Ecommerce Aggregators: Wonder Brands Raises $15.5 Million in Series A Funding

Wonder Brands, an acquirer of e-commerce brands in Latin America, has announced the closing of $15.5 million in Series A financing, allowing the Mexico City-based company to expand into South America. Nazca and IDB Invest co-led the round, joined by new and existing investors CoVenture, Silvercircle, Korify Capital, Infinitas Capital, and GBM Mexico. The round is expected to reach $20 million, giving Wonder Brands a total funding of $40 million. Federico Malek, co-founder of Wonder Brands, revealed this information in an email to TechCrunch.

The Rise of Ecommerce Aggregators

In 2021, the ecommerce aggregator scene experienced significant growth and attracted substantial venture capital. Companies like Merama and Quinio achieved unicorn status and secured significant funding. Wonder Brands also raised $20 million in venture capital in the same year. However, the pace of growth in the aggregator sector has slowed down, and there have been some consolidations. Wonder Brands’ success in developing its business model and focusing on organic brand development has set it apart from the traditional e-commerce aggregation model.

The Wonder Brands Approach

Wonder Brands stands out in the fast-growing Latin American e-commerce market due to its strong branding capabilities. Unlike other e-commerce aggregators that operate like private equity firms with little operational input, Wonder Brands has prioritized organic brand development. This approach, combined with its expertise in the Latin American market, has allowed the company to achieve remarkable results and generate more than $100 million in annualized revenue with an annual growth rate of over 100%.

Expanding Product Lines and Market Reach

Wonder Brands leverages data from online marketplaces to create products and implements a customer-centric strategy powered by artificial intelligence and technology. The company has already launched over 15 brands across various categories, such as home and garden, sports and fitness, and beauty and personal care. With plans to double the number of SKUs in the next year and enter new product categories, Wonder Brands aims to further expand its market reach and profitability.

The Mexican E-commerce Market

Mexico is one of the fastest-growing e-commerce markets in the world, with a significant increase in online purchases. The Mexican Online Sales Association reported that the total value of e-commerce sales in Mexico reached $31.4 billion in 2022, showing a 23% annual growth rate. Wonder Brands has capitalized on this growth and intends to use the Series A funding to expand its operations into the rest of South America. The company also plans to hire additional employees, develop new distribution channels, and invest in marketing.

Conclusion

Wonder Brands’ successful Series A financing round and its focus on organic brand development and strong branding capabilities have positioned it as a key player in the Latin American e-commerce market. With its expansion into South America and plans to enter new product categories, Wonder Brands is poised for continued growth and success in the future.

Summary

Wonder Brands, an e-commerce brand acquirer in Latin America, has closed a $15.5 million Series A funding round, allowing the company to expand into South America. This round, co-led by Nazca and IDB Invest, brings the total funding of Wonder Brands to $40 million. Unlike traditional e-commerce aggregators, Wonder Brands focuses on organic brand development and has demonstrated strong branding capabilities in the fast-growing Latin American e-commerce market. With over $100 million in annualized revenue and a doubling of SKUs planned for the next year, Wonder Brands aims to further solidify its position in the market and expand its presence in South America.

wonderful brandsan acquirer of e-commerce brands in Latin America, today announced the closing of $15.5 million in Series A financing. This allows the Mexico City-based company to expand into South America.

Nazca and IDB Invest, the private sector arm of the Inter-American Development Bank Group, co-led the round and were joined by new and existing investors CoVenture, Silvercircle, Korify Capital, Infinitas Capital and GBM Mexico. The round will go up to $20 million to give Wonder Brands about $40 million in total funding, Federico Malek, co-founder of Wonder Brands told TechCrunch via email.

We profiled the company in 2021, roughly seven months after the company first launched to acquire digital brands in the MercadoLibre and Amazon ecosystem. At that time, Wonder Brands raised $20 million in venture capital.

In 2021, the ecommerce hoarding or aggregator scene was in full force. Companies around the world amassed vast amounts of venture capital and grew rapidly. Only in Latin America, for example, Merama achieved unicorn status within a year of launch, while Quinio announced $20 million in seed financing acquire some 30 companies.

Ecommerce Aggregators Today

That ecommerce brand eater has slowed downand there have even been some consolidation within the aggregator sector. Few are seeing venture capital coming in in recent months, except for companies, including one brands and Razorwhich may allude to how well Wonder Brands developed its business model.

Speaking of which, Malek said in an email interview that organic brand development set the company apart from the traditional e-commerce aggregation model, which he compared to a private equity model with little operational input.

“As a consequence, Wonder Brands stood out due to its strong branding capabilities in the fast-growing Latin American e-commerce market,” he said.

However it was not always so. When Malek and co-founders Nicolás González Luna and Matias Casoy started Wonder Brands, they told me their model was to cut back on the competition, which at the time was heavily going after e-commerce brands in the $1 million revenue range, focusing into larger sellers and operators generating at least $5 million in revenue.

Malek explained that the model didn’t work, noting that the company “had a hard time identifying successful digital brands in that range.” Wonder Brands then shifted its focus to acquiring e-commerce infrastructure, rather than existing brands, and developing its own digital brands.

achieve growth

Wonder Brand uses data from online marketplaces to create products. It also implements a customer-centric strategy powered by artificial intelligence and technology to optimize operations, marketing, analytics, supply chains, and working capital allocation.

Since then, the company has launched more than 15 brands in the past 12 months and more than 2,000 SKUs across the home and garden, sports and fitness, and beauty and personal care categories. The company plans to double the number of SKUs in the next year and enter new product categories.

It also hit profitability in 2022. Malek attributes part of that growth to being in Mexico, calling it “one of the fastest growing e-commerce markets in the world,” where more than 63 million people made online purchases last month alone. last year, twice as many as five years ago.

He also cited data from the Mexican Online Sales Association indicating that last year, the total value of e-commerce sales in Mexico reached $31.4 billion, showing an annual growth rate of 23%.

“While e-commerce sales in other geographies are stagnating, we continue to experience accelerated growth,” Malek said. “We have achieved remarkable results, generating more than $100 million in annualized revenue with an annual growth rate of more than 100%.”

Wonder Brands now operates in Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay with plans to use the new Series A capital to expand into the rest of South America. The company will also hire additional employees, develop new distribution channels and invest in marketing.