Brazilian live shopping startup Mimo Lives Sales received funding from Cencosud Ventures, the corporate venture capital unit of Chilean retailer Cencosud, which has supermarkets and retail stores in several countries in the region. The amount of the financing was not disclosed. The platform will be integrated with the company’s digital sales channels to offer more efficient e-commerce processes. The round, categorized as pre-Series A, also involved LW Ventures, the corporate venture capital of Locaweb, a Brazilian technology holding company.
In Mimo Live Sales, infuencers make their products and services known through the brand’s e-commerce, allowing the audience to add products to the shopping cart in real-time.
Live shopping is a trend that has been increasing in popularity over the last few years. Now Cencosud seeks to complement the value proposition of its brands associated with the supermarket and department store segments in Latin America.
Pluria, an Airbnb for offices
With a US$2 million seed investment, the Romanian startup Pluria is seeking to strengthen its presence in Mexico and Colombia while boosting its expansion plan in Latin America with the arrival in Argentina, Chile, Brazil, and Peru.
Pluria, which calls itself the Airbnb of flexible offices, obtained this round led by Eleven Ventures (Bulgaria) and backed by international investors such as Phoenix Venture Fund (USA), Croton Capital (Germany), and WIT Angels Club (Romania).
To date, Pluria already has more than 500 flexible offices, business centers, hotel rooms, and workcafés in all the countries in which it operates, which in Europe are Romania, Spain, Bulgaria, and Portugal.
In Latin America, Mexico is a strategic market for the company. According to their data, they are growing 15% month on month in this market, and it is the most relevant country for the region in terms of flexible spaces.
In a statement, Mateo Marulanda, the company’s expansion leader, said the injection of resources “will allow improving the service and product experience in all workspaces and companies.” The company plans to have a three-fold growth in the number of clients over the next 12 months and to continue consolidating its team.
Merama sues Chilean company for swindle
The unicorn Merama, based in Mexico and Brazil, dedicated to buying and investing in e-commerce companies to make them grow, filed a lawsuit in Chile against the founders of the local firm Urbano Design, part of its portfolio, accusing them of a fraud estimated at more than US$13 million. According to Merama, the amount invested in Urbano less than a year ago disappeared and was not used to grow the business. They accuse Urbano’s founders of providing false documentation and generating fictitious sales to keep the money.
Several local media reported the news, including Diario Financiero, where Merama’s legal VP gave details of the alleged scam and announced that next week they will file a new lawsuit against the Chilean company, this time one related to alteration of documents.
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