Mexican container logistics startup comes to Brazil with million-dollar investment

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Nowports, a digital freight company in Latin America, has announced that it will begin operations in Brazil. The company aims to gain a foothold in the country’s promising port market.

The company is focused on automating warehouses with sensors and tracking connected shipments. The company plans to put much of its recent investments toward growth in Brazil.

Nearly 54 million containers are imported and exported from Latin America every year. What is surprising is that almost half of them are delayed or lost due to mismanagement. Added to this, the market volume is staggering, freight providers are paid almost US$40 billion per year to move freight to the region.

“One container can receive 300 emails between the freight provider and the shipper. We reduce errors to zero and process documentation three times faster than a normal freight provider in Latin America,” says Alfonso De Los Rios, CEO of Nowports.

Nowports recently closed a US$23 million Series A investment round led by Monashees. The round was augmented by US$8 million from investors including Justin Mateen, Andy Shah, and Dominik Palsanik.

The Brazilian operations are an essential part of Nowports’ global positioning strategy. Caio Bolognesi, managing partner of Monashees, said in a statement, “Nowports’ explosive growth demonstrates that the team has a deep understanding of its customers’ needs and provides outstanding service.

“We are very pleased that the service is now available to Brazilian customers who must navigate complex import and import clearance processes without the support of their unique technology.”

Arriving in the country will be a team of 14, and the company aims to have 100 employees in the next 18 months. Subsequently, Nowports will arrive in Argentina.

Brazil is an essential market for Nowports due to its geographic location, which is strategically positioned to continue the performance in trade exchange that the country had during the pandemic.

For example, the Port of Santos tops the ECLAC list of the most extensive seaborne trade, with a growth of 2.4% from 2019 to 2020.

Nowports aims to streamline Brazilian logistics by using technology to accelerate import and export processes, with cargo tracking, digitized documents, automated reporting, credit facilities, cargo insurance, and transportation time prediction.

Founded by Alfonso de los Ríos and Maximiliano Casal, the company is present in Brazil, Mexico, and Chile, the three most commercially and logistically occupied countries in the region.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Their platform can track cargo in real-time and help improve container movement. Through their system, all parties can communicate at any time in a simple and fast way to avoid inconveniences.

They allow companies to organize their information to make the experience of moving a container from point A to point B safe, easy and efficient. Companies can request quotes and rates, register suppliers and products to ship, as well as ship from any port in the world.

In addition, Nowports allows shippers to track each container through its digital platform.

“Despite the fact that more than 90% of global trade is done by sea, the most cost-effective way to transport goods in bulk, there still needs to be a solution that can connect suppliers, customs brokers, shippers, and carriers to provide an efficient and reliable service,” said Maximiliano Casal, founder and CEO of Nowports, in a statement.

“That’s why we launched Nowports, combining our 10 years of industry experience to fill this gap, and are currently working with more than 40 clients in the region and growing.”

LatAm Markets: Live Signals → — real-time movers, turnover leaders and FX across Latin America.