Mexico's Nowports gains unicorn status after SoftBank-led funding round
24/05/2022 17:04
By Valentine Hilaire
MEXICO CITY, May 24 (Reuters) - Logistics startup Nowports
became Mexico's newest "unicorn" when it announced on Tuesday
that its valuation had climbed to $1.1 billion after a recent
investment round led by SoftBank's 9984.T Latin America Fund.
The startup, founded in 2019, closed a $150 million Series C
round with investors, which included SoftBank, Tiger Global,
Foundation Capital and Monashees among its backers.
Nowports, which operates as a digital cargo agent and aims
to simplify international trade, plans to use the capital for
its planned expansion in Latin America at a time when markets
are still grappling with supply-chain disruptions and currency
volatility due to the coronavirus pandemic and the war in
Ukraine.
"Companies suffer uncertainty around how much it will cost
them to move loads from point A to point B, especially due to
the use of multiple currencies in international operations,"
23-year-old Nowports co-founder Alfonso de los Rios said in a
video interview.
"We have operated with about 14 currencies so far. We try to
ensure that exchange rates do not generate losses or gains for
the companies we work with or for ourselves," he added.
Brazil, where Nowports began operating in December with a
three-person team, will be the startup's main focus for the rest
of 2022. It is set to open an office in the southern port of
Itajai and another in an as yet undetermined location. Staffing
in the country has soared to more than 100.
"Brazil is the largest economy in Latin America and is very
interesting in terms of foreign trade agreements," he said. "It
is a country that not only imports, but also exports a lot."
Nowports also opened offices in Panama, Chile and Colombia
in the first quarter.
Nowports is the first Mexican startup this year to join the
unicorn club. Other Mexican unicorns include small business
lender Konfio, payments provider Clip and used car platform
Kavak, all of which are also SoftBank-funded.
(Reporting by Valentine Hilaire in Mexico City
Editing by Christian Plumb and Matthew Lewis)
((Valentine.Hilaire@thomsonreuters.com;))