LatamList – Heru, a Mexican superapp for gig economy workers, recently raised a $1.7M pre-seed venture round led by Mountain Nazca along with participation from Flourish Ventures, YCombinator, Magma Partners, Xtraordinary Venture Partners, and angel investors Jason Evans, Nicolas Girard, and Alejandro Galvez.
“The COVID-19 pandemic caused an economic recession, and therefore accelerated the growth of independent gig workers to more than 12 million in the Latin American region,” said Jenny Johnston, investor at Flourish Ventures. “We invested in Heru not only because the founding team has created a very timely business model, but also because the company will have a lasting benefit on the economy, enabling greater financial health for millions of independent workers.”
The Mexican platform was founded in 2019 by Mateo Jaramillo and Stiven Rodriguez, former employees at Uber where they helped build and grow the ridesharing app’s operation in Latin America.
“As founders, we were fortunate to be part of that first wave of companies that helped build what we know today as the tech-enabled gig-economy by helping launch Uber in the region back in 2013. Today we are proud to lead the second wave of companies who are now building products and services to serve that growing economy of independent workers,” said the founders.
Independent workers represent about 40% of the total workforce population in Latin America. These workers do not have access to services or products made to fit their needs or working conditions, and if they do, they are too expensive.
“While we witnessed the transformation of the gig economy through digital services like ride-sharing apps, we realized that this population of workers needed a full suite of services and benefits in addition to the mobile apps that connected them with work opportunities,” commented the founders.
With Heru, independent workers can access tailored insurance policies, working capital and credit, tax-declaration products, financial guidance, cell phone data plans, as well as a rest stop called Heru Casas.
Heru has attracted more than 19,000 registered users to its service platform. With this round of funding, Heru will expand its team, continue building B2B2C partnerships with key gig-work-based platforms in Mexico, and double down on the development of their digital services to reach a broader audience.
