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<a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/category/" target="_blank">NTWRK</a>, a video shopping app that has helped to popularize the idea of live-streamed commerce in the U.S., announced today it&#8217;s closed on $50 million in new funding led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management and global luxury group Kering, owners of luxury <a href="https://www.kering.com/en/talent/who-we-are/our-houses/" target="_blank">brands</a> Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, and others. The company has been working to capitalize on the growing interest in live commerce and creator content, and shifted into<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/05/20/the-ntwrk-the-live-nation-backed-shopping-app-for-gen-z-is-launching-a-virtual-festival/" target="_blank"> live virtual events</a> and festivals as Covid-19 ravaged the U.S. last year. Now it says it will invest in furthering its growth and working to establish a more global footprint.
Other participants in the new round include LionTree Partners and Tenere Capital. They join the company&#8217;s prior backers:  Main Street Advisors (whose investors include Jimmy Iovine, Drake, LeBron James), Live Nation, Foot Locker, and others. Allison Berardo, a Vice President within the Growth Equity business within Goldman Sachs Asset Management, will join NTWRK&#8217;s board of directors.
Aimed at a younger crowd of Gen Z and millennial consumers, NTWRK offered tools that allow creators to interact with viewers and sell products in real-time, in <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/26/ntwrk-moves-into-live-events/" target="_blank">what&#8217;s been called</a> a mix of QVC, Twitter, and Twitch. The experience blends commerce with entertainment, as viewers watch and chat with other viewers and hots in real-time, as they shop for streetwear, shoes, collectibles, and other items. The company has also created its own exclusive content where it&#8217;s featured hosts like Billie Eilish, Juice WRLD, DJ Khaled, Odell Beckham Jr, Eddie Huang, Blake Griffin, Alexander Wang, FaZe Clan, Nadeshot, Jonah Hill, Gary Vee, A$AP Ferg, Wu-Tang Clan, Doja Cat and others. (It even <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/09/on-the-heels-of-its-ntwrk-investment-faze-clan-looks-at-global-expansion-despite-pandemic/" target="_blank">invested</a> into FaZe Clan last year, we should note.)
Its business model extends beyond just offering live video shopping that you can tune into at any time, as it also regularly features product drops that work to build up anticipation and excitement. This sort of feature is only now making its way to larger social media platforms, like Instagram, which introduced drops <a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/news/instagram-launches-a-new-section-for-shopping-product-drops" target="_blank">just this spring</a>.
NTWRK has also embraced live events and virtual festivals as another way to engage audiences. Last year, for instance, it <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/05/20/the-ntwrk-the-live-nation-backed-shopping-app-for-gen-z-is-launching-a-virtual-festival/" target="_blank">ran TRANSFER</a>, which featured 30 brands and artists, panels, interviews, DJ sets, and musical performances. It also ran BEYOND THE STREETS, a virtual art fair that attracted over 250,000 attendees. Earlier this year it ran a two-day designer toy and collectibles festival, <a href="https://shorefire.com/releases/entry/ntwrk-unboxed-a-two-day-designer-toy-collectibles-festival-february-13-14-2021" target="_blank">Unboxed</a>, as the first of a slate of digital events which have subsequently run throughout the year, including <a href="https://shorefire.com/releases/entry/ntwrk-presents-surface-festival" target="_blank">Surface Festival</a>, a <a href="https://shorefire.com/releases/entry/ntwrk-the-hundreds-present-a-two-day-virtual-food-festival-family-style-to-go" target="_blank">virtual food festival</a>, and virtual <a href="https://shorefire.com/releases/entry/ntwrk-announces-open-house-a-virtual-home-goods-festivalfor-the-hype-obsessed-generation" target="_blank">home goods festival. </a>It&#8217;s now gearing up for th<a href="https://shorefire.com/releases/entry/ntwrk-announcesthe-second-editionof-transfer" target="_blank">e return of its flagship event</a>, TRANSFER.
<img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1991851" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-1991851" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Transfer-black.jpg?w=680" alt="" width="680" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Transfer-black.jpg 1920w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Transfer-black.jpg?resize=150,84 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Transfer-black.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Transfer-black.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Transfer-black.jpg?resize=680,383 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Transfer-black.jpg?resize=1536,864 1536w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Transfer-black.jpg?resize=50,28 50w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" />Image Credits: <a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/category/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Ntwrk (opens in a new window)</a>
This summer, NTWRK also <a href="https://shorefire.com/releases/entry/ntwrk-expands-into-the-world-of-nfts" target="_blank">embraced</a> the world of digital goods with the launch of NTWRK NFT, its own curated shop for unique crypto art from creators like BADBOI, Imaginary Foundation, MILKMAN, Young &amp; Sick, Fafi, KidEight, MGOGLKTKO, and Eddie Gangland.
Livestream shopping is already a popular activity overseas, but is still gaining ground here in the U.S. The company, in announcing its news today, noted that livestream shopping in China reached $150 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow to $300 billion this year. But in the U.S. it&#8217;s expected to reach $11 billion by the end of 2021 and $25 billion by 2025, leaving much room for growth.
&#8220;Our vision is to become the biggest, most culturally relevant, livestream shopping marketplace for Gen-Z and Millennial audiences who are obsessed with pop culture,&#8221; said NTWRK CEO Aaron Levant, in a statement. &#8220;It’s exciting for NTWRK to have Goldman Sachs and Kering sign on for the future of livestream shopping.&#8221;
NTWRK had previously raised a $10 million Series A, according to <a href="https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/ntwrk/investor_financials" target="_blank">Crunchbase</a> data.

NTWRK, a video shopping app that has helped to popularize the idea of live-streamed commerce in the U.S., announced today it’s closed on $50 million in new funding led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management and global luxury group Kering, owners of luxury brands Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, and others. The company has been […]

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Livestream video shopping app NTWRK raises $50M from Goldman Sachs, Kering

