Leadsales-Venture Capital-Mexico-CRM
Leadsales, a Mexican tech startup, recently raised USD $3.7 million in an initial funding round led by Ulu Ventures and Blue Pointe Ventures. The funding will be used for new hires and to expand into the Brazilian market, where WhatsApp is highly popular.
The company focuses on offering a unique way to manage sales in the mobile commerce space in Latin America, mainly through WhatsApp and other social media platforms.
The company has partnered with Meta and created a specialized Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool. This tool allows for real-time sales funnel automation and personalized organization of customer chats. Businesses can categorize inquiries about billing, product questions, and other topics and assign them to the most suitable sales leads.
Founded in 2020 by Roberto Peñacastro and David Villa Cañez, Leadsales initially focused on logistics solutions for ecommerce businesses in the region. However, upon noticing a growing trend among small and medium-sized businesses shifting to sales via WhatsApp, they decided to create a CRM platform tailored to these needs.
In an interview with TechCrunch, the startup pointed out that its native chat integration within its CRM tool is unique, specially designed for small businesses that rely on instant messaging to close sales. Peñacastro and Villa Cañez bootstrapped their way to more than 1,400 customers and annual recurring revenue of USD $1.6 million before seeking venture capital.
Peñacastro argues that while there is an increase in funding for conversational commerce startups like Yalo, Whym, Charles, and Wizard, Leadsales’ main competition comes from traditional CRM providers like HubSpot, Salesforce, and Pipedrive. However, the firm sets itself apart by focusing on native chat integration for small businesses.
With plans to launch a Series A funding round in the near future, the company also aims to expand into markets in India, Africa, and Southeast Asia. Peñacastro is optimistic about the possibility of doubling the company’s customer base by the end of 2023 and tenfolding its annual recurring revenue by 2024.
With a compound annual growth rate of 4.8%, the Latin American customer relationship management market is expected to grow profoundly with an upward trend. The target market was valued at around USD $10.4 billion in 2021. By 2028, CRM technology should be worth around USD $128.97 billion worldwide, according to Findstack.
