In Latin American countries such as Brazil and Chile, WhatsApp has become a dominant platform for online purchases, particularly during the pandemic. Despite being primarily designed for messaging, WhatsApp emerged as a favored e-commerce tool in the region. A startup named Mercately is recognizing this trend and developing backend software to enhance brands' sales capabilities on WhatsApp.
Mercately is building software to help brands sell directly through WhatsApp. Founded by Henry Remache in 2021, Mercately integrates with platforms like Stripe and HubSpot and uses AI to streamline communication, inventory management, and payments within WhatsApp, eliminating the need for a separate website.
Over 90% of internet users in Latin America use WhatsApp, deeply ingraining the platform in the region's culture and providing fertile ground for startups like Mercately.
Inventus Capital Partners and SVQuad led a $2.6 million seed round for Mercately, with additional support from Techstars, Salkantay Ventures, and BuenTrip Ventures. The funds will be used to hire more AI engineers to enhance their chatbots and to strengthen their presence in Brazil and the U.S., markets where they already operate but lack significant market share. Fundraising was challenging, particularly given the limited funding available in Latin America. However, being a Techstars company and participating in Meta's "Future of Business Messaging Platform" program in 2022 opened up opportunities and helped them connect with their lead investors.
Originally published on Techcrunch