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Well that was fast. London grocery delivery upstart, <a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/category/ target="_blank">Jiffy</a> &#8212; which was only founded in April this year &#8212; has nabbed $28 million in Series A funding around half a year after initial £2.6M <a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/news/jiffy-grocery" target="_blank">seed raise</a>. It says it&#8217;s now raised a total of $35M.
The grocery delivery startup operates a network of its own dark stores to do fulfilment &#8212; enabling it to offer the promise of &#8220;fresh groceries in 15 minutes&#8221;.
Currently it has eight London stores &#8212; now with the funds to expand.
Jiffy tells TechCrunch is has amassed around 20,000 customers so far across its six delivery zones (all in London for now).
The Series A round is led by family-owned investment company Heartland, with Boston-based international VC fund Flint Capital also participating, along with gaming firm Playrix and existing investors Baring Vostok Capital Partners and LVL1 among others.
The fast-following financing is a measure of how hyper competitive the on-demand grocery space has become in the UK capital &#8212; as well as being a clear signal investors are impressed with the startup&#8217;s early execution.
Other on-demand grocery delivery players operating in London include <a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/news/gorillas" target="_blank">Gorillas</a>, <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/05/london-based-weezy-raises-seed/" target="_blank">Weezy</a>, <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/07/01/instant-grocery-startup-getir-makes-its-first-acquisition-to-expand-into-spain-and-italy/" target="_blank">Getir</a> and <a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/news/zapp" target="_blank">Zapp</a>. The U.S. unicorn <a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/news/gopuff-funding" target="_blank">goPuff</a> is also in the mix &#8212; having acquired UK startups <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210506006037/en/Gopuff-Jumpstarts-International-Expansion-with-Acquisition-of-UK-Based-Fancy" target="_blank">Fancy</a> and <a href="https://sifted.eu/articles/gopuff-acquires-dija/" target="_blank">Dija</a>.
Jiffy&#8217;s founders describe themselves as &#8220;Q-Commerce veterans&#8221;. Co-founder Vladimir Kholiaznikov was ex-CEO of Russia’s e-grocery player X5 Food Tech, while fellow co-founder, Artur Shamalov, has also founded a previous food-related startup in Russia. Both have also dabbled in investing themselves &#8212; so likely have a burgeoning contacts book to tap when they go fundraising.
Jiffy says its typical customers are families and middle aged grocery shoppers who are switching to its app from traditional convenience supermarkets and online weekly shops. &#8220;We are betting this trend will only accelerate as we become a more mature service,&#8221; says Kholiaznikov.
The Series A funds will go on expansion within London &#8212; and maybe also further afield, as Jiffy eyes moving into other urban locations in the UK.
&#8220;We are definitely aiming to cover London inside of the M4 by end of the year,&#8221; Kholiaznikov tells TechCrunch. &#8220;Jiffy might move to towns as pilot this year but we will see later.&#8221;
The &#8220;long term&#8221; plan is that &#8220;all towns with 100k+ population are on our radar&#8221;, he adds.
&#8220;We are building a nationwide company but will also explore other markets though an alternative route &#8212; we are providing our Q-commerce tech platform to selected local players in international markets (for example, we are a partner of Send in Australia),&#8221; Kholiaznikov also says, adding: &#8220;We will continue this route as well to add value to our core business and shareholders.&#8221;
While there is a smorgasbord of startups vying to delivery groceries and/or snacks to citydwellers in the UK, Jiffy&#8217;s offer puts speedy delivery of fresh produce front and center which looks like a smart differentiation vs operators that mostly want to ship easy to handle produce like bottles of pop and crisps.
Additionally, though, there are a raft of food delivery apps also trying to nibble into the traditional weekly grocery shop &#8212; very familiar names like <a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/news/deliveroo-posted-narrowed-loss-of-309m-with-gross-transactions-surging-to-5-7b-in-2020-eitf-shows" target="_blank">Deliveroo</a>, <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/10/just-eat-takeaway-confirms-its-gobbling-up-grubhub-in-a-7-3b-deal/" target="_blank">JustEat</a> and <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/01/uber-eats-beefs-up-its-grocery-delivery-offer-as-covid-19-lockdowns-continue/" target="_blank">Uber Eats</a> &#8212; mostly focused on meal delivery from restaurants but some have been bolting on light groceries picked from stores they don&#8217;t operate.
Going after the full weekly grocery shop, as Jiffy and multiple other startups are, looks like a bigger logistics and execution challenge &#8212; certainly with a promise of 15 minute delivery &#8212; but also has the potential to be a more sustainable and lucrative business vs just catering to sporadic convenience needs and snack cravings, even if the ops are more complicated.
At the same time, there are not only startup rivals for Jiffy and co to worry about here too; traditional supermarkets have made huge profits during the pandemic &#8212; and could certainly splash plenty of cash to dial up their delivery services. But this is also where leaner startups can steal a march by delivering on their promise of hyper fast delivery, albeit with less product choice.
In addition to grocery delivery, Jiffy is adding &#8216;Click &amp; Collect&#8217; ordering &#8212; which is currently offered at two of its London stores, giving its customers more choice about how they get their groceries.
It is also avoiding the myriad (legal, ethical, reputational and logistical) pitfalls of gig work; Its e-bike and moped-riding delivery couriers are liveried employees.
Another differentiating twist to its model is the aforementioned open Q-Commerce play.
&#8220;This means, we provide our ready-to-go IT platform that other companies can use to launch their own quick-commerce stores,&#8221; notes Kholiaznikov.
Commenting on Jiffy&#8217;s Series A in a statement, Lise Kaae, CEO of Heartland said: “The Jiffy team has managed to impress us with their ambitious plans and effective execution, and we are excited about the journey ahead operating in a highly dynamic and exciting growth market.
“We strongly believe in the large and untapped potential of the e-groceries market in the UK and the ultra-fast delivery business model developed by Jiffy. The company is led by a very experienced team of founders and the current round would enable Jiffy to further accelerate growth. We are glad that the fund of Baring Vostok is a part of this exciting story.”

<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="dgPUDvhHMz"><a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/news/jiffy-grocery" target="_blank">London&#8217;s Jiffy picks up £2.6M seed to enter the grocery dark store race</a></blockquote>

Well that was fast. London grocery delivery upstart, Jiffy — which was only founded in April this year — has nabbed $28 million in Series A funding around half a year after initial £2.6M seed raise. It says it’s now raised a total of $35M. The grocery delivery startup operates a network of its own […]

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London’s Jiffy scoops $28M for speedy grocery delivery

Julio Vasconcellos
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		Julio Vasconcellos is the managing partner of <a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/category/" target="_blank">Atlantico</a>, a venture capital fund focused on Latin America. He was previously the founder of Canary and Peixe Urbano, and was Facebook’s first employee in Brazil.	
	
