Brazil-Mexico’s Merama raises US$225 million in Series B funding

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Merama, a startup with headquarters in Brazil and Mexico that invests in small and medium-sized companies selling on marketplaces, has received US$225 million in a Series B funding round.

The money comes from Softbank Latin America and Advent International funds, as well as Globo Ventures, the media conglomerate’s investment arm, Monashees, Valor Capital, Balderton Capital and MAYA Capital.

“We will use the resources for new acquisitions, working capital for partner companies and to hire approximately 150 people by the end of the year,” says Renato Andrade, co-founder of Merama together with Guilherme Nosralla, Sujay Tyle, Felipe Delgado and Oliver Scialom. The company projects revenues of US$250 million in 2021.

Merama buys a majority stake in the stock and provides e-commerce consultancy to analyze the business and identify potential improvements. Its portfolio includes over 30 brands spread across Mexico, Brazil, Chile, and Colombia, among other countries. The new investment comes 5 months after a US$160 million Series A round led by well-known venture capital funds such as Monashees, Valor Capital, Balderton and MAYA Capital.

“Our business model requires a lot of cash due to acquisitions. That’s why we are looking for a new funding, in addition to the opportunity to be closer to two large investment funds,” Andrade says.

SoftBank, the Japanese telecommunications and internet giant, has invested in Kavak used car sales startup, Rappi delivery app and Brazilian unico IDTech. Over the past 25 years, the conglomerate has invested over US$7 billion in 67 companies in Latin America and in September this year launched a US$3 billion fund to support technology companies in the region. “We wanted a fund focused on business acceleration, which is exactly SoftBank’s focus,” Andrade says.

Advent has already invested in payments fintech Ebanx and startup Thrasio, which works with small and medium-sized companies selling on Amazon. “Advent is focused on private equity and specializes in investments in the retail segment, an area in which we operate.”

As part of the round, Softbank’s managing partner for Latin America Paulo Passoni and Wilson Rosa, responsible for Advent International’s retail investments in Latin America, will join Merama’s board of directors. Softbank’s operating partner and former country manager of Amazon Brazil Alex Szapiro will be a board observer.

“With the money injected by SoftBank and Advent, we have no new fundraising planned for next year,” Guilherme Nosralla says. The plan is to focus on bank loans, of undisclosed amounts, to complement the financial resources.

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