Narayan AmmachchiBrazilian eCommerce startup MadeiraMadeira has raised US$110 million from three foreign funds, including Japan’s Softbank Group, reinforcing itself to challenge the growing clout of Amazon and Argentina’s Mercado Libre.
MadeiraMadeira is the fifth Brazilian company to receive investment from Softbank, the other startups being QuintoAndar, Volanty, Gympass and Creditas. For the Japanese investor, this is the first investment in Latin America’s e-commerce market.
Founded in 2009, MadeiraMadeira is known as a home goods marketplace rather than a full-fledged online retailer like Amazon.
Unlike its regional rivals, the startup sells its own products on its e-commerce platform in addition to the goods from other merchants. Anything people want for their home is up for sale on its website. It also runs its own logistics company called Bulky Log.
Based in Curitiba, the tech startup posted US$126 million in revenue last year, with its executives expecting the revenue to double this year.
“MadeiraMadeira is in a unique position to lead the digital transformation of an industry into a considerable market,” said Paulo Passoni, an investment managing partner for SoftBank’s Latin American fund.
“We will fully support this group of talented people with the right mindset focused on the structural challenges of the industry, which are technology, logistics and customer experience.”
Other investors in the fundraising round were US hedge fund Light Street Capital and Flybridge Capital. Regional venture capital funds, including Monashees and Kaszek, were the early investors in the Brazilian startup.
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