Elenas, a platform that has earned its place as a leader in social commerce in Colombia and Mexico by digitizing catalog sales, raised $20 million in a Series B investment round. The capital injection was led by Dila Capital, a venture capital firm based in Mexico City, with participation of FJ Labs, Endeavor Catalyst, the Inter-American Development Bank’s IDB Lab, Broadhaven Ventures, Mercado Libre, Grupo Bolivar and Leo Capital.
Elenas was founded in Bogota in 2018 by American Zach Oschin, who now lives between Mexico and Colombia.
“The idea is to keep expanding our network of hundreds of thousands of female entrepreneurs in Mexico and Colombia, we have profitable margins in both countries and we want to expand our presence. We want to continue to grow our portfolio. In Mexico we are still small but we are growing fast and we have potential.” Oschin said in an interview with Forbes.
Elenas raised $2 million in seed funding in 2020 and another $6 million in Series A capital in 2021. Now the company is back with an even bigger Series B round of $20 million. This brings to $28 million the capital raised by the company from investors since its inception. This comes in the midst of a slowdown in venture capital investments due to a change in standards caused by the bear market in the world’s main stock exchanges.
Elenas has empowered tens of thousands of women across Colombia and Mexico to launch online businesses and earn extra income by selling products on WhatsApp, Facebook and other social media sites. Currently, 11 million women across Latin America sell consumer good products through direct sales catalogs and door-to-door sales. Elenas provides a digital solution for them to start an online store, manage clients, and grow their business from home, without having to worry about product sourcing, delivery, or payment collection.
“Elenas is revolutionizing the direct-sales industry by giving millions of people across the region the opportunity to sell thousands of products through their digital catalog,” said Alejandro Diez Barroso, managing partner at DILA Capital, in a written statement. “We are convinced that we are backing the right team in the right market and at the right time.”
In addition to growing revenue 5x between the Series A and Series B rounds, the company more than doubled its employee headcount to 230 people.