Merama Closes US$225M Series B Financing

Merama, an acquirer and builder of direct-to-consumer businesses in Latin America, raised an additional US$225m in Series B funding at a valuation of approximately US$850m.

The equity round was co-led by Advent International and SoftBank Group with participation from new investor Globo Ventures, and existing investors Monashees, Valor Capital, Balderton Capital and MAYA Capital. In conjunction with the Series B financing, Wilson Rosa, Head of Retail and Consumer Investing for Advent in Latin America, and Paulo Passoni, Managing Partner of SoftBank Latin America, will join Merama’s board of directors. Alex Szapiro, Operating Partner and Head of Brazil for SoftBank Latin America and former General Manager of Amazon Brazil, will join the board as an observer.

The company intends to use the funds to continue to expand operations and its business reach in Latin America.

Founded in December 2020 with dual headquarters in Mexico City and São Paulo, Merama invests in and helps operate and grow online brands originating in Latin America. The company typically acquires a majority stake, allowing the founders to retain ownership and continue operating the businesses while supporting them with its team of e-commerce experts and working capital funding. Merama expands the brands across Latin America and the U.S. and promotes each brand individually to enhance their direct-to-consumer capabilities. It is also building a suite of technology tools to power and automate the brands.

To date, Merama has acquired stakes in more than 20 brands operating in Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Colombia and the U.S. Together these businesses are expected to generate over US$250 million of revenue in 2021 and are profitable. The company has dozens of additional brands in its pipeline.

Co-founded by CEO Sujay Tyle, co-founder and former CEO of Frontier Car Group (sold to Naspers for approximately US$700 million); Felipe Delgado, previously CEO of Beetmann Energy; Olivier Scialom, co-founder and former COO of Petsy (sold to Maskota); Renato Andrade, previously Associate Partner at McKinsey; and Guilherme Nosralla, former Head of Marketing at Wildlife Studios, Merama has more than 100 employees in Mexico City and São Paulo.

FinSMEs

28/09/2021