Cargamos, a Mexican logistics startup, raised a further $7M in seed funding to bring the round total to $11M. The company raised its initial $4M in January this year.
The round is now the largest seed round a Latin American logistics startup has ever raised.
Cargamos is a delivery platform that serves e-commerce ‘dark stores’. The startup currently has around 10,000 delivery personnel helping smaller merchants to deliver their products to customers safely and quickly.
Cargamos operates a comprehensive network of mini distribution centers across Mexico City where personnel sort packages and then send them out for delivery. The company hopes to rapidly scale this network and double the number of ‘pods’ from 50 to 100.
E-commerce is continually growing in Latin America, with the market now projected to reach $580B by 2024. There is now a clear demand for delivery services to support merchants and small retailers.
“The problem in Mexico is the orchestration of optimization. The networks are not connected – they’re a mess and have very poor technology. We believe that e-commerce exists, but the blocker for Latin America is the lack of logistics that make it very expensive and difficult to utilize,” said Ivan Ariza, founder and CEO of Cargamos.
Retailers across Mexico can access the company’s ‘pod’ network via the platform, which also provides smart routing and tracking software. Furthermore, the company boasts eco-friendly transport systems and almost 25% of its delivery fleet are zero-emission vehicles such as electric cars and bicycles.
The seed funding will enable Cargamos to continue growing its tech team and expand across Mexico by launching into up to 75 new cities.
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