#98 - Building global from the beginning: Gabriel Engel, Rocket.chat

<p>Communicating safely and practically is something that interests everyone, from government agencies and big banks to small businesses and communities. That&apos;s the concept behind <b>Rocket.Chat</b>, an open source communication platform that began in Brazil in 2015 and now has over 12 million users in 150 countries.</p><p>Besides being highly customizable, Rocket.Chat offers two server options: you can use their cloud or run it on your own server. It&apos;s that unique data protection layer that has attracted the likes of the US Department of Defense and the US Navy, besides the 30,000 new companies that become customers every month.</p><p>Back in February 2021, Rocket.Chat raised a US$ 19 million Series A round. It remains based in Porto Alegre, a city in the south of Brazil where the <em>co-founder and CEO</em> <b>Gabriel Engel</b> was born, and it&apos;s still very much an open source project at heart.</p><p><em>Stick around to find out:</em></p><ul><li>Why Gabriel chose Brazil as the headquarters for a global business</li><li>The challenges and opportunities of an open source company</li><li>The importance of keeping the community engaged to make the product better</li></ul><p>Establish your fundraising-ready company structure at go.latitud.com</p>