Chiper, a Colombia-based e-commerce platform for independent merchants in Latin America, has secured $12m in a series A round featuring Wind Ventures, a corporate venturing subsidiary of retail and energy conglomerate Copec.
Venture capital firms Monashees and Kaszek Ventures also participated in the round, which came after a seed round of undisclosed size featuring GGV Capital and Ataria Ventures.
Founded by the team that incubated on-demand delivery service Rappi, Chiper runs an online platform that functions as a digital wholesaler for smaller brands.
The funding will help the company expand outwards from Mexico and Colombia and extend its active user base from 3,000 stores to more than 30,000 by the end of 2021.
Jose Jair Bonilla, CEO of Chiper, said: “This is an untapped market, where it is estimated that less than 0.1% of transactions are currently done online.”
Brian Walsh, head of Wind Ventures, added: “There is a huge opportunity to boost the growth of e-commerce in Latin America by harnessing fragmented trade and creating an efficient network to deliver products.”