		
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						<li><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/10/01/latin-americas-digital-transformation-is-making-up-for-lost-time/" target="_blank">Latin America&#8217;s digital transformation is making up for lost time</a></li>
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Over the past year, Latin America has been covered heavily in the international news as the COVID-19 pandemic led many to question our endurance in the face of a crisis. But the region’s mega-fundraising rounds and shiny new unicorns have countered with optimism around its budding tech ecosystem.
When we first shared LatAm&#8217;s digital acceleration story in last year’s <a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/category/latin-america-digital-transformation-report" target="_blank">Latin America Digital Transformation Report</a>, we believed we were at the peak of digital growth catalyzed by the pandemic. E-commerce penetration was at an all-time high and the market cap of public technology companies was growing much faster than the region’s GDP. But with 2021 came all the second- and third-order effects of the crisis, further accelerating a continentwide tech expansion to a pace beyond any projections.
<a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/category/latin-america-digital-transformation-report-2021" target="_blank">In this year&#8217;s report</a>, we dedicate 200 slides of data-rich analysis, primary research, private company data and case studies to tell the story of this “second wave” of change we are witnessing. Ranging from the rapid adoption of sustainable technologies to the welcoming of a new local creator economy, we detail the surprising changes the pandemic has brought to consumer preferences, workplace dynamics, business models and the geopolitical influence on the fast-changing tech sector.
An initial top-down view paints a clear picture of a region at an inflection point. The Atlantico Digital Transformation Index, which measures tech penetration by tracking the value of public technology companies as a percentage of GDP, rose to 3.4% in 2021 from 2.3% in 2020 for LatAm as of August.
<img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2205686" loading="lazy" class="breakout size-full wp-image-2205686" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/TC-AtlanticoIndex.jpg" alt="Atlantico Digital Transformation Index 2021 LatAm." width="1024" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/TC-AtlanticoIndex.jpg 1294w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/TC-AtlanticoIndex.jpg?resize=150,112 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/TC-AtlanticoIndex.jpg?resize=300,225 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/TC-AtlanticoIndex.jpg?resize=768,576 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/TC-AtlanticoIndex.jpg?resize=680,510 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/TC-AtlanticoIndex.jpg?resize=50,37 50w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Atlantico Digital Transformation Index 2021 LatAm. Image Credits: Atlantico
Similarly, based on an internal analysis of private company data, we estimate that the value of regional unicorns reached $105 billion, more than double last year’s figure of $46 billion. Eight new unicorns have already been minted this year, nearly reaching 2020’s rate by midyear.
<img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2205688" loading="lazy" class="breakout size-full wp-image-2205688" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/TC-TotalUnicornMarketCap.jpg" alt="" width="1024" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/TC-TotalUnicornMarketCap.jpg 1650w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/TC-TotalUnicornMarketCap.jpg?resize=150,113 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/TC-TotalUnicornMarketCap.jpg?resize=300,225 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/TC-TotalUnicornMarketCap.jpg?resize=768,577 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/TC-TotalUnicornMarketCap.jpg?resize=680,511 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/TC-TotalUnicornMarketCap.jpg?resize=1536,1154 1536w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/TC-TotalUnicornMarketCap.jpg?resize=50,38 50w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Total unicorn market cap 2021 LatAm. Image Credits: Atlantico
Much has been written about Latin American fintechs, which last year drew 40% of the region’s venture capital investment. The revolution witnessed over the last five years, which produced the likes of Nubank (the world’s largest digital bank), was sparked by a mix of changing consumer demands, a concentrated banking sector and a pro-innovation regulatory environment. We are now seeing the second-order effects of the fintech boom, as the same set of conditions arise in other soon-to-be disrupted sectors.
In the insurance space, similar changes are giving way to innovative models like <a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/category/" target="_blank">180o</a> in Brazil and <a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/tag/en" target="_blank">Betterfly</a> in Chile. The former, founded by prior Nubankers, takes embedded insurance to the max, pioneering an insurance-as-a-service model that enables any company to create bespoke insurance products for its customers and seamlessly integrate them into their core experience. In the case of Betterfly, we see the rise of a novel benefits platform that lets companies offer a life insurance product that rewards healthy habits and charitable donations.

Over the past year, Latin America has been covered heavily in the international news as the COVID-19 pandemic led many to question our endurance in the face of a crisis.

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Grocery giant Albertsons Companies, which owns Safeway and Jewel-Osco, is steadily adding to its digital transformation, this time with shoppable, livestream video experiences developed by Redwood City-based <a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/tag/us" target="_blank">Firework</a>.
Firework noted that Albertsons is the first U.S. grocer to utilize its platform to create, host and curate their own short-form and livestream video for the Albertsons brands websites and app to improve customer engagement, Usman Humayun, vice president of digital marketing at Albertsons told TechCrunch.
This is the latest in a pipeline of digital advances Albertsons is making; for example, it is currently piloting <a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/news/albertsons-taps-tortoise-for-remote-controlled-grocery-delivery-robots" target="_blank">remote-controlled delivery robots</a> developed by Tortoise.
As part of its digital transformation, Albertsons is shifting to be mobile-first as it focuses on customer engagement and retention. Humayun explained that e-commerce and brick-and-mortar stores were believed to be two things a few years ago, but when the global pandemic hit, those lines blurred.
“Now customers are starting in one place and ending in another place,” he added. “There is also an increased value of having a good digital experience that closely mirrors what people experience in the store, where there is selection, fulfillment — you can buy it right then — and you can ask an associate for advice.”
<img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2206096" loading="lazy" class="vertical wp-image-2206096" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Albertsons-mobile-version-2-e1632268416590.gif?w=192" alt="" width="225" />Albertsons mobile app with Firework. Image Credits: Albertsons
Customers going to an Albertsons site or using its app are there to research, get tips and advice and read reviews, something Humayun said if a retailer doesn’t have that, people will go elsewhere. The more people come to shop and engage with the content, it also provides the company with data and insights for building more content, what he called “the flywheel effect.”
Firework, a short-form video platform, launched in 2017 by co-founders Vincent Yang and Jerry Luk and is now led by Jeff Lucas, former global head of ad sales for Verizon Media. The company works with more than 600 direct-to-consumer brands, retailers and media publishers and has raised over $100 million to date from backers including IDG Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners and GSR Ventures.
Working with Firework provides Albertsons the ability to create and present content faster, in a lighter-touch manner, and move toward being not just about product and recipes but becoming “the single source for food-related content” as well as health through its pharmacy, Humayun said.
The grocer intends to begin by rolling out video content, like fruits and vegetables that are in season or how to pick the best fruit, and then follow that up with recipes and meal prep videos using those foods. It also wants to go inside areas like the deli to show a video of how popular foods are prepared and the best methods for grocery storage, similar to what customers are already consuming on Instagram and TikTok, he added. The partnership will come out with expanded offerings and experiences in 2022 that will include customer personalization and leveraging local experience.
“This is transformational for us and moves us upwards from the static images and text to a new way of engaging with customers,” Humayun added. “Short-form video is the right format for us because our customers have so much content to consume, and it challenges us to make a high impact in a shorter time frame.”

