Stori became the new Mexican unicorn after surpassing the US$1 billion valuation barrier in a Series C extension.
In 2020 they launched their main product in Mexico, a digital credit card for which no annuity is paid and is processed online “in minutes” from a mobile phone. It is aimed mainly at the unbanked population, representing a very high percentage in Mexico and LatAm.
KitaBeli, an Indonesian social commerce platform focused on tier 2 and 3 cities, has raised a US$20 million funding round led by Glade Brook Capital Partners, a US-based growth equity investor. Launched in March 2020, KitaBeli offers fast-moving consumer goods on its gamified platform, allowing users and partners to get discounts and earn money by leveraging their social networks. It claims to be the largest direct-to-consumer social commerce platform in Indonesia.
With the acquisition of Mexican company, Urbvan, Swvl increases its presence and boosts its growth in Latin America. The Nasdaq-listed transportation startup acquired Urbvan for US$82 million and this expands its presence to 164 cities in 22 countries and boosts its growth in Latin America, where it already has a presence in Brazil, Argentina, and Chile.
Martech keeps taking larger bites out of marketing budgets: 17.3% last year, 19.9% this year, 23.5% next year, and 30.9% five years from now, according to the latest CMO Survey. This despite barely more than half (56.4%) of current tools being used and nearly half (48.8%) of the survey respondents reporting worse-than-expected results. Oddly enough, marketers rate selecting marketing technologies as the thing they do best.