SÃO PAULO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mandaê announced it has closed a USD $2.5 million (BRL R$10 million) funding round from Qualcomm Incorporated, through its venture investment group, Qualcomm Ventures, with participation from existing investors Monashees+ and Valor Capital Group. This round brings Mandaê’s total funding to USD $5 million (BRL R$16 million). Earlier investors also include Kima Ventures and Hans Hickler, the former CEO of DHL Express USA. The company will use the funds to accelerate growth, scale its operations and continue to expand its team.
Mandaê has created a platform that simplifies the shipping process for individuals and small businesses in Brazil. Through their mobile and desktop apps, customers can specify the items they want to ship, and Mandaê will take care of the rest: from pick-up, to packaging, to selection of the best carriers, to shipping the items.
Earlier this year, Mandaê started introducing private transporters onto their platform, including a strategic partnership with Total Express, one of Brazil’s largest private couriers. This marks the first time that Brazilian individuals and small-volume shippers can have their items shipped with the same private couriers used by the largest e-commerce players. Unlike the U.S. or Europe, where couriers such as UPS, Fedex and DHL are ubiquitous, private couriers in Brazil are essentially unavailable to the long-tail of the market, servicing only the largest companies. By bridging access between the highest-quality transporters and the long-tail, Mandaê hopes to further help small businesses with their logistics needs.
“My co-founder and I ran an e-commerce business prior to Mandaê, and we can empathize with the small business owner who spends 2-4 hours each day on fulfillment and shipping. We used to do this as well,” said Mandaê co-founder and CEO Marcelo Fujimoto. “Mandaê is the logistics solution we would have wanted for ourselves. Our value proposition is extremely strong, especially in Brazil where small business owners face a dearth of options. As a result, we’ve grown very quickly and become a valuable and indispensable part of our customers’ operations.”
In 2015, Mandaê:
- Increased shipment volume by 10x and revenues by over 8x.
- Did 25,000 pickups, and shipped 160,000 packages.
- Grew to more than 2,500 customers, maintaining an NPS of 79.
- Entered into integration partnerships with some of Brazil’s largest e-commerce platforms, such as LojaIntegrada, and crowdfunding sites such as Catarse.
For more information about Mandaê, please visit www.mandae.com.br.
About Mandaê
Mandaê is transforming the way Brazilian individuals and small businesses ship their stuff. Our drivers will pick up whatever you need to ship, then bring them to our warehouse to be professionally packaged and shipped off with the best transporters. Mandaê is the first platform in Brazil to allow individuals and small-volume shippers to have their objects shipped with the same, high-quality private carriers used by the largest companies and e-commerce businesses. Mandaê is headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil.
About Monashees+
Founded in 2005, Monashees+ is a venture capital firm that helps great entrepreneurs build great companies. It has invested early in category-defining leaders in Brazil, such as 99Taxis, ContaAzul, Eduk, Elo7, Enjoei, JusBrasil, Loggi, Neoway, Peixe Urbano, and VivaReal.
About Qualcomm
Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) is a world leader in 3G, 4G and next-generation wireless technologies. Qualcomm Incorporated includes Qualcomm’s licensing business, QTL, and the vast majority of its patent portfolio. Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, operates, along with its subsidiaries, substantially all of Qualcomm’s engineering, research and development functions, and substantially all of its products and services businesses, including its semiconductor business, QCT. For more than 30 years, Qualcomm ideas and inventions have driven the evolution of digital communications, linking people everywhere more closely to information, entertainment and each other. For more information, visit Qualcomm’s website, OnQ blog, Twitter and Facebook pages.
About Valor Capital Group
Valor Capital Group, LLC is an investment firm focused on Brazil and US-Brazil cross-border opportunities with a presence in New York, San Francisco and São Paulo. The firm operates across two investment strategies: Growth Equity and Venture Capital. Their investments include SontraCargo, Udacity and Descomplica.