<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="39ZgMZpxLb"><a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/news/albertsons-taps-tortoise-for-remote-controlled-grocery-delivery-robots" target="_blank">Albertsons taps Tortoise for remote-controlled grocery delivery robots</a></blockquote>


<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="tftRJJrBoi"><a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/news/whos-building-the-grocery-store-of-the-future" target="_blank">Who&#8217;s building the grocery store of the future?</a></blockquote>

&nbsp;

Albertsons is the first U.S. grocer to utilize Firework’s platform to create, host and curate its own short-form and livestream video to improve customer engagement.

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Albertsons sets off Firework’s livestream, shoppable video experience on website

<a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/category/" target="_blank">Kavak</a>, a Mexico City-based startup that operates a pre-owned car marketplace in Latin America, announced today that it has raised a massive $700 million in a Series E round that more than doubles the company’s valuation to $8.7 billion.
This news is notable for a few reasons. For one, it’s a staggering sum for any startup, much less one based in Latin America. Also, news of this raise comes just five months after Kavak <a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/news/mexican-unicorn-kavak-raises-a-485m-series-d-at-a-4b-valuation" target="_blank">raised $485 million in a Series D at a $4 billion valuation</a>. The investment also marks the second time this year that Kavak has doubled its valuation. (The company only achieved unicorn status last October.) And lastly, the round makes Kavak the second most valuable startup in all of Latin America &#8212; the first being Brazilian fintech Nubank, which <a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/news/fintech-all-star-nubank-raises-a-750m-mega-round" target="_blank">earlier this year</a> was valued at $30 billion.
Cambridge, Massachusetts-based General Catalyst led Kavak’s Series E, which brings the company’s total raised to over $1.5 billion since its 2016 inception. Tiger Global, Spruce House, D1, SEA, Founders Fund, Ribbit Capital, SoftBank and others also participated in the latest financing.

<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="yOqjjWzKBJ"><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/24/why-global-investors-are-flocking-to-back-latin-american-startups/" target="_blank">Why global investors are flocking to back Latin American startups</a></blockquote>

Put simply, Kavak is an online marketplace that aims to bring transparency, security and access to financing to the used car market. It promises to ensure “reliable” transactions that mitigate fraud and aims to raise used car standards from a mechanical and safety point of view by using artificial intelligence and data technology. 
The company also offers its own financing through its fintech arm, Kavak Capital, which it launched about 18 months ago. 
“I like to describe it as if Spotify, Amazon, Toyota and Citibank had a kid, then something like Kavak would be born,” said Kavak co-founder and CEO Carlos García Ottati in an interview with TechCrunch.
Clearly, the company&#8217;s business model seems to be working. Kavak has been doubling its revenue every three to five months, according to García Ottati. And over the last 14 months, it’s no surprise &#8212; considering the increase in its valuation and all the capital it has raised &#8212; that Kavak has grown exponentially &#8212; from 300 to more than 5,000 employees in Latin America, to meet what García Ottati describes as strong demand. The startup currently has 40 logistic and reconditioning hubs in Mexico, Brazil and Argentina. That compares to more than 2,500 employees and 20 logistics and reconditioning hubs in Mexico and Argentina at the time of its last raise in April. Over the years, it has served &#8220;hundreds of thousands&#8221; of customers.
“What excites me about this raise is a reflection of Kavak’s ambition we have and what we want to build, and less so about need,” he said. “Most importantly, it’s going to allow us to think long term and build a true generational company.”
Financial inclusion is a big part of Kavak’s mission in addition to wanting to make it easier for people to own cars, and thus improve their professional and personal lives, added García Ottati, who was inspired to start the company after his own challenges selling a car in Colombia and trying to buy one in Mexico.
“If we do our job well, in the next 20 years, the middle class should grow up by 30% in emerging markets just by granting financing products to a huge amount of people that are excluded today, giving them a tool that can definitely enhance their lives,” he said. &#8220;We want to be a super app, or an ecosystem of services, that empowers mobility and financial health and do more than just help people buy and sell cars.&#8221;
Looking ahead, Kavak plans to use its new capital in part to expand across Latin America, with plans to begin operating in several other markets over the next 12 months. Longer term, it is eyeing an expansion into “other emerging markets” globally. It also plans to continue hiring &#8212; particularly engineers and product folks &#8212; as well double down on product development.
García Ottati is also excited about the impact Kavak&#8217;s raise has on the Latin American startup scene as a whole.
&#8220;It&#8217;s wonderful bringing in new funds who had not previously invested in the region to see how LatAm looks and works,&#8221; he said. &#8220;They can see that we are addressing deep and big issues.&#8221;
General Catalyst Managing Director Adam Valkin believes the startup has established itself as “the clear leader” in Latin America&#8217;s pre-owned car market. 
“The company has developed a playbook for providing a transformational customer experience with a compelling and efficient economic model,” he said in a written statement. “We are excited for Kavak to expand into other emerging markets where a similar opportunity exists to drive financial inclusion and empower the middle class through access to car ownership.”

<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="vnbDw1A9QO"><a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/news/why-latin-american-venture-capital-is-breaking-records-this-year" target="_blank">Why Latin American venture capital is breaking records this year</a></blockquote>

Kavak, a Mexico City-based startup that operates a pre-owned car marketplace in Latin America, announced today that it has raised a massive $700 million in a Series E round that more than doubles the company’s valuation to $8.7 billion. This news is notable for a few reasons. For one, it’s a staggering sum for any […]

Venture Capital

Adam Valkin

Financial Inclusion

General Catalyst

Kavak

Latam

Mexico

Mexico City

Startup

Mexico’s Kavak drives away with $700M in new funding, doubling its valuation to $8.7B

