Zubale Raises $40M to Expand Latam eCommerce Offering

Zubale, a software and gig collaborators marketplace that aims to fulfill eCommerce orders in Latin America, has raised $40 million in a Series A round that the company wants to use to tap into the region’s burgeoning digital commerce sector.

“Retailers are experiencing great pressure from consumers to improve the shopping experience in their digital channels, offering the same speed and quality of delivery offered by applications such as Rappi, PedidosYa, iFood or Cornershop,” Sebastian Monroy, co-founder of Zubale, said in a news release Wednesday (April 20).

“However, providing these levels of service and speed of delivery requires giant tech work and large capital investment for which retailers are not prepared,” he continued.

As PYMNTS has reported, digital retail sales are set to skyrocket in Latin America over the next few years, projected to hit $160 billion by the end of 2025. This growth has coincided with rising interest and use of digital banking and payment methods among Latin American consumers. One study found an 80% increase in consumers downloading mobile financial apps.

Read more: The Three Things Latin American Consumers Want from an Online Shopping Experience

Per the release, Zubale wants to meet this growing need by accelerating its growth in its current markets: Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru, Brazil and Chile.

“Our goal is very clear: We want to be present, in a very short period of time, in the six most important markets in Latin America,” Monroy said. “Over the past two years, we have grown steadily 25% month over month and expect to 3X our revenues in 2022 compared to the previous year.”

With the new funding, Zubale will continue to invest in its product, data science, technology and design departments. The company will also launch a new embedded finance product that will allow it to offer financial products and services to its gig collaborators.

Based in Mexico City, Zubale helps retailers such as fashion brands, supermarkets, specialty stores and pharmacies compete against business-to-consumer (B2C) aggregators while retaining their customers.

The company said its embedded software fulfills eCommerce orders for retailers using its marketplace of independent collaborators, “who pick, pack, and ship from the retailer’s assets (stores, warehouses, dark stores, etc.) to the final customer.”