Latin American E-Commerce Platform Nuvemshop Surpasses $3B Valuation

In Latin America, e-commerce remains in the early stages, garnering just 6% of total sales in the region, according to Nuvemshop. Delivery and payment processes are two of the barriers that are slowing growth in the region, but Nuvemshop believes it can solve both issues.

The company, based in Sao Paulo, on Tuesday, announced a $500 million Series E round of funding, just five months after it closed a $90 million Series D. The new funding, led by U.S. investment firms Insight Partners and Tiger Global Management, placed a $3.1 billion valuation on the company.

Total funding over the prior 10 months now exceeds $620 million, Nuvemshop said.

The round included significant participation from Alkeon and Owl Rock. Other investors in this round included Sunley House Capital and VMG Partners, as well as existing investors Accel, Kaszek, Kevin Efrusy, Qualcomm Ventures LLC, and ThornTree Capital.

"We envision a world in which anybody can convert a passion project into a thriving business," Santiago Sosa, CEO and co-founder of Nuvemshop, said. "From the start, we have focused on building solutions tailor-made for Latin American merchants. This singular purpose has cemented Nuvemshop as the standard for merchants in this region to build direct relationships with their customers."

The company said the new funding will help it expand its platform and offerings, including building out its logistics network. In Latin America, the average e-commerce delivery time is five to six days because of the region's fragmented network of carriers, Nuvemshop said. The company will expand its warehouse network and carrier partnerships with the goal of bringing that delivery experience in line with the U.S. standard of one- to two-day delivery.

"This additional funding will allow us to not only enable our merchants to be more successful but will enable Nuvemshop as a platform to aggressively drive e-commerce progress in the region," Sosa said. "Faster payments and reliably shorter delivery times will cause e-commerce to further explode in the region."

Nuvemshop will also expand its payments solution, which entered beta testing this year. The platform enables Nuvemshop customers to purchase items through buy-now, pay-later payment options. The company said 70% of the credit card transactions on the platform happen via installment payments.

"With 650 million consumers, Latin America is not only a huge market, but it is the fastest-growing e-commerce market in the world," said Matt Gatto, managing director at Insight Partners. "By offering its powerful and easy-to-use platform, built and tailored specifically for Latin America, Nuvemshop is uniquely poised to continue to lead the region's digital transformation. We're thrilled to be part of its next chapter of incredible growth."

Nuvemshop also said it would explore possible mergers and/or acquisitions, expand its sales and customer support staff, and invest in new capabilities to serve larger merchants and additional customers.

See also: BEST E-COMMERCE COURSES

Nuvemshop said it has over 90,000 merchants on its platform. The company integrates products, payments and shipping into an ecosystem that includes more than 1,000 partners such as Facebook, Instagram, marketplaces and brick-and-mortar stores. The company currently has more than 600 employees and offices in Brazil, Mexico and Argentina.

Click for more Modern Shipper articles by Brian Straight.

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