Small businesses in the U.S. now have a new way to source home and lifestyle goods from new manufacturers. <a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/category/" target="_blank">Bzaar</a>, a business-to-business cross-border marketplace, is connecting retailers with over 50 export-ready manufacturers in India.
The U.S.-based company announced Monday that it raised $4 million in seed funding, led by Canaan Partners, and including angel investors Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, PhonePe founders Sameer Nigam and Rahul Chari, Addition founder Lee Fixel and Helion Ventures co-founder Ashish Gupta.
Nishant Verman and Prasanth Nair co-founded Bzaar in 2020 and consider their company to be like a “fair without borders,” Verman put it. Prior to founding Bzaar, Verman was at Bangalore-based Flipkart until it was <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/09/walmart-confirms-16b-flipkart-investment-giving-it-77-in-indias-e-commerce-leader/" target="_blank">acquired by Walmart in 2018</a>. He then was at Canaan Partners in the U.S.
“We think the next 10 years of global trade will be different from the last 100 years,” he added. “That’s why we think this business needs to exist.”
Traditionally, small U.S. buyers did not have feet on the ground in manufacturing hubs, like China, to manage shipments of goods in the same way that large retailers did. Then Alibaba came along in the late 1990s and began acting as a gatekeeper for cross-border purchases, Verman said. <a href="https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/china-mongolia-taiwan/peoples-republic-china#:~:text=U.S.%20goods%20imports%20from%20China,U.S.%20goods%20imports%20in%202019." target="_blank">U.S. goods imports from China</a> totaled $451.7 billion in 2019, while <a href="https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/south-central-asia/india" target="_blank">U.S. goods imports from India</a> in 2019 were $87.4 billion.
<img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2204687" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-2204687" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/image1.jpeg?w=680" alt="" width="680" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/image1.jpeg 2048w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/image1.jpeg?resize=150,84 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/image1.jpeg?resize=300,169 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/image1.jpeg?resize=768,432 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/image1.jpeg?resize=680,383 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/image1.jpeg?resize=1536,864 1536w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/image1.jpeg?resize=50,28 50w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" />Bzaar screenshot. Image Credits: Bzaar
Small buyers could buy home and lifestyle goods, but it was typically through the same sellers, and there was not often a unique selection, nor were goods available handmade or using organic materials, he added.
With Bzaar, small buyers can purchase over 10,000 wholesale goods on its marketplace from other countries like India and Southeast Asia. The company guarantees products arrive within two weeks and manage all of the packaging logistics and buyer protection.
Verman and Nair launched the marketplace in April and had thousands users in three continents purchasing from the platform within six months. Meanwhile, products on Bzaar are up to 50% cheaper than domestic U.S. platforms, while SKU selection is growing doubling every month, Verman said.
The new funding will enable the company to invest in marketing to get in front of buyers and invest on its technology to advance its cataloging feature so that goods pass through customs seamlessly. Wanting to provide new features for its small business customers, Verman also intends to create a credit feature to enable buyers to pay in installments or up to 90 days later.
“We feel this is a once-in-a-lifetime shift in how global trade works,” he added. “You need the right team in place to do this because the problem is quite complex to take products from a small town in Vietnam to Nashville. With our infrastructure in place, the good news is there are already shops and buyers, and we are stitching them together to give buyers a seamless experience.”

<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="1MbTX4vcM4"><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/05/13/startups-are-transforming-global-trade-in-the-covid-19-era/" target="_blank">Startups are transforming global trade in the COVID-19 era</a></blockquote>

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Bzaar, a business-to-business cross-border marketplace, is connecting retailers with over 50 export-ready manufacturers in India.

Alibaba

Bzaar

Canaan Partners

Flipkart

Import

Market

Nishant Verman

Prasanth Nair

Bzaar bags $4M to enable US retailers to source home, lifestyle products from India

Food delivery service DoorDash will now deliver alcohol &#8212; a move that will allow it to better compete with rivals who already offer alcohol delivery in markets where permitted, like <a href="https://www.ubereats.com/near-me/alcohol" target="_blank">Uber Eats</a>, <a href="https://www.grubhub.com/answers/does-grubhub-deliver-alcohol" target="_blank">Grubhub</a>, <a href="https://www.shipt.com/alcohol-delivery/" target="_blank">Shipt</a>, <a href="https://www.instacart.com/alcohol" target="_blank">Instacart</a>, and others. Initially, DoorDash will support delivery of beer, wine, and spirits across 20 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and Canada, and Australia, reaching a potential 100 million-plus customers.
To find the feature, customers in supported markets will use the new &#8220;Alcohol&#8221; tab in the DoorDash app where they&#8217;ll be able to browse the selections of drinks offered by restaurants, or other alcohol offerings from grocery stores, local retailers, and convenience stores. In total, DoorDash&#8217;s alcohol catalog contains 30,000 SKUs &#8212; though the ones an individual user will see are only those available to their local market.
The company says it will verify customer IDs prior to checkout, and again by the delivery drivers before the order is complete. <a href="https://help.doordash.com/consumers/s/article/How-is-my-age-verified-for-alcohol-orders?language=en_US" target="_blank">The system</a> will respect user privacy by blurring out other information on the user ID besides the photo and DOB. For those who don&#8217;t imbibe, DoorDash will also offer an opt-out that will not only exclude customers from being able to order alcohol, but from direct marketing and communications related to alcohol delivery, as well.
The addition comes at a time when alcohol delivery has become one of the fastest-growing e-commerce verticals across all consumer packages goods, DoorDash notes, <a href="https://nielseniq.com/global/en/insights/analysis/2020/rebalancing-the-covid-19-effect-on-alcohol-sales/" target="_blank">citing recent Nielsen data.</a> In particular, the Covid-19 pandemic has played a role in the increased demand for online orders, as more customers stayed home under lockdowns and quarantine orders. For example, the number of off-premise buyers purchasing alcohol was up 27% year-over-year from the same time before Covid, according to data analyzed during a week in April 2020, compared with the prior year.
DoorDash noted, too, how data from the National Restaurant Association found that 56% of customers over the age of 21 said they would likely order alcoholic beverages along with their food delivery orders from restaurants if permitted. DoorDash expects the expansion to include alcohol could boost restaurants&#8217; average order values by up to 30%. Another new feature called <a href="https://doordash.news/2021/08/05/introducing-doubledash-a-new-way-to-shop-multiple-stores-in-one-order/" target="_blank">DoubleDash</a> will allow customers to combine two shops into one order, which can now be used for bundling alcohol with other orders.
With the feature, the company is benefitting from<a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/tag/story target="_blank"> the loosening of state laws over alcohol delivery</a>, which were enacted due to the pandemic impacts to local businesses. Many of those temporary measures were extended as the pandemic wore on or even <a href="https://foodondemandnews.com/05202021/post-pandemic-alcohol-delivery-goes-mainstream/" target="_blank">made into permanent laws in a number of U.S. states </a>
“Over the past year, many cities where we operate evolved their legislation in order to permit the delivery of alcohol to residents’ homes,&#8221; said Caitlin Macnamara, Director, Alcohol Strategy &amp; Operations at DoorDash, in a statement about the launch. &#8220;Over that time, we worked tirelessly to build a trusted alcohol ordering and delivery experience for merchants, customers, and Dashers. We’re committed to providing new earning opportunities for merchants and Dashers, a safe, high-quality experience for customers, and being a responsible leader in compliant alcohol delivery,&#8221; she added.
The expansion follows DoorDash&#8217;s <a href="https://s22.q4cdn.com/280253921/files/doc_financials/2021/q2/DASH-Q2-2021-Letter-to-Shareholders_FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">forecast of a potentially weaker Q3,</a> citing the continued uncertainty around how consumer behavior related to the pandemic may continue impact its business.
&nbsp;

