Mexico-based logistics startup Nowports has reportedly attained Unicorn status after securing USD 150 million in a Series C funding round that was spearheaded by SoftBank’s Latin America fund. The latest fundraising took the company’s valuation to USD 1.1 billion.
The round also saw participation from Tiger Global, Foundation Capital, and Monashes. For those unaware, Nowports is a digital cargo agent that simplifies foreign trade and was founded in 2019.
The company intends to use the fresh funds to expand its operations in Latin America at a time when markets are still struggling with supply-chain disruptions and currency volatility as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak and the Ukraine crisis.
In this context, Nowports’s Co-Founder Alfonso De Los Rios mentioned in a statement that various companies are experiencing uncertainty surrounding how much it will cost to transport cargo from point A to point B, especially due to the widespread usage of several currencies during international operations.
Nowports has worked with nearly 14 different currencies and the firm tries to avoid exchange rate losses or profits with various businesses, Rios added.
For the remaining year of 2022, Nowports will focus on Brazil expansion, where it initially launched with a three-person team back in December. It plans to open an office in Itajai's southern port, whereas the location of another unit is yet to be undisclosed.
Brazil is known to be Latin America's greatest economy, and its foreign trade agreements are quite intriguing with a surged number of imports and export. Nowports has also opened offices in Chile, Panama, and Colombia.
It is worth mentioning here that Nowports is the first Mexican company to join the unicorn club this year. Other SoftBank-backed Mexican unicorns include small business lender Konfio, payments service Clip, and used car market Kavak.
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