E-commerce is an $85 billion business in Latin America, and as that market is poised to… essentially doubling in three yearscurrent consumer demand to receive orders on time and correctly packaged will only increase.
For decades, e-commerce giants like Amazon and MercadoLibre have perfected the logistics and delivery technology for their marketplaces, but more recently, startups have developed similar technology to put e-commerce companies of all sizes on an equal footing.
based in Argentina clickOH is the latest marine technology company to raise venture capital funding and raise $25 million in Series A funding in a round led by Tiger Global. Together with JAM Fund and existing investors Flexport, FundersClub and Vast VC. The latest investment gives the company a total of $33 million in funding since it was founded in 2018 by Juan Martin Altamirano, Emiliano Segura and Agustin Novillo Saravia.
ClicOH, a 2021 Y Combinator alum, operates in Argentina, Mexico, Chile and Uruguay, and its proprietary technology allows merchants to track shipments in real time through a dashboard with key indicators and traceability.
CEO Novillo Saravia told businesstraverse.com via email that Latin America was “infrastructure unprepared for the post-pandemic wave of e-commerce,” which is e-commerce penetration that has grown by five to 10 years in ten months. increased.
As a result, e-commerce in the region is still not sufficiently penetrated — only 5% of retail sales were made online in 2021 — despite LatAm being one of the fastest growing regions in the world. That was one of the big drivers for the company to look for additional financing, he said.
“E-commerce logistics is a problem that can only be solved with data and efficiency,” he added. “Our asset light model allows us to penetrate 100% of the countries we operate in, understand consumer behavior to keep inventory very close to demand and accelerate our shipping times.”
That demand has enabled clicOH to grow rapidly since launching its current business model in 2020. The company delivers a package every 20 seconds and serves customers of all sizes, from AB inBev and Red Bull to small Shopify merchants.
This year, the number of parcels handled by clicOH each month has grown by about 30% to date, and sales in the first quarter were six times higher than in the same period in 2021, according to Novillo Saravia. A year ago the company had 40 employees, now there are 175.
ClicOH is one of a number of startups raising money while developing an e-commerce infrastructure to capture a slice of this burgeoning market in Latin America. For example, 99minutos raised an $82 million Series C round in March for its route optimization and pick-up and drop-off offers, Cubbo landed a small seed round in November to transform urban spaces into fast-delivery fulfillment centers, and Skydropx is developing a delivery system with hundreds of customizable shipping options.
Novillo Saravia plans to use the new capital to continue clicOH’s expansion in Latin America, including Colombia, in technology development and logistics network expansion.
“We are excited to expand into Colombia and are in the process of identifying additional regions in LatAm,” he added. “We’re also developing a whole ecosystem where e-commerce merchants can grow sustainable businesses, including new products aimed at strengthening partnerships with merchants in development.”