Food delivery service DoorDash will now deliver alcohol — a move that will allow it to better compete with rivals who already offer alcohol delivery in markets where permitted, like Uber Eats, Grubhub, Shipt, Instacart, and others. Initially, DoorDash will support delivery of beer, wine, and spirits across 20 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, […]

Alcohol

Beer

Canada

Delivery

Delivery Service

Doordash

Drinks

DoorDash launches alcohol delivery in U.S., Canada and Australia

Travel startups continue to rake in venture capital dollars as more people become comfortable traveling amid the global pandemic. The latest is SmarterTravel, which brought in $9.5 million in Series B funding co-led by Link Ventures and Second Alpha, with existing investors also participating.
In addition to the fundraise, the company, a provider of personalized travel recommendations and targeted travel content, announced its name change from HopJump, which reflects the company’s renewed vision of providing an informative online travel experience, CEO Jordan Staab told TechCrunch.
<img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2202707" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-2202707" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/JordanStaab.png?w=340" alt="" width="340" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/JordanStaab.png 340w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/JordanStaab.png?resize=150,150 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/JordanStaab.png?resize=300,300 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/JordanStaab.png?resize=32,32 32w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/JordanStaab.png?resize=50,50 50w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/JordanStaab.png?resize=64,64 64w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/JordanStaab.png?resize=96,96 96w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/JordanStaab.png?resize=128,128 128w" sizes="(max-width: 340px) 100vw, 340px" />Jordan Staab, CEO of SmarterTravel. Image Credits: SmarterTravel
SmarterTravel has 7 million email newsletter subscribers and uses proprietary artificial intelligence fixes to give customers travel information and discounts. The company writes articles on every facet of travel to inform customers, especially now with airlines, hotels and countries placing certain restrictions on travel.
“The travel consumer is changing how they absorb information,” Staab said. “The consumer is coming to us instead of visiting 20 websites before they book. Before, you might have combed through reviews, but now you just want an expert to tell you, and that is what we are.”
HopJump was started in 2018 by Staab as a digital marketing agency helping big brands with user acquisition campaigns. As it was building up to an initial public offering, Staab said the company wanted to move into building its own brand and saw an opportunity in travel, which accounts for a big market — 10% of global gross domestic product, he added.
The company went on to provide hotel discount travel prices to consumers but found it to be challenging. There are a lot of nuances and different approaches for offering four-star hotel rooms for two-star prices and bundling tactics, Staab explained.
“We fell in love with uncomplicating the process,” he said. “Consumers just want a good price from a company they trust, and that is what we set out to solve.”
In January 2020, the company launched its first product and had 60 members join in the first few months, but then the global pandemic hit. Suddenly, HopJump went from managing rapid growth to managing how the company might shut down.

<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="5f3jDVigeJ"><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/08/headout-raises-12m-plans-to-hire-150-people-as-domestic-travel-rebounds/" target="_blank">Headout raises $12M, plans to hire 150+ people as domestic travel rebounds</a></blockquote>

Still eager to stay in travel, the company pivoted back to marketing so it could continue examining the travel industry, he said. While the company was figuring out its next move, Staab said folks at SmarterTravel were helpful to them, and when he heard that its parent company, TripAdvisor, was needing to make layoffs, and that division was going to be let go, he decided to purchase that asset along with seven others, including Airfarewatchdog, Family Vacation Critic and Oyster. The deal closed in 2020.
Lisa Dolan, managing director at Link Ventures, said that SmarterTravel’s growth was one of the drivers of her firm’s investment. When no one was traveling due to COVID, the company acquired travel companies and made it through the pandemic while other startups in the space were struggling.
She also cited its strong revenue-generating business on the email side and that it capitalized on the fact that even in the pandemic, people were conducting web searches for car rentals, things to do in certain cities and looking for vacation inspiration.
SmarterTravel is going after a <a href="https://www.statista.com/topics/962/global-tourism/" target="_blank">U.S. travel and tourism industry</a> valued at $580.7 billion in 2019. It is also not the only one to gain investor attention recently. For example, just over the past month companies like <a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/news/thatch-using-3m-round-to-put-travel-creators-on-the-map" target="_blank">Thatch raised $3 million</a> for its platform aimed at travel creators, travel tech company <a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/news/hopper-raises-170m-on-3-5b-valuation-as-travel-surges-and-its-fintech-tools-help-offset-variant-concerns" target="_blank">Hopper brought in $175 million</a>, <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/09/wheel-the-world-raises-2m-to-provide-unlimited-experiences-for-travelers-with-limited-accessibility/" target="_blank">Wheel the World grabbed $2 million</a> for its disability-friendly vacation planner and <a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/news/elude-raises-2-1m-to-show-spontaneous-travelers-the-best-destinations-for-their-budgets" target="_blank">Elude raised $2.1 million</a> to bring spontaneous travel back to a hard-hit industry.
Meanwhile, the funding will drive SmarterTravel’s aim to grow rapidly in terms of getting its name out there, building new travel products and hiring key staff. The company already has 50 people, but needs more, Staab said.
“Travel has had a tough couple of years, but some pockets of it are back, and we are seeing that,” he added. “In a year that should have been a bad year, our growth has been good. We were up eight times in revenue in the past 12 months. We are growing, profitable and have extra funding to lean into the growth. It is not going to be easy growth, but we are well-positioned to understand how to do it.”

<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="4PtaQHPmty"><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/25/even-amid-the-pandemic-this-newly-funded-travel-startup-is-tackling-the-stodgy-timeshare-market/" target="_blank">Even amid the pandemic, this newly funded travel startup is tackling the stodgy timeshare market</a></blockquote>

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SmarterTravel provides personalized travel recommendations and targeted travel content.

