Bloomberg Línea — Startups in the retail, agricultural and artificial intelligence (AI) industries received funding in recent days in Latin America.
One of the standout deals was that for Mob2Con, which received a 5-million-reais ($930,000) investment from Hindiana. The startup, which works with data intelligence for supermarket chains, plans to use the funds to expand in Brazil.
According to data from Sling Hub, there were 61 funding rounds in April, one less than in March, marking the second-worst monthly result for Latin America since May 2020.
Here are some of the startups that received investments so far this month:
Agroboard
Agroboard, a startup dedicated to digitizing and managing risks in commodities and derivatives, received 1.8 million reais ($335,000) in an investment by Arara Seed, a crowdfunding platform for collective investment in agribusiness startups.
The funding round, led by Rural Ventures, exceeded the target and had an additional offer to accommodate investors interested in participating. The funds will be used for technology investments, hiring, new product features, and the structuring of marketing and sales departments, according to the startup.
Mob2Con
Mob2Con received an investment of 5 million reais ($930,000) from Hindiana. The startup, whose main mission is to provide greater data intelligence to supermarket chains, plans to use the funds to improve its products, develop new solutions for the retail sector, and expand its search for new partners in Brazil’s southern and northeastern regions, particularly in the states of Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, Bahia, Ceará and Pernambuco.
Founded in 2015, the startup has developed technology to facilitate the shelf-replenishment process, connecting retail chains, industries and promoter agencies. It serves over 45 supermarket chains in the country, including Carrefour, Assaí, and Coop, with 1,700 points of sale across the country.
Mimo
Mimo, a Brazilian “live shopping” startup for Latin American businesses, received a pre-Series A investment of an undisclosed amount from venture capital funds Locaweb and Cencosud Ventures.
The company had previously secured angel investments from celebrities such as Sabrina Sato, Luciano Huck, Felipe Neto, and Nizan Guanaes.
The company plans to use the funds to develop its live technology, enabling purchases to be made on a larger scale on brands’ websites, and launch new features for extracting and analyzing real-time data and information for live commerce and video commerce solutions.
The startup employs software that allows brands to sell products through live streams on their e-commerce platforms, and its clients include Cencosud, present in Colombia, Chile, Peru, and Argentina; Favo in Peru, and Schultz and MaxMara in the United States. In Brazil, Mimo works with brands such as Wella, Michael Kors, Bauducco, and Pague Menos. Mimo has reported an average 20% increase in revenue each month.
Senzai
Latin American startup Senzai received a $2 million pre-seed funding round led by ALLVP, and the company plans to launch its artificial intelligence platform for sales and marketing by the end of 2023.
Founded in Mexico City by Julian Lopez-Portillo and Darren Timmins, Senzai aims to use machine learning to guide companies to the right customers.