Bloomberg Línea — Mottu, a Brazilian motorcycle rental and last-mile delivery marketplace company, has received $50 million in a Series C round co-led by QED Investors and Bicycle Capital, led by former SoftBank executives Marcelo Claure and Shu Nyatta.
Endeavor Catalyst and Caravela also took part in the investment round. Mottu has received over $150 million in funding since its inception in 2020. The company has also been backed by investors including Michael Moritz, Base Partners, and Tiger Global.
The Series C round was finalized in the midst of a challenging climate for venture capital in Latin America, one in which transactions have decreased by 32% throughout 2023, according to the latest TTR Data report. Up to August, there were a total of 595 transactions with an aggregated value of $3.591 billion, implying a 48% decrease in volume year-on-year.
A total of 105 Private Equity transactions totaling $3.892 billion have taken place in the year-to-date, representing a downturn in both the number of transactions (-23%) and their total value (-44%) compared to the same period last year.
Meet the startups that recently raised funds this week in Latin America:
Mottu
Mottu closed a $50 million Series C funding round to expand its last-mile logistics ecosystem. The investment was made at a premium to its previous valuation, signifying an up round and raising the company’s valuation.
The startup offers motorcycle rentals to delivery drivers operating on platforms in the gig economy, such as iFood and Rappi. The round was co-led by QED Investors and Bicycle Capital, the new venture capital firm founded by former SoftBank executives Marcelo Claure and Shu Nyatta, with the additional participation of Endeavor Catalyst and Caravela.
With this funding, the company aims to expand geographically, enhance operational efficiency, and improve the customer experience. Mottu, led by Rubens Zanelatto, began its operations in 2020 with an investment from the founder of 99 and Yellow. The idea was to provide low-cost motorcycle rentals to delivery workers on platforms like Rappi, iFood, or Loggi who couldn’t afford to buy a vehicle or didn’t have access to credit.
Mottu’s motorcycle rental business now serves approximately 50,000 customers in a last-mile logistics ecosystem that connects restaurants, retailers, and e-commerce companies with delivery drivers. The company is also entering the mobility market in Brazil and Mexico.
“Mottu stands out as a rare combination of high growth, operational excellence, profitability, and capital efficiency,” said Marcelo Claure of Bicycle in a press release. Mottu operates in over 30 cities in Brazil and Mexico and has established its own assembly line in Manaus to meet the growing demand for rentals.
N5
Julian Colombo, an ex-Santander executive who founded the fintech N5 in 2017, has received an undisclosed Series A funding for his company. The round had participation from Illuminate Capital, a venture capital firm with Limited Partners (investors) that include some of the world’s largest financial institutions such as J.P. Morgan, Citi, Barclays, BNY Mellon, S&P Global, and Jefferies.
Other investors include Exor Ventures, the venture capital arm of Exor, an investment holding company controlled by the Agnelli family and a shareholder in Ferrari and Stellantis; Madrone Capital Partners, a company associated with the Walton family of Walmart; and Overboost, a venture builder company.
In Brazil, LTS Investments, an investment holding company of Jorge Paulo Lemann, Marcel Telles, and Carlos Alberto Sicupira’s families, and Arpex Capital, an investment firm of André Street and Eduardo Pontes, co-founders of Stone (STNE), also participated in the round.
N5 is a systematic platform that integrates software for financial institutions. N5, based in Argentina and present in countries including Brazil, the United States, Chile, Peru, Paraguay, and Panama, serves clients such as Mastercard, Santander, Credicorp Bank, Zurich, Banco Atlas, and Credicorp Bank. The plan is to enter nine more markets in the coming months.
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