Artificial Intelligence

Hopjump

Jordan Staab

Link Ventures

Lisa Dolan

Second Alpha

Smartertravel

Tourism

SmarterTravel sheds HopJump name, begins a new journey with $9.5M round

Amazon&#8217;s biometric scanner for retail, the Amazon One palm reader, is expanding beyond the e-commerce giant&#8217;s own stores. The company <a href="https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/innovation-at-amazon/amazon-one-expands-beyond-retail-with-first-third-party-customer-ticketing-company-axs" target="_blank">announced</a> today it has acquired its initial third-party customer with ticketing company AXS, which will implement the Amazon One system at Denver, Colorado&#8217;s Red Rocks Amphitheatre as an option for contactless entry for event-goers.
This is the first time the Amazon One system will be used outside an Amazon-owned retail store, and the first time it&#8217;s used for entry into an entertainment venue. Amazon says it expects AXS to roll out the system to more venues in the future, but didn&#8217;t offer any specifics as to which ones or when.
At Red Rocks, guests will be able to associate their AXS Mobile ID with Amazon One at dedicated stations before they enter the amphitheatre, or they can enroll at a second station once inside in order to use the reader at future AXS events. The enrollment process takes about a minute and customers can choose to enroll either one or both palms. Once set up, ticketholders can use a dedicated entry line for Amazon One users.
&#8220;We are proud to work with Amazon to continue shaping the future of ticketing through cutting-edge innovation,&#8221; said Bryan Perez, CEO of AXS, in a statement. &#8220;We are also excited to bring Amazon One to our clients and the industry at a time when there is a need for fast, convenient, and contactless ticketing solutions. At AXS, we are continually deploying new technologies to develop secure and smarter ticketing offerings that improve the fan experience before, during, and after events,&#8221; he added.
<img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2202152" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-2202152" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/amazon-one-reader.jpeg?w=680" alt="" width="680" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/amazon-one-reader.jpeg 1320w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/amazon-one-reader.jpeg?resize=150,84 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/amazon-one-reader.jpeg?resize=300,169 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/amazon-one-reader.jpeg?resize=768,432 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/amazon-one-reader.jpeg?resize=680,383 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/amazon-one-reader.jpeg?resize=50,28 50w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" />Image Credits: Amazon
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Amazon&#8217;s palm reader was <a href="https://blog.aboutamazon.com/innovation/introducing-amazon-one-a-new-innovation-to-make-everyday-activities-effortless" target="_blank">first introduced amid the pandemic</a> in September 2020, as a way for shoppers to pay at Amazon Go convenience stores using their palm. To use the system, customers would first insert their credit card then hover their palm over the device to associate their unique palm print with their payment mechanism. After setup, customers could enter the store just by holding their palm above the biometric scanner for a second or so. Amazon touted the system as a safer, &#8220;contactless&#8221; means of payment, as customers aren&#8217;t supposed to actually touch the reader. (Hopefully, that&#8217;s the case, considering the pandemic rages on.)
On the tech side, Amazon One uses computer vision technology to create the palm signatures, it said.
In the months that followed,<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/01/amazon-expands-its-biometric-based-amazon-one-palm-reader-system-to-more-retail-stores/" target="_blank"> Amazon expanded the biometric system</a> to several more stores, including other Amazon Go convenience stores, Amazon Go Grocery stores, and its Amazon Books and Amazon 4-star stores. This April, it <a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/news/amazon-is-bringing-its-amazon-one-palm-scanner-to-select-whole-foods-as-a-payment-option" target="_blank">brought the system</a> to select Whole Foods locations. To encourage more sign-ups, Amazon even <a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/news/amazon-credit-palm-biometrics" target="_blank">introduced</a> a $10 promotional credit to enroll your palm prints at its supported stores.
When palm prints are linked to Amazon accounts, the company is able to collect data from customers&#8217; offline activity to target ads, offers, and recommendations over time. And the data remains with Amazon until a customer explicitly deletes it, or if the customer doesn&#8217;t use the feature for at least two years.
While the system offers an interesting take on contactless payments, Amazon&#8217;s track record in this area has <a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/news/amazon-credit-palm-biometrics" target="_blank">raised</a> privacy concerns. The company had in the past sold <a href="https://www.biometricupdate.com/202006/u-s-congress-member-welcomes-awss-facial-recognition-moratorium-demands-further-explanations" target="_blank">biometric facial recognition services</a> to law enforcement in the U.S. Its facial recognition technology <a href="https://www.biometricupdate.com/202006/u-s-congress-member-welcomes-awss-facial-recognition-moratorium-demands-further-explanations" target="_blank">was the subject of a data privacy lawsuit</a>. And it was found to be still storing Alexa voice data <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/3/20681423/amazon-alexa-echo-chris-coons-data-transcripts-recording-privacy" target="_blank">even after users deleted</a> their audio files.
Amazon has responded by noting its palm print images are encrypted and sent to a secure area built for Amazon One in the cloud where Amazon creates the customers’ palm signatures. It also has noted it allows customers to unenroll from either a device or from its website, one.amazon.com once all transactions have been processed.

Amazon’s biometric scanner for retail, the Amazon One palm reader, is expanding beyond the e-commerce giant’s own stores. The company announced today it has acquired its initial third-party customer with ticketing company AXS, which will implement the Amazon One system at Denver, Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre as an option for contactless entry for event-goers. This […]

Privacy

Alexa

Amazon

Amazon Music

Computer Vision Technology

Computing

Denver

E-reader

Facial Recognition

Retail Store

Amazon partners with AXS to install Amazon One palm readers at entertainment venues

