of 2021, more than a 90 per cent increase compared to the same quarter last year.