VTex, a Brazil-based provider of end-to-end e-commerce services, has collected $140m in a funding round led by internet and telecommunications group SoftBank, TechCrunch reported on Friday.
Investment management firm Gávea Investimentos and asset manager Constellation Asset Management also contributed to the round, and SoftBank participated through its $5bn latin America-focused Innovation Fund.
Founded in 1999, VTex has built a platform intended to facilitate commerce operations, unifying all sales-orientated aspects of a retail business in a single interface.
The platform’s capabilities include distributed order and fulfilment management, inventory tracking, customer support and the administration of international stores.
The company targets e-commerce, brick-and-mortar, marketplace and business-to-business retailers. The funding will enable VTex, which has already entered 28 countries, to increase its international presence.
Paulo Passoni, managing investment partner at SoftBank Innovation Fund, said: “VTex has three attributes that we believe will fuel the company’s success: a strong team culture, a best-in-class product and entrepreneurs with profitability mindset.
“Brands and retailers want reliability and the ability to test their own innovations. VTex offers both, filling a gap in the market. With VTex, companies get access to a proven, cloud-native platform with the flexibility to test add-ons in the same data layer.”
Internet group Naspers paid a reported R$22m ($12m at contemporary rates) to acquire a 27.7% stake in VTex in 2012. It later sold 25% to Riverwood Capital and the remaining 2.7% to VTex co-founders Mariano Gomide and Geraldo Thomaz in 2015 for a total of R$30m ($10.4m).