Funding startups that help manufacturers and sellers distribute products and merchants access them on a single platform keeps increasing across Africa.
Today, Cairo-based B2B e-commerce startup <a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/category/" target="_blank">Capiter</a> continues that trend by raising a $33 million Series A round.
The investment was co-led by Quona Capital and MSA Capital. Other participating investors include Savola, Shorooq Partners, Foundation Ventures, Accion Venture Lab, and Derayah Ventures.
Capiter was launched in July 2020 by <a href="https://eg.linkedin.com/in/mahmoud-nouh-363a2b119" target="_blank">Mahmoud Nouh</a> and <a href="https://eg.linkedin.com/in/ahmed-nouh" target="_blank">Ahmed Nouh</a>. Speaking with TechCrunch, CEO Mahmoud Nouh says Capiter solves problems around reach and insights for suppliers and manufacturers.
Many of the manufacturers in Egypt today do not have the right infrastructure of the supply chain in place to reach merchants. Nouh says that manufacturers can only reach 30% of merchants in the market, but with Capiter, that number goes up between 80% to 100%.
Also, a large portion of the manufacturers&#8217; end trade happens via traditional channels where there is basically no transparency over data or market insights.
Using machine learning, Capiter says it helps these manufacturers gain critical insights into the markets they serve, the products they sell, and how they fair with competition.
Then for merchants, Capiter attends to three problems. The first is the inconvenience merchants have to deal with engaging several suppliers to find the right product. The second is transparency which involves some back and forth between merchants and manufacturers on pricing. The third is that merchants often have little or no access to working capital to get the right product and the right time.
With Capiter, merchants can order products from FMCGs and wholesalers while the company delivers them. Capiter also provides fair pricing and matching techniques that showcases a wide range of inventory for merchants.
Then it affords working capital to them to buy more products even when they are strapped with cash. Capiter partners with local banks in Egypt and the Central Bank to perform this.
Capiter has over 12 merchant types on its platform, including mom-and-pop stores, hotels, restaurants, cafes, electronic shops, supermarkets, grocery shops, and catering companies, each with its own customized solutions.
&#8220;We&#8217;re able to get the data from the products they buy. So we offer them the best solution on what they should sell, at what time and peak seasons, including when are the offerings happening. All of these are customized solutions that we offer,&#8221; said Mahmoud Nouh.
<img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2201379" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-2201379" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/FA6BB442-B689-42A1-B1CB-69FA509055E8.jpeg?w=680" alt="Capiter" width="680" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/FA6BB442-B689-42A1-B1CB-69FA509055E8.jpeg 5906w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/FA6BB442-B689-42A1-B1CB-69FA509055E8.jpeg?resize=150,90 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/FA6BB442-B689-42A1-B1CB-69FA509055E8.jpeg?resize=300,180 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/FA6BB442-B689-42A1-B1CB-69FA509055E8.jpeg?resize=768,461 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/FA6BB442-B689-42A1-B1CB-69FA509055E8.jpeg?resize=680,408 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/FA6BB442-B689-42A1-B1CB-69FA509055E8.jpeg?resize=1536,921 1536w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/FA6BB442-B689-42A1-B1CB-69FA509055E8.jpeg?resize=2048,1229 2048w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/FA6BB442-B689-42A1-B1CB-69FA509055E8.jpeg?resize=50,30 50w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" />The Capiter app
The company&#8217;s revenues are derived from little margins on the products bought from manufacturers and sold to merchants. Then on rebates for the suppliers and commission from the working capital provided to merchants. Capiter also makes money from providing market insights and data services to manufacturers and FMCGs.
Typically B2B e-commerce platforms operate either asset-light, inventory-heavy models. Nouh tells me that Capiter chose to use a hybrid model &#8212; making deliveries without owning any trucks to ensure scalability and owning inventory, especially for high turnover products helping the company with high availability and better pricing.
&#8220;This way has enabled us to scale the business in a very fast manner and at the same time, efficiently and reliably. Regarding warehouses and trucks, we don&#8217;t own them; we rent them. We deal with third-party logistics for transportation and we manage them.&#8221;
Over 50,000 merchants and 1,000 sellers use Capiter. According to CEO Nouh, the company has provided up to 6,000 SKUs. He also adds that the company is targeting an annualized revenue of $1 billion by next year.
&#8220;We&#8217;re on a very good trajectory for achieving this,&#8221; he added. &#8220;In terms of team members, we have a team of more than 1000 people at the moment, including in warehouses, delivery, etc. So we&#8217;ve seen good traction across all board,&#8221; he answered when asked about Capiter&#8217;s traction.
Quona Capital, the co-lead investor in this round, is known to have made some B2B e-commerce bets over the past years, for instance, Kenya&#8217;s Sokowatch. The investment in Capiter adds to the firm&#8217;s portfolio in that regard and a growing presence in the MENA region being its first check made in Egypt.
In a statement, Quona co-founder and managing partner Monica Brand Engel said, “Capiter’s embedded finance model, combined with its expertise and strong user engagement, can have a dramatic impact on the financial lives of SMEs, helping them optimize their income which helps communities to thrive.”
“SME supply chain inefficiencies are massive throughout the Middle East. We believe the key blocker is the lack of working capital in the system. Capiter has built an asset-light way to aggregate retailers and suppliers and facilitate credit into the system through a comprehensive multi-product offering such as commerce, credit financing, digital payments, bookkeeping and inventory management for SMEs, leveraging on the ecosystem built by the local banks and financial institutions.” adds Ben Harburg, partner at MSA Capital, a global VC that has invested in fintechs like Nubank and Klarna.
According to Ahmed Nouh, the company&#8217;s COO, Capiter will expand into new verticals like agriculture and pharmaceutical offerings.
The co-founder brings experience from the shipping and logistics space. Both he and Mahmoud are serial entrepreneurs. The latter&#8217;s journey is quite prominent, having worked in the mobility space as the co-founder and COO of Egyptian ride-hailing company SWVL. The company recently <a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/news/egyptian-ride-sharing-company-swvl-plans-to-go-public-in-a-1-5b-spac-merger" target="_blank">announced a potential SPAC deal valuing it at $1.5 billion</a> and is one of the few African startups breeding a tech mafia. Ahmed Sabbah, another co-founder of the company, <a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/news/sequoia-leads-5m-pre-seed-in-egypts-1-month-old-digital-bank-telda" target="_blank">now runs early-stage fintech startup Telda</a>.

<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="u1CjNEA5mm"><a href="https://www.flyingeze.com/news/egyptian-ride-sharing-company-swvl-plans-to-go-public-in-a-1-5b-spac-merger" target="_blank">Egyptian ride-sharing company Swvl plans to go public in a $1.5B SPAC merger</a></blockquote>

Capiter has attracted a global team that brings together the expertise from companies like Careem and Flipkart needed to achieve the company’s targets, said Mahmoud.
He adds that the team, alongside the provision of financial services via partnerships with banks and its hybrid model, is how the company stands out in a competitive market, including the likes of Fatura, Bosta, and MaxAB.
Following this investment, the company plans to expand vertically (in terms of the buyer type) and geographically within the next year.
&#8220;We want to serve every single SME in the MENA region and expanding inside Egypt and globally.&#8221; He adds that Savola Group, one of its investors and the largest investor for FMCG products in the MENA region, will prove pivotal to this growth. Capiter also plans to diversify its financial services offerings to include payments.

Funding startups that help manufacturers and sellers distribute products and merchants access them on a single platform keeps increasing across Africa. Today, Cairo-based B2B e-commerce startup Capiter continues that trend by raising a $33 million Series A round. The investment was co-led by Quona Capital and MSA Capital. Other participating investors include Savola, Shorooq Partners, […]

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Egyptian startup Capiter raises $33M to expand B2B e-commerce platform across MENA

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